Two thousand years later, we still celebrate our Savior’s resurrection and victory over sin and death. And not just on Easter.
Easter is way more than just a one-day celebration — and also more than the Easter Octave and Easter season. Jesus’ death and resurrection is commemorated and celebrated at each and every Mass on the planet — every Sunday, every weekday, at all hours of day or night, all around the world.
Easter is a reminder that “God is able to make everything work unto good, because even from the grave He brings life,” Pope Francis said in his Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world) message on Easter in 2020.
The Easter proclamation “Jesus Christ is risen! He is truly risen!” goes forth from “the night of a world already faced with epochal challenges and now oppressed by a pandemic severely testing our whole human family,” the pope said. “In this night, the Church’s voice rings out: ‘Christ, my hope, is risen!’”
The proclamation of hope, new life and victory over death, he said, should be “a different ‘contagion,’ a message transmitted from heart to heart, for every human heart awaits this good news.”
We are called to continue the Easter message throughout the year. We do it in our workplaces, as an article in this week’s Review explains in highlighting how permanent deacons act according to their calling. We also carry the message through in our families, serving as a source of hope and spreading the Gospel.
We do so in the world at large, much needed as we can see from current events. News of violence such as the recent mass shootings in Atlanta and Boulder, Colorado, call for a much-needed source of healing.
We continue the Easter message by working to erase the sins of racism and injustice in the community, embracing people of all colors, faiths, economic and social backgrounds as our brothers and sisters.
We follow through by supporting people in need through the works of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and Catholic Charities. Our own Annual Catholic Appeal reaches out to people who are hurting and in need of the Church’s comfort and care through the many programs it funds.
One year ago — in celebration of the 25th anniversary of “Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life)” — the U.S. bishops launched an initiative to serve pregnant and parenting mothers facing difficulties, entitled Walking with Moms in Need. Visit www.walkingwithmoms.com and a list of resources at bit.ly/33aqC9p to see how you can help.
It doesn’t matter the ways we choose to do so, it’s just important that we all carry on the Easter message.