Fr Robert Hendrickson

Dear Friends in Christ,

It is very tempting, after big days like Easter or Christmas, to jump right back in to “normal” life. After Christmas, within a day or two, Christmas trees litter our streets. People are already moving on.

It always feels to me like we’ve inverted what should be normal and what should be abnormal. I read not long ago that given the rhythms of the liturgical year, medieval peasants had more than 150 days of rest per year. How many Americans have it better than a medieval peasant?!

Those rhythms sanctified their time—added a sacred rhythm to the busy-ness of their days—and shaped the way they saw work, family, and nature itself.

Americans often sandwich-in life’s celebrations between work when it seems like the more natural pattern would be to work around the most important things in our lives: family, faith, and friendships.

May this Eastertide give you a chance to relax into the blessed rhythms of life and find space to celebrate the miracle of our redemption and the gift of new life even as we re-learn how to live more joyfully and peacefully in this one.

Yours in Christ,

—Fr Robert