Alleluia!  He is Risen!  Alleluia!

Christians, to the Paschal Victim
Offer your thankful praises!
A Lamb the sheep redeems;
Christ, who only is sinless,
Reconciles sinners to the Father.
Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous:
The Prince of life, who died, reigns immortal.
Speak, Mary, declaring
What you saw, wayfaring.
“The tomb of Christ, who is living,
The glory of Jesus’ Resurrection;
bright angels attesting,
The shroud and napkin resting.
Yes, Christ my hope is arisen;
to Galilee He goes before you.”
Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining.
Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning!
Amen. Alleluia.

Victimae Paschali Laudes, also known as the “Easter Sequence,” is an ancient expression of the Church’s worship during the Octave of Easter.  It has remained an official element of the Easter liturgies since its composition in the eleventh century.

The line that impacts the core of my soul is “Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining.”  At the heart of what we celebrate as a Church today is not only has Jesus conquered death in His own life, not only has He emptied the tomb, but He does this so that we can experience it too—truly, fully, really!  Jesus entered the tomb and broke it open, and He wants to do that in our lives too!  Jesus wants us to obtain (get, find, gain, take a hold of) everything He did and experienced in His Resurrection.  That is the great news we celebrate as a Church today.  Alleluia!  Everything He does is for our sake so that everything we do can be for the sake of others too.  The new life that Jesus experiences was handed on to His apostles and then was handed on to their apostles.  This has carried on till this day!  Our celebration of Jesus risen from the dead continues this ripple effect that is continually transforming the world till the end of time!  We have obtained new life in Jesus!  Alleluia!

Alleluia is the core of our message as Christians.  Without it, we have nothing.  St. Paul says, “and if Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching; empty, too, your faith (1 Cor 15:14).  Without the Resurrection, our message is empty.  Without the Resurrection, there is no reason to have faith.  This is the factor that changes everything for us and has changed everything for those who went before us in time.

St. Vincent Ferrer once said, “The greatest of all feast days is Easter Day, the day of the Lord’s Resurrection, because today assurance was given to us to obtain eternal and immortal life in soul and body. Christ gave it to us through His Resurrection, which is the cause and the assurance of our resurrection… Why should we today sing ‘Alleluia, Praise the Lord?’ Because this day we are fed, freed, assured of the truth, and given promises of being endowed, in our resurrection, with the gifts of clarity, agility, brightness and impassibility, which Christ showed in His Resurrection.”

St. John XXIII said this about His Resurrection… “Christianity is not that complex of oppressive factors … but it is peace, it is joy, it is love, it is life that is always renewed, like the secret pulsing of nature at the beginning of spring. The source of this joy is in the Risen Christ, who frees men from the slavery of sin, and invites them to be with Him a new creature, waiting for blessed eternity.”

As we enter the Easter season, let’s pray for the grace to embrace what the Resurrection means so devotedly that we echo the words of St. Francis of Assisi with our lives… “All I want to know is Christ and the power flowing from His Resurrection!”

Alleluia!  He is Risen!

Fr. Jeremy

P.S.  On Sunday, April 7 at 3:00pm we will gather in the Church for a Divine Mercy Sunday Prayer Service.  This is a great opportunity to pray for the world and for us as we continually open up our lives to the power of His Resurrection.