Easter

Easter is a celebration of life because Jesus has been raised from the dead.

If on Good Friday all seemed lost and discipleship of Jesus worthless then on Easter morning all has changed because Jesus is now seen to be the victorious one. He has conquered sin and death. The feast of Easter gives us a great sense of security, for now we know for certain that to follow Jesus is to discover the way of God.

Today we know for sure that: Truth and not deceit…….Justice and not injustice…. Concern for the poor and not indifference are examples of the path to salvation because they are the actions and attitudes that Jesus lived. The resurrection means the life and mission of Jesus are vindicated by the Father. No wonder then that Easter is ranked as the greatest of Christian feasts, when faith is celebrated with great joy and conviction.

At Easter we celebrate the gift of faith with profound gratitude. It is so easy to underestimate the significance of this gift, to take it for granted perhaps. Faith gives us a perspective on life that encourages and gives hope and helps us to become our better selves, to become the people that God wants us to be.

Easter is an invitation to believe in life, notwithstanding the suffering, the misery, the wars and the violence, the disasters, natural and otherwise, that are experienced by so many people. To celebrate Easter is to believe that goodness has the power to overcome evil. And at the same time Easter is a challenge to us to throw in our lot with the cause of Jesus and make this world a better place, a more human place, a more divine place.

In 2013 Pope Francis wrote an exhortation called `The Joy of the Gospel`. This Easter day is an appropriate moment to recall that exhortation. It is precisely because Christ has risen from the dead that it is a joy to be a Christian, to be a faith person, to know that one is called to be a participant in the work of evangelization, as all we baptized persons are.

There are signs of Easter/Resurrection all around us. When someone opts for truth rather than deceit, when someone chooses solidarity rather than selfishness, when someone chooses to participate in the community rather than remain apart, when someone chooses to be respectful rather than dismissive……all these are signs and expressions of the goodness of people, a goodness that is rooted in the Risen One who is the Lord of life.

Alleluia!  Happy Easter!