Easter Sunday

My Dear Parishioners,
 
CHRIST IS RISEN! - TRULY HE IS RISEN! - This is the greeting which first came from the lips of Saint Mary Magdalene to the Apostles on that first Easter Sunday morning.  Going to the tomb early in the morning on the first day of the week to complete the preparation work begun on Good Friday afternoon for the Lord Jesus, the women disciples headed by Saint Mary Magdalene found the tomb open and the body of the Lord Jesus gone.  Today’s Gospel tells us of this which is the basis for our faith, THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.  The Apostle Paul reminds us that if Christ is not risen then our faith is in vain.  However, the good news of Christ’s Holy Resurrection produced the gift of faith among the followers of Jesus and the courage to proclaim His victory to the ends of the earth.
 
After suffering greatly for our sins on the wood of the cross the Lord was lifted up by God the Father and glorified as the Lamb which was slain and who dies no more.  Because of Jesus’ Holy Resurrection all those who hope in Him will share eternal life with Him.  He has opened the gates to paradise and welcomes into the Heavenly Jerusalem all the holy ones who have lived their lives in conformity to the Gospel.  All of us are called to sanctity and our challenge is to conduct ourselves in a manner which is virtuous and in opposition to our secular culture.  Our hope in Christ’s Resurrection shows itself in our rejection of evil and our commitment to holiness.
 
With the defeat of death in Resurrection miracle we see that death does not have the last say.  It is a force which has been conquered and which we must conquer time and again.  We must conquer death by being PRO LIFE FORC ES IN SOCIETY.  The “Right to Choose” is a death sentence for babies, the elderly and the sick.  Catholics can be nothing but PRO LIFE and protestors to death!  Christ is Risen-death is defeated.  God ratifies life in raising His Son form the dead.
 
I have an icon of Saint Mary Magdalene, Equal to the Apostles, in which she holds an egg.  Of course for us we associate Easter with the egg because of  its meaning.  Just as a chick breaks out of the enclosing shall to new life, so too does the Lord break free from the enclosure of the tomb to eternal life.  The new life of Resurrection was proclaimed by St. Mary of Magdala in those joyous words, CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN!
 
Happy Easter!
Father Zig