Christus Resurrexit!
Easter Sunday—The Resurrection of Our Lord
Easter morning.
For many, this is THE church event of the year. Nothing can compare to that easter morning feeling when, at least here in the states, we all show up in our best pastel colors to celebrate the Risen Christ.
Still, Easter can be a hit or miss event. A wild thought when it is the seminal solemnity of our religious lives. But nevertheless, a truth that must be embraced.
If we look even to Mary Magdalene, we can see how we miss this seminal event. She goes to the tomb in darkness, she has expectations to encounter death. Yet what she finds will reshape the world. And as soon as she encounters this, she goes to tell others. This is the joy of the resurrection, and this is the joy of Christ. Then it is the “other disciple” (cheeky John), then Peter, then all the others. Each one had expectations. They had to see to believe. And it is told to us as to why:
For they did not yet understand the Scripture
that he had to rise from the dead.
A moment that I feel we should all love more in the Easter Day liturgies is the sequence, Victimæ paschali laudes. In it we get the rare opportunity to hear a sequence that has been preserved into the Novus Ordo. So, as an Easter blessing to you all:
Christians, to the Paschal Victim
Offer your thankful praises!
A Lamb the sheep redeems;
Christ, who only is sinless,
Reconciles sinners to the Father.
Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous:
The Prince of life, who died, reigns immortal.
Speak, Mary, declaring
What you saw, wayfaring.
“The tomb of Christ, who is living,
The glory of Jesus’ resurrection;
bright angels attesting,
The shroud and napkin resting.
Yes, Christ my hope is arisen;
to Galilee he goes before you.”
Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining.
Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning!
Amen. Alleluia.
Do not let Easter pass you by. The blessings of Our Lord are upon us in the joy and fruit of this season which calls us all to be an Easter people with alleluia as our song, in the words of St. Pope John Paul II. Let our alleluias be raised to God for His triumph over death and the cross; and may we, like the disciples, fulfill the great commission.
Christus resurrexit!
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Feast Day Spotlight
Easter Sunday—The Resurrection of the Lord
The earliest Christian preaching, as seen in Acts, is strikingly simple: “We are witnesses.” The Resurrection is not presented first as an idea, but as a reality encountered, eaten with, spoken to.
This grounds the Church’s entire liturgical life. The liturgy does not recreate Christ—it bears witness to Him.
In the early centuries, mystagogical catechesis (post-baptismal teaching) was considered essential during the Easter season. Figures like Saint Cyril of Jerusalem would instruct the newly baptized not before, but after the sacraments—because only participation made understanding possible.
As he writes:
“You have been led by the hand to the holy pool of divine Baptism… and each of you was asked whether he believed.”
The order matters: encounter, then understanding.
The liturgy still follows this logic.
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