The Risen Christ

Thank you to everyone who made our Easter celebration such a wonderful event. It was a tremendous joy for us to welcome, at the Easter Vigil, six people who were baptised. We also welcomed seven people into Full Communion with the Catholic church. Alongside these two groups, seven adults received the fullness of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation. Sadly, at the 9:30am Mass last Sunday, we forgot to give Easter eggs to the children. But no matter, this Sunday is the Octave of Easter so we will share eggs then.

Today is the eighth day of the Octave of Easter as we continue the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection with joy and faith. Let us persevere in prayer for the gift of peace for the whole world. This Octave of Easter is not ‘just another week’ but a single great prolonged day, where the Church lives intensely the joy of the presence of the Risen Christ and the mercy that flows from his victory. Indeed, the Octave is part of the Easter Season, which is described as a ‘week of weeks’ (50 days in all), culminating on Pentecost Sunday. Easter commemorates the central event of Christianity, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. For this reason, it is not limited to a single day but extends as a continuous time of joy. It is as if the Church were saying, the Resurrection is so important that it does not fit into 24 hours.

The message of Easter is so extraordinary that we too can find it difficult to fully take it in. It is much easier for us to relate to the suffering of Christ than to the Mystery of His Resurrection. Perhaps this is because suffering is something we know so well in our own lives. That is why images of the Cross are so familiar to us, while the Resurrection can feel more elusive. Artists have always depicted more images of the Cross than of the Resurrection. Like the disciples, we struggle to comprehend it. This is why the Church has given us Eastertide, a season when we have time to grow into the reality of the risen Christ.

Let us pray, God of eternal compassion, each Easter you rekindle the faith of us, your consecrated people. Give us still greater grace, so that we may all truly understand the waters in which we were cleansed, the Spirit by which we were reborn, the blood by which we have been redeemed. Amen.