CHRIST IS RISEN!
HE IS TRULY RISEN!
IN GREEK: CHRISTOS ANESTI!
ALITHOS ANESTI!
IN LATIN: CHRISTUS RESURREXIT!
RESURREXIT VERE!
This is our greeting throughout the Easter Season! So, don’t be surprised if I say this to you instead of hello or good morning! And be prepared for the Latin and the Greek!
After 6 weeks of Lent, we celebrate 8 weeks of Easter! Our Lord, who was dead, has been raised and is alive! What a wonderous mystery! We walked with Him in His passion, suffering, and death. We now live with Him in His resurrection! St. Paul writes to the Colossians and to us, “If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.” Our lives should be focused, fixed, and founded on what awaits us in heaven. Every choice before us chosen in light of eternal life with Christ in glory. Jesus has conquered sin and death by his own death and resurrection. He has opened the way to eternal life where every tear will be wiped away and every pain healed. So, my brothers and sisters, we seek what is above.
We live in the hope, the life, the freedom, the light He gives us! In these 8 weeks of Easter, I challenge us, our St. James family, to do things that will open our hearts and lives to Jesus in a deeper way so that we can then share Him with others. For these next 8 weeks until we celebrate Pentecost (and beyond if you want to continue), I encourage each of us to spend 10 minutes every day reading the Gospel of the day. Read it once slowly. Read it again. Put yourself in the scene as a character or as an extra character. Think about a word or a phrase that struck you.
Where can you find the Gospel of the Day? Here are some places you can find it. Here are a few resources online or on your phone: Magnificat, the Word Among Us, Hallow. Online you can find them through the USCCB (www.usccb.org), EWTN (www.ewtn.com), and other websites. If you want something to hold in your hand, you can get Magnificat (visit www.magnificat.com), The Word Among Us (we have a limited supply each month so it might be good to subscribe at www.wau.org), or Give us this Day (visit www.giveusthisday.org).
May the Lord Jesus abundantly bless you this Easter Season! A Blessed Easter to you all!
Christ is Risen!
He is truly risen!
St. James the Less, pray for us!
~ Fr. Daniel Firmin