Last month a German Shepherd was lost at sea after falling overboard from a commercial fishing boat in the Pacific Ocean. Owner Nick Haworth and search teams combed the area for days after his dog’s mysterious disappearance, but had no luck. Luna, a 1½-year-old, blue-eyed German Shepherd, was presumed to have died after falling overboard near San Clemente Island.

Luna, after her rescue by the Navy. Photo from Naval Base Coronado, published with permission.

About five weeks later, the dog was found alive. Incredibly, Luna appears to have swum ashore on San Clemente Island and survived for weeks on the island’s natural food. She was discovered on a roadside by Navy service members.

Luna was malnourished but otherwise in good health. She was placed with a family friend until Haworth could come and retrieve his given up for dead friend.

We celebrate stories like this because we encounter situations in our lives where hope is hard to come by. Often, we search and we try to find an answer. In this face of death, we continue to search for life.

We are an Easter people. We are people of hope. We are people of life. We are the people who come to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But sometimes we are the people who say it’s over, and God disagrees. And he proves it by having his Son conquer the unconquerable – death. When the world says it’s all over, it’s all done, go home, there’s nothing here, God says no. We are God’s people who celebrate today that the world never has the final say. God has the final answer.

God brings life out of death. And that’s in all of our hearts and in all of our lives. We have to come to know and to believe that when we have Christ, we are more alive than anybody else. When we have Christ, we are people of hope.

The celebration of Easter gives me pause to be thankful for all we have. We are people of hope and we seek to bring hope to others. Through our mission at CARITAS For Children, we join with sponsors to bring hope to children around the world through our Catholic child sponsorship programs. We encourage you to join us in this effort to share the hope of a brighter future with a child in need this Easter.