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March 29, 2024Christ has Risen. Christ has Risen Indeed!
Happy Easter to all of our parishioners and visitors! Easter is the supreme, most essential teaching of all Christianity. The resurrection of Jesus means that, He is truly God- as He said- and that He has overcome death for us all. St. Paul writes in 1 Cor: “Without this victory over death, all our preaching would be useless and our faith in vain.”
In the Catholic liturgical year, you will notice that the Church prepares for Easter for forty days (Lent). We then celebrate three intense days (Sacred Triduum) leading to Easter Sunday. Finally, we celebrate the “Easter Season” for fifty more days, during which we thank God and rejoice that Christ has risen. This is a total of more than 90 days! One-third of the entire liturgical year is spent “in preparation for” and “in celebration of” the Resurrection of Christ. Easter is a big deal! We are an Easter people.
The Book of Revelation records the resurrected Jesus saying “Behold, I make all things new.” Because of His death and resurrection, our souls are made new. Our sins are forgiven. We begin to see the world, other people and ourselves in a new light. We are beloved sons and daughters of God, and nothing can ever take that from us again. This is why we buy new Easter clothes, dye Easter eggs (new life) and eat sweets (joy). If we no longer have to fear death, then there is nothing to fear at all. “O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?”
In the early Church, on Easter Sunday and throughout the entire Easter season, Christians would greet one another with the salutation: “Christ has risen!” And the response would be “Christ has risen indeed!” This year let’s continue to celebrate this good news for the full fifty days beginning today. Happy Easter! Behold, I make all things new.
Fr. Brett Brannen
Pastor
