HE IS TRULY RISEN! ALLELUIA!
Easter, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, is celebrated for 50 days. That is almost two months! No other feast of our Church is observed with such intensity. He who died on the Cross; was buried. On the third day, He rose from the dead. He lives. This mystery of our faith is so tremendous that it is observed for seven weeks. However, seven weeks of remembrance and celebration cannot exhaust this Mystery. We can never get enough of it. Easter concludes on Pentecost Sunday.
To save us from sin, inherited from Adam and Eve, Jesus went to His Death on the Cross and to His burial in the tomb from which on the third day, He rose to life. The place of the dead could not hold down Christ. He burst its chains and returned to life. This took place on Easter Sunday, the third day after His Crucifixion on Good Friday. His victory over sin is remembered and celebrated for the 50 days of Easter. Not as an historic event is it remembered and celebrated. We do not look back to that first Easter. Rather, His passing over from death to life, the Paschal Mystery, is remembered and celebrated in the now.
Through Baptism, we share in His Easter victory. We enter into the Death of Christ and rise out of it to new life in Christ. The waters of Baptism wash away sin in us and pour into us the power of the Resurrection. In the Baptism water we are bathed and share in the new life of Christ. Easter, this Feast of Christ, is also a feast of each of us who now share His new life. We participate in the Paschal Mystery.
Jesus was given the Risen Life. Our sharing in it can mean starting over again in our relationship with God, getting rid of the old self and putting on the new. We can become new again. There is always hope. It is never finished for us. We are not trapped. We are not dead. We can push back from life’s defeats as He did with His triumphant Resurrection. Sin does not have to defeat us. The victory of God who broke the hold of death can be ours. Jesus is Lord. He is not in the tomb. He lives. He is the Lord of life. Our lives are joined to His.
When I was a child, every stitch of clothing that was worn on Easter Sunday was brand new. That custom expressed the newness that Easter is all about. At Infant Baptism, the baby is clothed in a new white outfit, which expresses the new life received at Baptism. In parishes that baptize adult catechumens at the Easter Vigil, the newly baptized adults are clothed in white robes after their Baptism.
Another custom associated with the newness of Easter is Easter eggs. It was once forbidden to eat eggs during Lent. Having them colorfully painted for Easter Sunday was a sign of the brand new day of glory that was Easter.
On that first Easter Sunday, two of Jesus disciples were walking on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They were sad, burdened and hopeless. Then the Risen Lord, whom they did not recognize, walked along with them. He spoke about the actions of God in history and began to open their minds and hearts to His presence. When they arrived at Emmaus and sat for a meal, they recognized Him in the breaking of the bread and recalled the effects in them of that conversation along the road when He spoke with them. It was a new day for the Emmaus disciples.
There are times when we are like those disciples, when our hearts may be broken by what is happening in our lives, in our society and in the world. We need the newness of Easter to cancel out the old. This victory of God refreshes us, who in Christ, pass over to new life. His Resurrection touches our lives. He lives, and in Him we live.
During this Easter Season, the 50 days, may you be touched with the newness of life, especially when you are most in need of it. May you and your loved ones be blessed by the Lord of Life. Happy Easter Sunday, and Happy Easter Season.
Most Reverend Dennis J. Sullivan, D.D.
Bishop of Camden