ANGELA MERICI CENTER: EASTER
From Annus Horribilis to Easter BY GINNY SCHAEFFER
We must learn to be able to think and behave like Jesus… This becomes a journey of great love and great suffering. These are the two normal and primary paths of transformation into God. —Richard Rohr
In 1992, Queen Elizabeth, speaking to the people of the British Commonwealth, described that year as her own annus horribilis or horrible year. In that one year, three of her children’s marriages, including Prince
Charles’ to Princess Diana, came to scandalous ends. Her beloved Windsor Castle was heavily damaged by fire. The cost of its repairs raised many questions about the Queen’s finances that led to the opening of Buckingham Palace, another of the Queen’s homes, to the general public as a tourist attraction. The funds raised were to be used for repairs to Windsor Castle. We, too, have experienced our own annus horribilis. I am weary of recounting all the crises that have erupted this past year; but,
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as then President-elect Joe Biden reminded us on the eve of his inauguration, in order to heal, we must remember. So, here goes:
limate crises continued to exact •C a toll on the environment, as well as human life, property and local, state and national economies.
• The COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020 with over 28 million confirmed cases and over 500,000 deaths in the United States alone, and became the leading cause of death in the U.S. The death toll from COVID-19 totals more lives lost than all the U.S. lives lost in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War combined.
•D ivisive politics fed by false claims of a rigged election culminated in an insurrectionist mob taking over the Capital and attempting to stop the legitimate transfer of power.
• Economic inequity: While millions lost their jobs and were
forced to sit in food lines for hours just to feed their families and faced evictions through no fault of their own, the wealth of millionaires and billionaires grew at a staggering rate. • Four hundred years of racial oppression and injustice came to a head following the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and other people of color. The resulting protests called for an end to systemic racism and the overhauling of police tactics, with much work still to be done.
To borrow a thought from Sister Jean Anne Zappa, the shutdown last year began as we were in the middle of Lent, and it has felt like Lent ever since. Yet, here we are, turning our faces toward Easter once again. We are mindful,
perhaps even more now, that there would be no Easter without the triduum—the pain and passion of Holy Thursday and Good Friday, and the mystery of Holy Saturday. This is not our way, though. We would only have Easter Sunday if we could. We would forgo the suffering that is part and parcel of life on this planet. We would live in an eternal spring and summer. Sadly, this eternal spring and summer is not our reality—the miracle of Easter is that God, with our consent and cooperation, is able to take our pain, suffering
