Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday is the greatest of all Sundays, and Easter Timeis the most important of all liturgical times. Easter is the celebration of theLord’s resurrection from the dead, culminating in his Ascension to the Fatherand sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. It is characterized, above all,by the joy of glorified life and the victory over death, expressed most fullyin the great resounding cry of the Christian: Alleluia!

All faith flows from faith in the resurrection: “If Christhas not been raised, then empty is our preaching; empty, too, is your faith.”(1 Corinthians 15:14)

“What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies. And whatyou sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel of wheat, perhaps, orof some other kind; … So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sowncorruptible; it is raised incorruptible. It is sown dishonorable; it is raisedglorious. It is sown weak; it is raised powerful. It is sown a natural body; itis raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also aspiritual one. So, too, it is written, ‘The first man, Adam, became a livingbeing,’ the last Adam a life-giving spirit. … Just as we have borne the imageof the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one” (1Corinthians 15:36-37, 42-49).

In her icon of St. Mary Magdalen, called “The Apostle tothe Apostles”, +Sister Mary Charles McGough showed the moment when MaryMagdalen arrived at the Upper Room to tell the frightened Apostles that Jesuswas alive! Alive! Let us rejoice! Alleluia!