¡Alleluia! Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. ¡Alleluia!

What is the meaning of the resurrection for the lives of those who belong to Christ? Joined to Christ, we are to live a new life. Having risen with Christ from the dead, the old way of life must be left behind, giving way to eternal life.

Aren’t we like the first followers of Christ? Though we acknowledge the risen Christ, we are not able to fully grasp its depth. We misunderstand God’s mysterious plans and look for a “quick fix” in the spiritual journey, ready to give up when the Lord is asking us to give more, to wait longer, to persevere to the very end. We, like the first followers, do not comprehend all that God has in store for us. That is part of the nature of the mystery: God’s working within us cannot be weighed or measured. We must live with the conviction that the tomb is empty because Christ is risen. Death has been swallowed up in victory, once and for all.

The thrust of risen life is linked with practical expressions of belief: sincerity and truth, honesty and uprightness in God’s presence. Easter is the most fitting time to celebrate life, to treasure life in all its forms, at all its stages, from womb to tomb. Beyond the tomb is life eternal, a share in the eternal love of God, which has no limit, no end, only joy and peace without measure.

We are now invited to step into the new life of the risen Christ, never looking back, but only ahead, to the One who has the power to make us whole. Amid so much we have experienced this past Lenten Season, let us look at the beauty of what the Resurrection brings to us rather than look at a pandemic that simply takes from us. Before the eternal life is ours, we must remember that there is a life to be lived. So, let us live this life with the One who has conquered death, emptied the tomb and given us every reason to Rejoice and Celebrate a life worth living in His Love and Joy.

A song from the tradition of the Christian Eastern Church expresses the mystery we now celebrate: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!”

May we sing the Alleluias this Easter Sunday and from myself, Father Jose, and all of us here at the Cathedral: “We wish you and your loved ones a happy and blessed Easter! Rejoice in this Glorious Day & Season!