Happy Easter, friends. Year after year, century after century, we return to the same great feasts of the Church, and you’d think that we would grow tired of them, but I, for one, never do. How is it possible that we hold the same fasts and feasts and yet continue to find new paths of grace by them? The cynic’s answer is that we have short memories and also have a hard time finding an insufficient reason to party. But the answer from the Heart of the Church is that God’s love is infinite, and we, as finite beings, can never exhaust the font of love that pours forth for us.
 
While we face the possibilities of many distractions surrounding our celebration of Easter, it would have been impossible for Jesus’ first followers to miss the point of everything that had just happened to them. In the span of a few days they went from triumphantly entering the city to celebrate their great holy day, to being scattered in terror and fear for their lives, and then back to the mountain top when they realized that their Lord had conquered death not only for Himself, but for them as well. So while we might miss some of the meaning of Easter as we get baskets and dinners ready, the Apostles must have been completely and totally overwhelmed by the meaning of what they had just experienced.

If Jesus came back from the dead, what do their lives mean? If Jesus came back from the dead, what power does suffering and death really have? If Jesus came back from the dead, what other reasonable response was there other than to go to the ends of the world, shouting the truth that we are not made for death, but for infinite life and complete union with a God who loves us even more than we knew before.
 
Friends, this Easter season, take time to bask in the reality of what God has called us to. All the accomplishments, goals, sorrows, and events of this life are completely overwhelmed by the power of Jesus’ victory over death. Rejoice, knowing that your sins are as naught in the light of Jesus’ Resurrection. Christ is Risen; He is truly Risen!