Easter Sunday! Alleluia! He is Risen!

Today, Easter Sunday,  should be a day of unbridled joy for Christians.  By His death and resurrection 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior opened the gates of heaven for us.

We should no longer fear death, yet many still do.  Perhaps this is because they know they are living less than virtuous lives.  They’ve  given in to earthly desires and slowly pushed God out of their lives.  They’ve made their lives on earth more important than their immortal souls and spending all of eternity with God.

The Passion

Today should be a day of reflection.  Jesus did not just die for us, He suffered and died a horrible and agonizing death.  As God, He knew the agony He would have to endure, yet He willingly did so out of love for us.

But today many people will not give too much thought to our Lord’s Passion.  They will spend the day having fun.  Even if they can’t attend sporting events they can still watch Major League Baseball games, the PGA Valero Texas Open, Hockey, and Basketball games on television.  I suspect a lot of people will also go shopping and many will recreate in one way or another at home.

Usually on Easter Sunday, my stomach is still somewhat knotted up from thinking about our Lord’s agony on Good Friday.  If you’ve never seen Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” you should make a point to watch it.  And have your older children and grandchildren watch it with you.

A Day of Rejoicing

Today should be a day of rejoicing.  Our Lord Jesus Christ has conquered death.

Many people, however, are still living in an irrational state of fear of death.  They’ve been living this way for the last year.  They are afraid of a virus with a survivability rate of 99.8 percent.

They’ve let the secular world convince them that staying home and “social distancing” are more important than going to Mass on Sunday, worshipping God, and receiving the Eucharist.  Even worse, many of our bishops and even our Pope agreed with such thinking.

A year ago the medical “experts” really didn’t know that much about “the virus.”  But today we know it is not the killer it was thought to be.  There are even very effective treatments for it.  But our secular, progressive  government along with their media lapdogs, does little to spread this news.  They want us to live in fear.  We are more controllable this way.

Keep holy the LORD’S Day

Today, on Easter Sunday, the Holiest day of the year, every Catholic capable of attending Mass should have done so.  Yet many (most?) Catholic churches are still limiting attendance at Mass and obeying tyrannical, even draconian orders about occupancy rates in churches.

I know that Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom, but I don’t think this means Peter or his successors were given the authority to overrule God.  The Third Commandment is pretty clear: Remember to keep holy the LORD’S Day.  Nowhere does it say, “Except in times of fear over a virus with a survivability rate of 99.8 percent.”

The Archbishop of Detroit has exempted anyone over 65 from attending Mass in the archdiocese for the foreseeable future.  But I and my wife, both of us over 65, were at Mass today on Easter.  And we will be going to Mass every Sunday for as long as we are physically able to do so.

Do Not Fear Death

There’s an old adage that death is hardest on the living.  Jesus’ apostles knew this only too well.  They were lost and grieving until He appeared to them in the locked room (John 20:19-20).

But we should not live in fear of death if we are doing our best to “practice our faith.”  It’s when we stop practicing trying to live virtuous lives that bad habits take over.  This is probably why there are so many lapsed-Catholics in the world.

I know I still have a lot of practicing to do.  I am nowhere close to being a saint, but I don’t fear death.  No doubt I will have to spend some time in purgatory but I can accept that in the hope that I will be with God in heaven eventually.

Thank You Jesus for Your sacrifice for us.

Alleluia! He is Risen!