Last year, on Easter Morning, I was rushing out of the rectory to celebrate the 7:30 a.m. Mass. Some parishioners were also heading toward the church when one man said: Father Ron, have you heard the news? Intrigued because I hadn’t listened to any news that morning, I said no. He said: He IS Risen!!!

I stopped dead in my tracks. Of course that was the news of the day, but I was so busy with all the details of Holy Week and then the business of celebrating Mass on Easter, I realized how I had just taken the “news” for granted. I was and am extremely grateful to that man for his impromptu reminder to me. He didn’t know I needed to stop and remember; but God did and delivered an important message to me through him.

How easy it is for us to take for granted the powerful mystery and message of this awesome day. It is really mind boggling to think that someone who died so violently on Good Friday has truly come back to life three days later; that His Resurrection is the fulfillment of His promise so long ago.

Easter Eggs and Easter bonnets, Easter hams and Easter bunnies are all signs of the season. But all those signs in our culture point toward the greatest sign of all which we celebrate today: Death no longer has power over us. Death leads to new life in the kingdom of heaven.

A woman who recently lost her husband said to me “ I don’t think I could go on if I didn’t think I would see him again in heaven”.

What a wonderful God we have who knows our hurts and knows our needs and provides for us so abundantly.

Listen then to the news: He is Risen from the dead and even the dead have life in Him!!!