Jesus Christ has risen from the dead!
The Lord has risen. And this truth forces us to grow more, to love more, and to live our faith fully. Jesus Christ sent his disciples to go forth before the world as faithful witnesses to his Resurrection. And we, gathered here in this celebration of the Holy Mass of Easter also are sent by him to witness to our faith in the world. The disciples faithfully fulfilled the Gospel message that the Master gave them. Christ invites us Christians to follow him faithfully as the first Christians did. But we should know that we can only discover and follow the risen Christ through our love and our giving of ourselves.
Yes. The Lord has truly risen. And his Resurrection is the most telling argument for his divinity. All Catholics have an obligation to announce the Resurrection of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, to the world, to proclaim this marvelous news not only in our words but in our life. We should be faithful witnesses to this Resurrection as were the Apostles.
Today should be for us Christians a day of joy. Christ lives! Today he is here, in this community, celebrating with us and with the universal Church, the most marvelous and greatest event in the history of salvation. We have been freed from slavery by Our Lord and Savior. The Resurrection of Christ brought us freedom from sin. Our mission as Christians is to separate ourselves from anything in this world that binds us, to proclaim the reality of Christ through our works and our words.
Today is a day for joy. Joy is the clearest way to give thanks to God. We always should be joyful and kind to others and today we have a greater reason for this. Our God is a joyful God. The Lord wants us to enjoy life free from sin and free from all anxiety. He enjoys seeing us trying to better ourselves spiritually. He enjoys seeing us joyful.
This Mass we are celebrating is the Easter Mass, the celebration of the risen Christ. The Church is alive because Jesus is alive. The Resurrection of the Lord is the sign that Christ makes his dwelling among us, showing us the way to new life, to our liberation. The Lord has risen! And with his resurrection he has shown us that all his teachings are true. So, let us be joyful! There are no more doubts about the divinity of Jesus Christ. The tomb is empty. And this gives us hope to take the Word of Christ to the world until the end of time. Let us shine our light on all humanity so that when they see our good works they will become one with us glorifying our Father who is in heaven.