“We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song. Let us sing ‘alleluia’ here and now in this life, even though we are oppressed by various worries, so that we may sing it one day in the world to come, when we are set free from all anxiety... How happy will our shout of ‘alleluia’ be as we enter heaven, how carefree, how secure from any assault, where no enemy lurks and no friend dies... Advance in virtue, in true faith, and in right conduct. Sing up!"
— St. Augustine
I recently read a story about a seminarian who had an elderly priest teach him. The priest said, “Life is a series of ‘Good Fridays’ with an occasional ‘Easter’ thrown in just to keep us going.” But the idealistic young man objected, saying, “No, life is an endless ‘Easter’ with some ‘Good Fridays’ thrown in to keep us on our toes!”
Throughout all of our journeys, we come to know that both the young seminarian and older priest were right. Life is a mixture of Good Fridays and Easter Sundays. For without Good Fridays there can be no Easters. Yes, life is sometimes painfully cruel but our Easter moments are more powerful than all our Good Friday moments put together. In the words of Michael Leach, author of Why Stay Catholic:
Good Friday means you can nail beauty to a cross but you can’t destroy it. Easter means you can bury love in a cave but it won’t stay there. We begin to die the moment we’re born. But Jesus gives us new life the moment He dies. Jesus was our Savior and the greatest teacher who ever lived. How wonderful to know that He rose from the dead as He promised to demonstrate that everything He taught about being loving and at peace was true.
I recall in serving as hospital chaplain at Mercy, an ER nurse of 25 years named Kathy telling me that when people come into the emergency room, they are fearful, frightened and anxious. So she was always reassuring, comforting, and calming them. She said that her goal is to take them from Good Fridays of darkness to Easter Sundays of hopefulness and light.
The word “Easter” comes from a Greek word, Paskha, and a Hebrew word, Pesah. In many European languages the words for Passover and Easter are etymologically related. Easter is the central feast of the Christian liturgical year. In 325, the first Council of Nicea established Easter as the first Sunday following the full moon that occurs on or after the vernal equinox. (Vernal means spring-like, and equinox from the Latin meaning equal and night.) Thus at this time of the year, night and day have about equal length.
The Paschal Triduum is the very heart of the liturgical year. And in the New Testament Jesus gave Passover a new meaning at the Last Supper by becoming the new Passover Lamb to be slain once and for all. Jesus’ Passover from death to life is central for our belief. At Easter we have the Easter fire, the Easter candle, the Easter water, the Easter scriptures, Easter Baptismal promises, the Easter-baptized Christians, the Easter Exultet, the Easter Gloria, the Easter banners, the Easter lilies, the Easter baskets, and the Easter people.
We’ve heard so many times that Jesus died to save us from our sins, but would we believe it if there wasn’t an Easter? Our solemn, sober, sorrowful Good Friday makes us mourn and lament our woeful, sinful condition. If we look just at our failures, weaknesses and sinfulness, we can easily be dismayed. But the Christian looks to Christ who spurs us to the hope of holiness in a new life, which swallows up death for our salvation. Christ took the rap for our sinfulness and set us free from the enslavements of sin. Sin puts us in bondage and exile, but Christ died to free us and bring us home. Resurrection is a time of renewal, rebirth, recreation, and recommitment to awaken in us the joy, the gratitude, the praise and the peace of being a believer of the Promised One. Christ’s faithfulness and generous grace lifts from our hearts the boulders of our sinfulness pinning us down. He allows us to walk free from the shackles that constrict our movement to the light.
As I celebrate my fourth Easter here at St. Joseph Parish, I am grateful to God for your faith, reverence, prayerfulness, humility, charity, witness, sacrifice, passion for Christ and desire to serve His Church. It was heart-warming to walk and accompany over 100 people for our Holy Thursday Seven Church Walk after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. Seeing all the ages of the people on that pilgrimage was inspiring to me. It made me reflect on how Holy Week is about walking, accompanying, knowing, companioning — that Jesus constantly invites us to walk with Him daily, and to accompany Him on His way to His death and resurrection. He desires us to be near and He wants us to be close. He wants us to help one another be better friends and disciples, spurring us to His holy Kingdom.
We thank the youth of our parish for their portrayal of Living Stations of the Cross on Palm Sunday. We appreciate the long practices of our choir members, cantors, lectors, instrumentalists who lift our hearts to praise God through inspired songs. We are edified by the great numbers of persons who took seriously the call to “Create in me a clean heart” by coming to Confession. We are ever touched by those who tidy up the house of God and make it aesthetically beautiful, arranging the sacred space so beautifully — for our baptismal font welcoming our new-born Christians. We thank those who gave donations for flowers in honor of their loved ones, and those who fulfilled their mite cards to benefit the poor. We welcome with great joy those born in water and the spirit at Easter and welcome them to our Catholic faith community through the Sacraments of Initiation. Our parish is blessed by the Volante Fund which makes Easter dinners available to the less fortunate. We thank Fr. Gerry Rogala and Fr. Joe Calderone for helping at our parish in this busy season. To our faithful staff who always gives unselfishly and joyfully, being glad minstrels of God’s love, many thanks. And for all our visitors, who come to worship with us at Easter, may we renew our Baptismal promises and walk in His light.
Alleluia, He is Risen! Happy Easter!
