He is Risen, He is Risen indeed!  Today friends we gather to celebrate that Jesus Christ lives. He is not confined to the history books. He lives.

Now I’ve been Catholic my whole life but I just this year came to think about and consider something of the magnitude of what Jesus says when he says, “I AM THE RESURRECTION” in John 11:25.  I think most people, if I were to ask them, “What is the resurrection,” most would say, “That’s that time that Jesus rose from the dead.” Or something like that.  Which is a fair enough answer. But it’s not enough!

Jesus doesn’t say, “I’m going to do the resurrection and be done with it.” He says I AM THE RESURRECTION.  The resurrection is not something Jesus just “did” once or twice, nor is resurrection simply something he simply “does” now. It is what he is always doing, it’s who he is. The resurrection transcends and surpasses history.

Jesus is the resurrection. And you and I, we have the blessing and utter grace to be part of the resurrection. Because on the day of our baptism, our parents and godparents carried us into Jesus, into his body the church, and at that moment once and for all we entered into his resurrection.  We entered into a risen, living, breathing, resurrecting Jesus! We entered into his living body the Church!  We are caught up in the resurrection, and because we are part of his living, risen, resurrecting body.  He is resurrecting every moment, every day, because he can’t not do that…it’s who he is!

Jesus did not create us or anyone to be prisoners of hell! He doesn’t want us to stay in the shadow of death. Instead, he announces to us: RISE!! I CAME AND ROSE THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE LIFE, and HAVE IT TO THE FULL.  Today we celebrate the gift of new life. Jesus pumps new life into the Church. We thank God for all of our new members! The coming spring is a reminder that Life Always Wins with God. Darkness and winter come and sometimes they overstay their welcome, but, as one of my favorite lines from Les Miserables goes, “Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.”

Today we celebrate that the Sun is Risen….the SON is risen.  New life always comes…into the world, into our church, into our own hearts.  Here’s a question for us: Does your following of Jesus, your membership in the Risen Jesus, does that make you more alive? It must!  Because we are a part of him forever and ever, even after death. Unless, that is, we chose to walk away from him.

We thank God today for the gift of life that he pumps into the world, into the church, and into each and every one of us.