Fr Robert Hendrickson

Dear Friends in Christ,

I can’t say I’ve been a huge fan of most of the Star Wars releases since the original trilogy was released. There were some moments in the prequels that were pretty good. The sequel trilogy is best consigned to the dustbin of history, though.

However, one piece of the newer Star Wars oeuvre that is compelling is the series Andor. It’s fantastic—well written and compellingly acted.

One character who serves as an instigator and planner of the rebellion gives a powerfully acted monologue in which he describes what he has sacrificed to be at the heart of the rebellion. At one point he says, “I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I’ll never see.”

This is the story of so much of life lived well. It’s at the heart of faith. We live not for ourselves alone—if we live life well.

We look toward the good of our kids, our communities, the world around us, and we feel compelled to leave something brighter than we inherited—and so many of our parents did the same.

Unfolding on Palm Sunday is the cosmic version of this story, too.

Christ models what it means to live for the good of the world. His end is not the end of his story but the beginning of the true fruit of his work.

The difference is that Christ gets to see the sunrise—is the sunrise. More than that he gets to see it rise in each and every one of us who learns to live for the life of the world. Each of us who can find the faith to follow his model of sacrificial love becomes a ray in that dawn which he revealed.

A world in which humanity loved and lived in that way would be one lit by divine love. It would be one in which we’d see one another by the light that shone from the empty tomb. It would be one in which we’d see the sunrise in one another and know that the darkness cannot overcome it.

We’re a long way off from that I suspect—but it’s a sunrise worth burning brightly for, together. Christ has shone us the way.

Yours in Christ,

—Fr Robert