Christ is Risen

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Christ is Risen!

Indeed, He is truly Risen!

Happy Easter!

We celebrated the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night.

It is a beautiful gift to witness the joy of those who enter into the Church at Easter.

Through the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and Holy Eucharist, faith is professed.

Grace is received.

Easter Joy bursts!

My dear friend after making her profession of faith and receiving the sacraments of confirmation and holy communion said to me, "I am home."

Pure Joy!

The Holy Spirit outpoured the gift of Joy on the Church all over the world.

"We are the Easter people and Hallelujah is our song!" St. Pope John Paul II

I found this Easter Reflection and thought I would share.

Eternal and Unconquerable Father

The Beloved Disciple's faith in the Resurrection began in a tomb. A place of death became a witness to life. During a pilgrimage to the Holy Land I was privileged to pray inside Jesus' temporal tomb. What moved me was not a prayer I said, but a grace I was given. I had a visceral sense that I was kneeling in the epicenter of the Father's love, that place where the Father's love for the Son proved to be stronger than death.

The Father's love is undying, unconquerable. He is not afraid to go to the deepest, darkest, coldest, loneliest place. He will go anywhere to find his sons and daughters and raise them to the life that his Only Begotten Son's obedient and sacrificial love has bequeathed to them.

Have I emerged from Lent with healing of my sins? Have I invited the Father's love into the darkest depths of my heart and memory? Did my sacrifices enable me to hunger and begin to experience the love for which Christ is risen today and forever? So it is never too late. It is always and ever the season for the risen Lord to redeem us with the eternal love of the Father.

Reflection based on John 20:1-9

Father Richard Veras

Eternal and Almighty Father, we thank you for never ceasing to reveal yourself through your Son, that his risen life may love and heal all your children and gather them to yourself.

In the Tomb with Jesus

Painting by Erin K. McAtee

Our Joy is found in an empty tomb.

Our joy is found in the Risen Lord.

Our "home" is with Him.

Alleluia!