In the Easter season we celebrate the central proclamation of our faith that Jesus Christ did suffer and die but then rose from the dead. Jesus is alive and we can share in his victory over death. This is the proclamation that defines us as Christians – our belief in the resurrection.
The tragedy of Christianity is that we focus so much attention on the season of Lent and so little attention on the season of Easter. The Easter season will continue through the Feast of Pentecost. Every day in this season, each of us should spend time reflecting on our Christian belief that Jesus suffered and died, but rose from the dead. In rising from the dead, Jesus destroyed the power of sin and death forever. All who put their faith in Jesus can now live in the hope that they, too, will triumph over sin and death; death will yield to an eternity of life and love. This is our hope as Christians. We believe in a personal resurrection from the dead for all those who live their lives in faithfulness to Jesus Christ and his Gospel.
The Easter season is the time for us to show the world that we truly believe in the risen Christ and we truly seek to conform our lives to the truth of his Gospel. We live in this way so as to transform this world through the witness of our lives and in the desire to one day share in the resurrection of Jesus Christ – his victory over sin and death. How will you show the world that you believe in the Risen Christ? Will you visit an elderly person who is alone and needs companionship? Will you seek to eliminate all prejudice from your heart and reach out to persons who are different from you in race and/or religion? Will you provide for the needs of the poor and work for changes in our society that will help to eliminate poverty – affordable housing, access to quality health care for all, a living wage, child care for working families? Will you defend the dignity of all human life from conception to natural death?
This is the season that defines us as Christians. How will we show the world that our Christian faith and Christian hope is real and that we want to live our faith in its fullness?