It is fairly common for us to hear in popular culture and public conservations someone being told, “It’s not all about you” when they are perceived as being selfish, self-centered or self-serving. It’s a very public and definite rebuke, a complete put-down. Get over yourself, it says. Think about someone else for once, it implies.
And then we come to Holy Week and Easter. Jesus Christ is risen today! Alleluia! He is risen indeed! Praise be to God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! A reflection on all the drama, all the emotion, all the theology of the past few days, and one thing that arises – a little bit unexpected, quite honestly – is that all of it, Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, are, in fact, all about us.
We are sinners. We fail God and others. God in his infinite power and majesty could do anything at all about it – forget us, leave us to flounder, even destroy us and start over. Yet God decides in his infinite love and mercy instead to save us. The incarnation, the loving act of sending his only Son into this world to be a ransom for our sins, would never have to happen if not for our sinfulness.
And Jesus submits to the will of the Father, emptying himself and becoming human. He is born as we are born, grows as we grow, lives like us in all ways, yet he does not sin. His commitment is completely to the Father, giving us the example of how we should live. He teaches us, he heals us, he gives us his very self in the Eucharist at the Last Supper on Holy Thursday. He does it all for us.
And we reject him. He is betrayed, arrested, tried, falsely accused, falsely convicted. He is tortured and ridiculed, crucified and killed. And he humbly accepts it all. He who never had sin takes on our sins and is killed for them. His death is all about his love for us.
But it’s not the end. Two thousand years later, we repeat it almost as a matter of fact, that Jesus rose from the dead. But think about that! He was dead, but then he was no longer dead! No wonder his disciples couldn’t comprehend what that meant when he told them it would occur. And it happened for us, that we, too, might have everlasting life with God in heaven. Because God loves us so much that he willed this all for our salvation.
Let us latch onto that this Easter and always with rejoicing and praise. Jesus became man, suffered, died and rose again, all for us. And it happened because God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, loves us in spite of us. God, who does not need us in the slightest, has chosen to make it all about us with His infinite love. Let us live on in that love, taking it and spreading it and making it all about someone else, just as God has done with us. Happy Easter! Alleluia!
Mike Karpus is a regular guy. He grew up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, graduated from Michigan State University and works as an editor. He is married to a Catholic school principal, raised two daughters who became Catholic school teachers at points in their careers, and now relishes his two grandchildren, including the 3-year-old who teaches him what the colors of Father’s chasubles mean. He has served on a Catholic School board, a pastoral council and a parish stewardship committee. He currently is a lector at Mass, a Knight of Columbus, Adult Faith Formation Committee member and a board member of the local Habitat for Humanity organization. But mostly he’s a regular guy.
Feature Image Credit: Alessandro Vicentin, https://www.cathopic.com/photo/11594-sepulcro-vacio-se-quedo
Dr. Alexis Dallara-Marsh is a board-certified neurologist who practices in Bergen County, NJ. She is a wife to her best friend, Akeem, and a mother of two little ones on Earth and two others in heaven above.
Dakota currently lives in Denver, CO and teaches English Language Development and Spanish to high schoolers. She is married to the love of her life, Ralph. In her spare time, she reads, goes to breweries, and watches baseball. Dakota’s favorite saints are St. John Paul II (how could it not be?) and St. José Luis Sánchez del Río. She is passionate about her faith and considers herself blessed at any opportunity to share that faith with others. Check out more of her writing at 
Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including newly ordained Father Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is 
Susan Ciancio has a BA in psychology and a BA in sociology from the University of Notre Dame, with an MA in liberal studies from Indiana University. For the past 17 years, she has worked as a professional editor and writer, editing both fiction and nonfiction books, magazine articles, blogs, educational lessons, professional materials and website content. Eleven of those years have been in the pro-life sector. Currently Susan freelances and writes weekly for HLI, edits for American Life League, and is the editor of Celebrate Life Magazine. She also serves as executive editor for the Culture of Life Studies Program-an educational nonprofit program for K-12 students.
Brendan is just your average Millennial hipster: He likes playing guitar, throwing frisbees, sipping whiskey, and grooming his beard. But he also has a passion for walking with teens and young Christ-followers, hearing every person’s story, and waking up the Church. Brendan works at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Lenexa, Kansas (near Kansas City) as a Youth Music Minister, fusing together his two loves of sharing Christ and sharing the power and need for good and beautiful contemporary praise. 
Jeannette de Beauvoir is a writer and editor with the digital department of Pauline Books & Media, working on projects as disparate as newsletters, book clubs, ebooks, and retreats that support the apostolate of the Daughters of St. Paul at 
Tami Urcia grew up in Western Michigan, a middle child in a large Catholic family. She spent early young adulthood as a missionary in Mexico, studying theology and philosophy, then worked and traveled extensively before finishing her Bachelor’s Degree in Western Kentucky. She loves tackling home improvement projects, finding fun ways to keep her four boys occupied, quiet conversation with the hubby and finding unique ways to love. She works at her parish, is a guest blogger on 
Perpetua Phelps is a high school student residing in West Michigan and is the second of four children. Apart from homeschooling, Perpetua enjoys volunteering at her church, attending retreats, studying Latin and French, and reading classics such as Beowulf, The Lord of the Rings, C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy, and Mark Twain’s Joan of Arc. She also spends much time writing novels, essays, and poetry for fun and competition. A passionate Tolkien fan, Perpetua is a founding member of a Tolkien podcast.
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