The Cornerstone of Our Faith
Easter’s joyful message is the key and cornerstone of our faith. It is because of this great, glorious event that Christians of every denomination gather for worship on the first day of the week, Sunday, and not the seventh day, Saturday.
It is on Sunday that Christ rose. It is on this first day of the week that God created light from darkness. It is on the first day of the week, Sunday, that the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles at Pentecost. Sunday is our weekly Holy Day, and the Risen Christ is the reason for our existence. Jesus risen is the joy and hope of all who long for the good, seek truth, live love, and mercy.
Easter Reveals the Incarnation
Easter defines more clearly the great mystery of the incarnation. The incarnation means God becoming human in the person of Jesus. The Resurrection tells us clearly who Jesus is. He is God and man. Easter is a great reason for our hope.
In the Gospel, we see that Jesus addresses such topics as the truth; he speaks of compassion, peace, joy, mercy, judgment, redemption, and eternity. Jesus speaks about the fatherland of God, the supremacy of love (that is, willing the good for the other) over religious law. We see in the behavior of Jesus his deep and personal relationships with people. We also recognize that Jesus faces great opposition from many in the religious establishments of his time. In the Gospel, we are invited to live life now and in eternity. We learn through Jesus that with God there is no death, for God is life and life in the fullest.
Opposition and Faithfulness
The message of Jesus gave many hope, yet we see that Jesus was greatly opposed. He was opposed by many of the religious authorities of his time. Jesus was seen as a threat to the Romans who were occupying the land of Israel at the time of Jesus. Ultimately, Jesus is crushed. He dies a terrible death at the hands of the Romans; he is rejected by many of the religious authorities of his time.
Throughout his life and even his sufferings, Jesus remains faithful to his message, to his Father, and he does not give in to the temptations of hatred or retaliation. Jesus not only preached but practiced the message he preached. His faithfulness stands in sharp contrast to the unfaithfulness of Adam and Eve.
Story or parable that it may be, the Genesis story seeks to address the problems of evil and questions of sin. While humanity in the characters of Adam (everyman) and Eve (every woman) may have been unfaithful, Jesus is faithful to God. Thus, he redeems all humanity.
Victory of Love Over Darkness
Jesus is also the symbol of every person who seeks to do the good and live in harmony with God, as spoken of in the first psalm, and are persecuted for their efforts. Jesus represents all those who seek the good and whom the world does not understand. Jesus represents all those who seek peace, reconciliation, justice, kindness, compassion, and mercy, and who seem defeated, cast out, and who are marginalized in our society.
Easter is a victory celebration that love does win out over hatred, that truth ultimately is victorious over lies, that mercy and compassion make life worth living, that peace in the end wins out over war and personal distress, that giving and living for others gives true meaning, and in the end LIFE TRIUMPHS OVER DEATH. Even if the good is sometimes eclipsed by darkness and evil, even if we see the good sometimes defeated, the Resurrection of Christ tells us that the good will win out. For every cross we face and suffer will be a resurrection as sure as day follows night and spring follows winter.
IT IS THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS THAT GIVES US HOPE AND ENERGY TO LIVE A LIFE OF FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE.
HAPPY EASTER!
Msgr. Guy A. Massie
April 5, 2026
Easter Readings