Jesus Christ is risen, Alleluia!
Easter greetings to all of you! During the holy days of the Triduum, we recalled the great mysteries of our faith. We recalled the gift of Christ's body and blood in the Eucharist, given to us freely as a gift that we might share in the most intimate communion with him. We recalled his further self-gift on the cross, a gift which reminds us of Christ's obedience and that all our sufferings are transformed in the suffering of the cross. And then the silence of Holy Saturday which passes into the glory of Easter Sunday.
All of these mysteries point to the same incomprehensible reality, the fact that through Christ's passion, death and resurrection, we are brought up into the Trinitarian glory, the love and unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We need not be afraid, or discouraged, or down-cast by our particular challenges or situations. Rather, we rejoice in Hope! The silence of death and sin is broken forever.
During the innumerable challenges of this year, it is easy for us to be discouraged, to be downcast, to be silent. And against that we have been given the grace to sing with confidence: "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad." We are not silent. Death has no power over us, for Christ has redeemed us. We are commissioned to preach to the people (as it says in the Acts of the Apostles) and to bear witness that he is the one set apart by God as judge of the living and the dead.
Friends, let us be hope-filled on this Easter day, recognizing the incomprehensible gift of new life in the resurrection. Just as we are sure that the trees will blossom again with new life, even though they may seem lifeless and dead, we are also confident that our death in Christ promises us the gift of everlasting life in heaven. How can we be silent. We can't. Alleluia.