Although you have not seen Christ you love him; even though you do not see him now yet believe in him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, as you attain the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.  Do our lives reflect the joy and beauty of this proclamation?
            Do we love Christ? To love Christ is to desire a living relationship with him through prayer, through reflection on the scriptures and through our trust and confidence in him in the joys and sorrows of our lives.
             Do you love Christ? Do you cultivate a living relationship with him? Do you pray regularly? Does your prayer help you to believe in his presence with you even in the darkest moments of your life? And if you say that you love the Christ you cannot see, is that evident in the love of the Christ that you do see? Christ said that what we do to the least of our brothers and sisters we do unto him. So, if you violate the dignity of another person by your treatment of that person, or if you fail to show compassion toward other persons, if you fail to have a genuine concern for those in need, then you do not love the Christ that you do see. And if you do not love the Christ that you see, how can you claim to love the Christ that you do not see?
            The Easter season offers us the opportunity to renew our relationship with the Risen Christ and to strengthen our faith in him. If you were faithful to certain Lenten disciplines such as extra prayers, fasting, or giving up something, what will you do this Easter season to deepen your love for Jesus and strengthen your faith in him? Will you continue to pray regularly? Will you continue to control those thoughts and behaviors that you know are not in conformity with his life and teaching? Will you look for opportunities to see Christ in others and respond to them as you would want to respond to Christ – the sick, the homebound, the homeless, the hungry, the immigrants in our midst? Will you do all of this in the joy of knowing that through these efforts you will come to know your salvation in Jesus Christ – eternal life with him?
             May this Easter season be rich in blessings for all of you!
 
                            Fr. Mark Hallinan, S.J