From Our Pastor: Alleluia, He Is Risen!

Announce this message with triumphant joy. As the Easter Sequence states, "Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining. Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning. Amen Alleluia!" We rejoice in the victory of Christ over death opening the gates of everlasting life.

This message is what the world needs to hear, especially after this year of loneliness, sorrow, sickness, death, and fear. Christ has conquered death, so we who believe and follow Him and live our faith immersed in the sacraments and God's grace, have no fear of suffering or death. Christ has won the victory and made the resurrection a reality for all who follow Him in His Church.

We struggle so much with faith in Christ Jesus and His resurrection but see these eyewitness accounts in the Gospel today. Peter, John, and Mary Magdalene all saw the empty tomb. They had nothing to gain from lying about the resurrection. They didn't gain power or clout or prestige or money. In fact, to the contrary. They lost it all for the message of the resurrection, even with their lives. They received mockery, torture, anger, exile, imprisonment, giving any wealth or goods to the whole community and the needy, and yes even their very lives. Think about it, would you allow yourself to be tortured and brutally martyred for a lie? Would you lie and gain no power or prestige or wealth? No one would do all of that for a lie. They would only be willing to offer literally everything for THE TRUTH.

Christ tells us He is the way, the truth, and the life. May we embrace that truth in our lives and be willing to lay down our lives for the truth of Christ and His resurrection. If we aren't there, then open your heart to the immensity of His grace in the sacraments, and you will be amazed with the courage God will give you by His grace. Search the traditions and scriptures and find those eyewitness accounts and then read their stories and their brutal ends. See what they were willing to offer to testify to what they saw. When we proclaim these gospels at the Mass, remember that we live them again as if we are there. So therefore, YOU become witnesses yourself to what took place and corroborate the stories of those eyewitnesses that came before you.

Be willing to proclaim this Easter message of salvation and love. A true rescue story of God diving into the messiness of humanity to open the way to salvation in His Church. Happy Easter to you and your families today and always. Know of my immensity of gratitude for your witness of Christ to me. Now go and be witnesses to a world that needs that message of victory. The tomb is empty! Christ has risen from the dead! Alleluia Alleluia!

Rev. Steven Arisman