St. Anthony the Abbot Catholic Church

When members of the Early Church wished someone a Happy Easter, they did it with an affirmation of faith: “Christ is Risen.” The customary response is “He is Truly Risen!” Although this is not as customary in the Latin Rite Churches it is still very common in the Eastern Churches as well as many Countries today.

 

One day an Orthodox bishop in the Soviet Union was asked to present the Christian position in a debate on religion. A6er letting the fervent Communist opposing him have the first word, a long discourse explaining that God didn’t exist, much less the Son of God, and extolling the virtues of Communism, it was the bishop’s turn to head to the podium. The bishop simply said, “Christ is Risen.” The audience, some out of faith, many out of habit, responded: “He is Truly Risen.” “Thank you,” replied the patriarch, and returned to his seat. Nothing more needed to be said.

 

This morning we should relish the great victory Christ has won for us by His resurrection and thank Him for giving us a share in it. How different our day-to-day lives would be if we believed this truth with our whole hearts! We know the future! We know what's in store!

 

How can we let the power of Christ's resurrection seep into the depths of our minds and hearts? There is one very simple thing we can do that will make all the difference: Keep the Lord's Day Holy. Every Sunday of the year is a solemnity, a day dedicated to the cornerstone of our faith: the Resurrection. This is why the Church has made Sunday Mass obligatory - to make sure we don't forget about the Resurrection! To make sure we remember where we're going! But we need to do our part, too.

 

Coming to Mass is the essential. But if we want to live our Sundays to the full, if we want our lives to take on the rhythm of the Resurrection, we have to use our creativity and imagination to make the whole day different. The way a Catholic lives Sunday should be different than the way a non-Catholic lives Sunday.

 

Today, the greatest Sunday of the year, let us honor the Lord not only with our voices, but also in our hearts. Let us promise Him that between now and Pentecost we will use our creativity to make our Sundays different. And let us ask Him to give us a hand.