We Are An Easter People, Alleluia!

As we move through the final days of Holy Week and move to the celebration of the day of Resurrection, we are once again reminded – we are an Easter People.

In the early days of Christianity, St. Augustine proclaimed: “We are Easter people and alleluia is our song!” Yes, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the centerpiece of our Christian faith. The only response that makes sense is the one we will sing for fifty days, from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday, “Alleluia! Praise to our God!”

Easter celebrates such wonderful good news that Christian people should never find one day long enough to celebrate its importance in their lives. The fifty days of the Easter season offer much food for our journey of faith. God’s holy word is rich, and if we listen closely to the Easter story, we too will be transformed, restored and renewed.

The good news of Easter is that Jesus Christ continues to be alive among us today. The events of Holy Week were real, but they were not the end. Throughout the Easter season in our readings from the Acts of the Apostles, we encounter the friends of Jesus who met the risen Lord and were obviously changed in a dramatic fashion. They were relentless in their pursuit of continuing the mission of Jesus Christ.

As Easter People we know that Mary Magdalene and the other women did find the tomb of Jesus open and empty that first Easter morning. Jesus did die, was buried and rose again so we might have life – a new life in Christ. It is the heart of our faith. The passage from death to life which was experienced by Jesus Christ must also be experienced by every Christian. It is what sends us into the world as Easter people to carry out Christ’s mission in the world.

Each Easter gives us the opportunity to once again be in touch with the new life in Christ we celebrate. We are reminded at the great Easter Vigil as we renew our baptismal vows together that it is through the water of baptism we move from death to new life. The chains of the old life have been broken and we rise into the new life in Christ as Easter people, – people of the resurrection.

The joy of the Easter message for those who follow Christ is that each Easter we once again celebrate the fact we are Easter people and alleluia is our song!

Happy Easter!

+Barbara

~ from the March 27, 2018 Territory Bulletin