Every Easter we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus and with Jesus the Resurrection of all who believe in Him.

Let me explain: Easter is about new life.

First of all, it is about the Resurrection of Jesus and the joyful outcome of his life of service. All the death-dealing forces of the world and of evil could not overcome His spirit for he is risen from the dead. He is alive!

Secondly, Easter is also about our resurrection too. People find it easier, I suspect, to accept Christ’s Resurrection than their own personal Resurrection which Christ made possible for them at Easter. The theological truth is that we have been raised from the dead because Jesus has freed us from death to sin. Death to sin is worse than death of the body because it is spiritual death. Spiritual death is enslavement to base passions and desires, to entrapment in a world of evil, prejudice, malice, viciousness and selfishness. Jean Jacques Rousseau understood human nature very well when he said, “man is born free but everywhere is in chains.” We have been set free of those chains by Jesus who liberated us from slavery to sin. What a reason to rejoice! What a reason for giving thanks to God for such a blessed gift on this wonderful day!

The New life of the Resurrection is the good news that Jesus preached while he walked the earth. Accept the gospel and you will be free! Accept the gospel and you will find your bliss! The Bible tells us that God created all of nature, including human nature, and that it was good. But, the Bible also teaches us that nature is not all that good. Not that the world we live in or the people we live with are bad, but the world and the people in it can lead us astray if they are not redeemed by grace.

The Easter message shows what can happen when people give God a chance. God can raise us up if we work with his grace. He can raise us up right now, give us new life, help us to fight corruption, make us whole and fill us with joy. That is what Easter is all about.

Rejoice that you can rise in the morning to a brand new day. Rejoice that you have good friends who are tried and true. Rejoice that God’s grace is at work in your family, in your community, in your church, and with whomever you meet and wherever you go for God is everywhere if you only respond to His grace. Cast aside jealousy, pettiness, vindictiveness, deceit, double-dealing, and all forms of worldly selfishness. These base instincts have no place in the lives of Easter people.

Break forth in freedom and inner song for Jesus, our Savior, has risen this day. Alleluia!

Fr. Hugh Duffy