By Pat Haggerty

Have you ever heard of “Resurrection eggs”?  Well, I hadn’t until last week.  Apparently, though, they have been around for at least twenty years.  I had the joy of experiencing this activity with my grand-daughters during a special family activity following the noon Mass at our parish.  The activity is a way for children to understand, and discover, the story of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection.

Jane and Rose were enthralled with the little artifacts that went into each egg in the egg carton---a small palm, a spear, a stone and a crown of thorns (to name a few). While placing each object in a plastic egg, we read a passage from the gospels that went along with the object.

When they got to the last egg, there was nothing!  It remained empty to symbolize the empty tomb.  I read the passage:  “But the angel answered and said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.’ “ The girls got it!

I began reflecting on the concept of emptiness.  The empty tomb was a wonderful thing.  It meant that Jesus had overcome death and was risen from the dead.  As we sing in the Easter Sequence, “Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining.”

Are there other empty things that are good things? When our car’s gas gauge is on empty, that is not a good thing.  When the ketchup bottle is empty, we know we need to get another.  When we say we are “running on empty”, we know we need to get some rest and rejuvenate.

Sometimes, being empty causes us to dig deep, soul-search and change our ways.  We sometimes feel emptiness in our hearts, often from loss or despair.  I recently lost a friend and have been experiencing that empty feeling of not having him around.  I am ready to turn that emptiness, sense of loss, into something positive.  I want to take that pain and turn it into good by emulating some of the qualities he shared with so many.

With emptiness comes a desire to fill something up.  We will fill our empty glasses; we will fill our earthen vessels; we will fill our empty hands.  With the empty tomb came redemption.  The disciples of Christ had to turn their lives around following Christ’s resurrection.  Can we do the same?

Take what is empty and fill it!