During these past weeks I have worked very hard at rehabbing my right arm after permanent damage to tendons after an auto accident last September. This required relearning how to type, brush teeth, write on a blackboard, drive a car, and write with a pen. Today on Easter Sunday, I have a big Jesus smile on my face knowing that I can perform all of life's tasks, differently but effectively. Now no more excuses, just forward progress.

Pope Francis said: the "good news" of Easter's joy and hope means "leaving ourselves behind and encountering others, being close to those crushed by life's troubles, sharing with the needy, standing at the side of the sick, elderly and the outcast."

 Honestly, I have heard these words all of my life. I never understood them until working as a priest-chaplain in the Intensive Care ward. On Good Friday, two comatose victims of violent crime awoke and began the long, painful road to recuperation. The joy of their families was beyond description. They expressed their joy with me in sacrament and prayer. It doesn't get much better.