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Risen and With Us Always

Posted on April 4, 2023 by Published by

The beginning and the end, the past and future meet and are fulfilled on this day when Jesus has risen. Jesus Christ died, but He lives!

Today the Easter message is more urgent than ever. The state of our faith, too, is so important because we are living in difficult and uncertain times. All around us there is social, political, economic, moral, and spiritual confusion—very much like the chaos and confusion that the disciples experienced in the wake and aftermath of Jesus’ arrest, crucifixion, and death. Where were they to go? To whom should they turn?

Throughout Jesus’ crucifixion and after His death, the Apostles turned to Mary; they remained with Her in the upper room until the Resurrection. She was their beacon of hope and their security. It was She who kept them spiritually safe. This reminds us that even today, we must turn to Our Lady, entrust ourselves and our families to Her Immaculate Heart, and She will see to it that we pass through this time and reach spiritual maturity safe and unscathed.

In such a time of turmoil yet fulfillment the Apostles were given a great gift: the gift to “see” the Risen Lord. They did not see Him directly, however; they saw His absence through the eyes of faith. When the Apostles found themselves at the empty tomb, they saw and believed, not because Jesus was in front of them, but because He was absent. This reminds us that the gift of faith deepens and grows stronger when we truly believe in the Lord, even when we do not see Him or feel Him present to us. Often in the events of our life, the Lord might seem absent, but He is truly present with us, closer than we can imagine.

The generations of believers who will come after us will follow in our faith and actions, just as we have followed the faith of those before us, reaching back to the Apostles. For this reason, it is very important on this Easter morning in the year 2023 to ask ourselves: “What is the state of my faith and how can I come to believe more deeply in the coming of the Lord into my life?” I would like to suggest that you ask this important question in Our Lady’s loving Presence because She is always interceding for us to make sure that each of us grows ever deeper in faith and closeness with Her Son, Jesus Christ.

On this beautiful Easter Sunday, I would like to wish all of you a very blessed, joy-filled, and hopeful day! Jesus Christ is truly risen, and we have nothing to fear!

Yours in Christ,
Father Arthur

Readings for Easter Sunday, The Resurrection of the Lord: Lectionary 42

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