Christ is risen…He is risen indeed!
Do you know the "Paschal Greeting”? It is what I wrote above where we greet people on Easter with “Christ is risen,” and they respond with “He is risen indeed!” This is a tradition in almost all of Christendom, especially in the Eastern Churches, but this is certainly also a tradition in the Latin Church. This is a good tradition for us to keep, because it is our greatest truth!
St. Paul wrote, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.“ (1 Corinthians 15:17)
Everything hangs on the historical fact that Jesus is risen which we celebrate on Easter. Our faith is built upon it as St. Paul said. Jesus is who he says he is, and he proves it by rising from the dead. Many in the world might believe Jesus was an historical person and a good teacher. But what sets Jesus apart, and what makes us Christian, is that He rose from the dead. Thus, we believe all of his claims, that he is the Son of God, that he is the “way and the truth and the life”, and that “no one goes to the Father except through him.” The Resurrection was attested to by many witnesses, including the Apostles, who went to their deaths proclaiming it. And so too the Holy Spirit speaks to the hearts of believers in witness of the Resurrection.
Although we may think we have to wait for ourselves to experience the Resurrection, and it is true we do have to wait for the Resurrection of our bodies which will occur at the end of time after our deaths. But we already do experience the Resurrection through the Sacraments, in particular Baptism, which restores our souls to the life of grace when they were dead by sin. The Resurrection gives us a new spiritual life already in this world.
St. Paul said, “Or are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.” (Romans 6:3-4) And this is why we also have
traditions of Baptisms, renewal of baptismal promises, blessing of water, sprinkling rites, and so on in the Easter Season.
I hope you too experience again the power of the Resurrection. Certainly, we should experience this in the Sacrament of the Eucharist where we receive the Risen Body of Christ. I hope we can also enjoy the Easter traditions of the Paschal Greeting and blessed water (we are giving out bottles of blessed water, since currently we don’t have the normal fonts as you enter). Christ is risen, and that has made all the difference!
May God bless you abundantly this Easter!