HAPPY EASTER

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it” (Ps. 118:24).

As we continue to celebrate Easter, in this 1st week of the Easter Season, we have every reason to rejoice.

For the Risen Christ has conquered death, freed us from slavery to sin, and empowered each of us to become a new creation in Christ.

So throughout this Easter season, let us make our own, the prayer of St. Paul:

“All I want to know is Christ and the power flowing from of his Resurrection…” (Phil 3:10).

St. Paul is referring to “one thing.” This one thing should shape our whole life: a living, personal knowledge of Christ and a participation in what Christ has done - especially His Resurrection.

By “knowing” St. Paul does not mean only having the correct ideas. He is seeking a knowledge that changes you - a relationship with Christ that grows through faith and imitation. St Thomas Aquinas explains that St. Paul wants this knowledge in two senses:

First, by knowing Christ’s person and what happened in His Resurrection. And second, a practical knowledge - that is knowing Christ by becoming like Him in real life.

The Resurrection is not just an event in the past. The Resurrection has real power that reaches into the present: It is the power that transforms a person and guarantees hope beyond death. 

Through our baptism we are joined with Christ in his suffering and death and resurrection. Our sufferings in this world are overcome through Christ’ love and mercy...through the power of the resurrection, our trials will be turned into great joy, like the Apostles when they saw the risen Lord.

May God Bless You during this season of Easter

Deacon John