Hidden, Not Lost

A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, April 5th, 2025:
The Solemnity of Easter Sunday

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Colossians
3.1-4

Brothers and sisters: If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

“... [Y]our life is hidden with Christ in God.”

I misplace things a lot. I mean, a lot. For example, on the theme of Easter, I recall the year I hid a large bag of chocolate eggs, only to have to go buy another because I couldn’t remember what nook or cranny I had stashed them in a week earlier!

It’s dreadful realizing you’ve lost something, particularly if it’s an important item, or if it happens frequently. When I do, our family tries to stop what we are doing, retrace our steps, and everyone (reluctantly) pitches in to help find the lost item.

So what does losing things have to do with this Sunday’s reading from Colossians? Well, in a sense, things that are lost are just hidden from view. At least in the immediate, they haven’t ceased to exist – they’re somewhere, whether under the sofa, left on the bus, or in a spot we haven’t noticed. 

With every passing Lent, we hope our Lenten encounter with God puts to death things in us that keep us from being one with Him. At Easter, He has won the victory, our hope is secure, and we rejoice in being made new in some way, big or small. We have new life in Him.

But Paul tells us that this new life is hidden! And doesn’t “hidden” sometimes feel more like “lost and I really don't know where I put it” in the everyday humdrum of life?

What do I normally do when something important seems lost? I retrace the steps that preceded the loss, trying to grasp again what I can’t seem to lay my eyes upon. In terms of my faith, that grasping is often for parts of my former self that I once thought had died with Him.

Why do I reach back to seek security? Despite the victory of the cross, it seems deeply embedded in my fallen human nature to continue to question God’s care. It is as if I am one of the women visiting Jesus’ tomb, to whom the angels ask, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen!” (Luke 24:5-6)

What is hidden in Christ is my identity, won for me by His blood. I don’t need to stop everything to go looking for it every time it doesn’t feel near or seems absent from view. My identity in Him will never cease to exist. It just is, because He is. It’s securely hidden in eternity and will one day be revealed. Unlike a lost object, it can never be stolen or destroyed. It will not remain hidden forever.

So this Easter, I will do as Paul says, and set my mind on what is above. The cross has won! There is no need to go back to what was, to find what I seek. 

Join me! Christ is Risen, Alleluia!

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Michelynne Gomez

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