My brothers and sisters, Christ is risen. Alleluia. What joy it is to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Easter is the greatest and the most important feast in the Church for three reasons: First of all: The resurrection of Christ is the basis of our Faith. It is the greatest of the miracles, for it proves that Jesus is God. That is why Saint Paul writes: If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, and our faith is in vain. That is true: If Jesus did not rise from the dead, we would not be here celebrating the Eucharist. Can you imagine the New Testament without the Resurrection of Jesus? Without the Resurrection, Jesus would have remained forever a good person who had met a tragic end. But thanks be to God, Jesus is risen, all the doctrines of Christianity are founded on the truth of the Resurrection. So, this is the core of the preaching of the apostles, because Jesus had prophesied His Resurrection as a sign of His divinity. We rejoice, we celebrate for the Resurrection of Jesus is Good News. It is a great news that needs to be shared. The gospel tells us that Mary Magdalene and another Mary went to the tomb. But they found the empty tomb. Then the angel told them, He is not here. He is not in the tomb because He is raised. Overjoyed, they went to announce, to proclaim the good news of the resurrection to his disciples. So, the good news of the Resurrection changed the lives of the apostles. It gave them joy, hope and encouragement. The same thing we can say today, we have encountered the risen Christ in our lives, we have met Jesus in the sacraments, especially in the Eucharist. We have met Jesus in the Scripture. We have experienced God’s presence in our lives. And the truth of the Resurrection should transform and changes. Easter is a feast which gives us joyful message that we are Easter people. Christians, we should be happy people. This means that we are expected to live a joyful and peaceful life because Jesus defeated death and gave us the guarantee for our own resurrection. We are supposed to be joyful people because the Lord Jesus is alive. He is with us. His presence gives us strength in the midst of suffering, pain and tensions of our day to day life. We are called to be Easter people, sign of the risen Christ of the world. We are expected to bring joy, encouragement and light to the world. Our presence, our faith, ideas should give hope to those who have worries, those who are discouraged, those who are sick…. Happy Easter
Please Note: I will be out on vacation in Congo, Africa beginning April 29 through May 30th. Please pray for my safe travels. ~Fr. Kalombo
