This is it, guys! There is nothing else, and no other hope. This is the be-all and end-all. Nothing tops this, nothing gets better than this.
There is nothing, nothing, NOTHING better than Easter. And it is all true. Every word. It happened. It's not a lie, a fantasy, a fable, an exaggeration.
JESUS CHRIST IS RISEN TODAY!
It seems a perfect time to point out that Jesus' greatest enemy was never Satan. After all, He created Satan and can flick him away like a pesky fly. Rather, death was His greatest enemy, and death had to be defeated. We note two instances when Christ was greatly disturbed interiorly: When in the presence of the death of His friend Lazarus (Jesus wept, even though He knew He was about to raise Lazarus), and then in the Garden of Gethsemane, as He faced His own torture and death. Death is the wages of our sin. Death is what we deserve. But it is not what God desires for us. He loves us so dearly that, though innocent, He laid down His very life to save us from sin and death. The only ones who cannot escape the wages of sin and will not share in Christ's triumph over death are the ones who do not wish to, who willfully cling to their sins until death comes for them. Until our dying breath, we all are welcome, we all are invited to share in Christ's glorious Resurrection and have eternal life.**
This glorious Easter Day, the Feast of the Resurrection, is the holiest and most joyful feast day of the Church year. Jesus Christ truly rose, bodily, from the dead, and by doing so He defeated the enemy, death, forever!
He is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen! (Don't you all feel like jumping for joy??!)
Luke 24:1-12
At daybreak on the first day of the week
the women who had come from Galilee with Jesus
took the spices they had prepared
and went to the tomb.
They found the stone rolled away from the tomb;
but when they entered,
they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
While they were puzzling over this, behold,
two men in dazzling garments appeared to them.
They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground.
They said to them,
“Why do you seek the living one among the dead?
He is not here, but he has been raised.
Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee,
that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners
and be crucified, and rise on the third day.”
And they remembered his words.
Then they returned from the tomb
and announced all these things to the eleven
and to all the others.
The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James;
the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles,
but their story seemed like nonsense
and they did not believe them.
But Peter got up and ran to the tomb,
bent down, and saw the burial cloths alone;
then he went home amazed at what had happened.
** A big hat tip to my priest, Fr. John Ehrich, whose recent homily I summarized in this paragraph.
JESUS CHRIST IS RISEN TODAY!
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| Noel Coypel, The Resurrection of Christ |
It seems a perfect time to point out that Jesus' greatest enemy was never Satan. After all, He created Satan and can flick him away like a pesky fly. Rather, death was His greatest enemy, and death had to be defeated. We note two instances when Christ was greatly disturbed interiorly: When in the presence of the death of His friend Lazarus (Jesus wept, even though He knew He was about to raise Lazarus), and then in the Garden of Gethsemane, as He faced His own torture and death. Death is the wages of our sin. Death is what we deserve. But it is not what God desires for us. He loves us so dearly that, though innocent, He laid down His very life to save us from sin and death. The only ones who cannot escape the wages of sin and will not share in Christ's triumph over death are the ones who do not wish to, who willfully cling to their sins until death comes for them. Until our dying breath, we all are welcome, we all are invited to share in Christ's glorious Resurrection and have eternal life.**
This glorious Easter Day, the Feast of the Resurrection, is the holiest and most joyful feast day of the Church year. Jesus Christ truly rose, bodily, from the dead, and by doing so He defeated the enemy, death, forever!
He is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen! (Don't you all feel like jumping for joy??!)
Luke 24:1-12
the women who had come from Galilee with Jesus
took the spices they had prepared
and went to the tomb.
They found the stone rolled away from the tomb;
but when they entered,
they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
While they were puzzling over this, behold,
two men in dazzling garments appeared to them.
They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground.
They said to them,
“Why do you seek the living one among the dead?
He is not here, but he has been raised.
Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee,
that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners
and be crucified, and rise on the third day.”
And they remembered his words.
Then they returned from the tomb
and announced all these things to the eleven
and to all the others.
The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James;
the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles,
but their story seemed like nonsense
and they did not believe them.
But Peter got up and ran to the tomb,
bent down, and saw the burial cloths alone;
then he went home amazed at what had happened.
** A big hat tip to my priest, Fr. John Ehrich, whose recent homily I summarized in this paragraph.
Yee-haw! Happy Easter! He is risen and out hearts are filled to the brim! Such love and wonder!
ReplyDeleteAmen, brother!
ReplyDeleteMy son and I went to the Easter Vigil last night (never miss it) and it was so glorious! It's hard to express!!!
A Blessed Easter to all the Catholic Bubble family! Just caught
ReplyDeletethe tail end of Raymond Arroyo announcing that Mother Angelica passed away today. What a beautiful person- may she rest in peace.
I heard that! God rest her soul! She had her major stroke many years ago on Christmas Eve, and then to pass to eternal life on Easter.... It's so fitting!
ReplyDelete