By Thursday, Easter has begun to display one of its most remarkable qualities.
It refuses to be limited by our plans.
Now, this is slightly inconvenient.
Because we are, by nature, planners.
We make schedules.
We prepare agendas.
We create tidy expectations about how the day is supposed to unfold.
And then the day unfolds… differently.
A meeting runs longer than expected.
A conversation takes an unexpected turn.
Something breaks, disappears, or refuses to cooperate with even the most earnest prayer.
And we find ourselves saying, with great theological depth:
“Well… this was not the plan.”
Enter Easter.
Because the resurrection of Jesus is, at its heart, the greatest “not the plan” moment in history.
No one — absolutely no one — arrived at the tomb on Easter morning expecting a triumph.
They came prepared for finality.
And instead, they encountered new life.
Which suggests something rather important for a Thursday:
God is not confined to our expectations.
In fact, God seems particularly fond of working through the unexpected.
The risen Christ appears in places no one anticipated.
On roads no one planned to walk.
In rooms where people had gathered for entirely different reasons.
At times when hope had already been politely set aside.
And each time, the same pattern emerges:
What seemed like disruption becomes revelation.
What looked like inconvenience becomes grace.
What felt like “not the plan” becomes, somehow, exactly where God is at work.
Now, this does not mean we should abandon planning altogether.
Let us not alarm the parish office.
Plans are good. Schedules are helpful. Agendas can be, at times, a sign of civilization.
But Easter invites us to hold them lightly.
Because resurrection has a way of slipping into the spaces we did not organize.
You may notice this today.
A delay that becomes an opportunity.
A change that leads to something unexpectedly good.
A moment that felt frustrating, but somehow opens into grace.
This is resurrection at work.
Quietly transforming interruptions into invitations.
And here is where the joy becomes unmistakable.
Because once you begin to trust that God is present even in the unplanned…
…life becomes lighter.
Not simpler.
But freer.
You begin to move through the day with a kind of gentle openness.
A willingness to be surprised.
A readiness to discover that God is already present in the very thing you were hoping to avoid.
Which is, admittedly, a slightly advanced spiritual skill.
But Easter is nothing if not ambitious.
So today, when things do not go according to plan — and they almost certainly will not — take a moment.
Pause.
Smile.
And remember:
The tomb was not part of the plan either.
And yet…
…here we are.
Living in a world where life has already won.
Which means that even the unexpected…
…can be filled with joy.
Alleluia.
Companion Prayer
Risen Lord,
You meet us
not only in what we expect
but in what surprises us.
Give us the grace
to trust your presence
in the unplanned moments of our day.
Turn our interruptions into invitations,
our frustrations into opportunities,
and our uncertainty into hope.
And teach us to live
with open hearts,
ready to discover your joy
in all things.
Alleluia. Amen.