Light of Christ shatters the darkness

My Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

A very blessed and happy Easter to you all!

In each of our lives, we experience darkness. Our weakness, our sin and the burdens and crosses we carry every day can bring darkness into our lives and into our families. This Easter, we are acutely aware of the crosses others carry: The war in Ukraine, civil unrest throughout the globe that results in suffering and violence, and natural disasters such as the tornado in Arabi that caused so much destruction and a long road to recovery.

Easter is our celebration that brings light into the darkness.

Each year, it strikes me as so poignant that as we begin the celebration of the Easter Vigil service on Holy Saturday – the high point of the church’s liturgical year – the church is in complete darkness and a fire is lit outside the church. From that fire, we light the paschal candle, a sign of the risen Christ.

As we process into the church with the lit Easter candle, we sing three times, “The Light of Christ!” Our grateful response to each proclamation is, “Thanks be to God.”

Those words and the procession with the paschal candle symbolize that the Risen Christ comes to bring light into our darkness and invites each of us to be open to that light through our continued prayers and our actions to bring about peace and hope in a fractured world.

As we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord this Easter, we are reminded that it is not just one day but a season – 50 days from Easter to Pentecost. In these coming weeks, we celebrate our Lord’s glorious Resurrection from the dead and his Ascension into heaven. The season culminates with the great Feast of Pentecost, when we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit and our Lord’s instruction to go make disciples of all women and men, reminding us that we are called to bring the light of Christ to others.

As we joyfully proclaim “Alleluia” this Easter, let us recall that our  faith flows from our Lord’s Resurrection, and that our celebration is one of joy and victory over death through the light of Christ.

Happy Easter!