Reflection From

Fr. John

April 20, 2025

Wow! What a glorious day! Far beyond the meaning of any secular holiday, Easter Sunday is truly a cut above the rest! Easter, the Sunday of glory, celebrates the ultimate meaning of life, our ultimate destiny, and the promise of life-eternal.

Through His Resurrection, our Lord Jesus blew open the gates of heaven. Our true homeland is now definitively revealed. Through the Resurrection of Christ, life unending, a place at the celestial banquet, and eternal joy in the presence of God have been made available for his people who, washed clean in Baptism and by a life nourished through the sacraments, are counted among the redeemed. For us Catholics, what could compare? This day is meant to shape the entire trajectory of our lives. This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad! Alleluia!!

So many people try to take a short cut. They live their lives on the earthly plane of existence, as if that's all there is. They think that their reality is the total reality, that their secular and independent view of life is the only frame of reference that truly matters. After all, aren't we the "center of the universe" we presume? Today's Easter solemnity, however, celebrates the transcendent meaning of life, a spiritual plane of existence, the filter through which all else has meaning. Easter reveals to us the Paschal Mystery, the dying and rising of Christ, as the interpretive key through which our earthly sojourn finds its ultimate frame of reference. It is all made possible through the triumphant Resurrection of Christ, who died to set us free from the limitations of a broken world and from myopic and individualistic thinking. A life lived in the wake of the Resurrection, lived on the spiritual plane of existence, brings us a depth and breath of grace and life that is beyond the ability of this world to manipulate. Since the time of the fall, the flood, the wanderings in the desert, and jealousies of secular and religious authorities, and the misguidedness of a world without God, mankind has always gotten it wrong. Jesus, however, reveals that it doesn't have to be that way. The sadness of sin and selfishness do not have the ultimate word. He has the ultimate word. He is the Eternal Word; a life-giving Word. It is a trajectory made possible by the obedience of the Son to the Eternal Father. It is a life revealed by Christ’s Resurrection, whose impulse is felt among us even still, and leads our choices to be aligned with his. The Risen Christ reveals the way of life.

Do not be fooled by a world that offers easy answers, fleeting pleasures, a life that we presume to control. Rather, life in Christ shows another way. A more fulfilling way. A kingdom of justice, love and peace, as the prism through we will find life and have it in abundance. His Resurrection is the prelude for our own embrace of his resurrected life. I invite you to embrace the Lord, live for him, keep him at the center of your life, allow a Christian vision of living to guide your steps. Easter reminds us of what is possible in Christ, risen from the tomb. For, where He has gone, we hope to follow. Yes! This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad! Alleluia!!

Happy Easter!!

Father Davis

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