Dear Friends
“We are Easter people and ‘Alleluia’ is our song”
CRA President, Br Peter Carroll FMS.
This much repeated proclamation, originating from St Augustine of Hippo, lies at the centre of our Christian faith. St Paul reminds us: “… if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain” (1 Corinthians 15:17). And if He had not been raised, his teachings would have resulted in nothing and his promises would not have been fulfilled. But we believe Christ is alive, he walks by our side, and he reminds us that pain and death are not the last word for us. That is why we sing joyfully: “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice in it and be glad.” (Psalm 118:24)
We know by experience that our faith in the resurrection does not exempt us from trials or sufferings. In fact, it’s been known to cause them. The reality of the cross will always be present in our own lives and our communities. We have to contend with our own struggles, and we have to live in a world where evil abounds. I don’t think that’s stating it too strongly; we only have to look at the War in Ukraine and the millions of innocent victims it’s created, to realise that. Like us, St Augustine lived in uncertain times, and the next part of the sentence quoted above continues: “Let us sing here and now in this life, even though we are oppressed by various worries, so that we may sing it one day in the world to come, when we are set free from all anxiety.”
Our faith should make a difference in the way we face these realities. How do we live like Easter people, and how do we keep singing that “alleluia”?
There’s no magical answer. In fact, it’s hard work to be hopeful in the face of suffering. Yet that is what we, Christian believers in resurrection, are called to be. We need to hold fast to the reality of Gospel truth. While our feelings can and do toss us about like an unmoored boat, the Good News of Jesus Christ is unchanging: God is real; Jesus is our Risen Lord. Neither death nor evil triumph. Love prevails. These are the truths that we need to be grounded in and sustained by.
To be an Easter person is to believe that death has been defeated and no tomb can hold us forever; not the tomb of despair, nor discouragement, nor lack of faith, nor depression. Heartened by this hope and infected with the joy that flows from it, we live as people already resurrected; new women and men who know how to find, amid the darkness of the world and of our own hearts, that sun that never sets, the light that overcomes every darkness: Jesus Christ. However, our faith isn’t a private experience. It’s communal, and is expressed every day in our relationships, style of life and way of working.
To be an Easter person is to witness, in our actions, as often as we can, the love of God, the self-giving of Jesus, the hope of resurrection and the joy of the Gospel. Contentment, compassion, service. I’m sure we all remember the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Our faith in resurrection needs to be expressed in the eloquent testimony of our actions and gestures of love.
So, let’s remember the acclamation, today and every day: “this is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song”.
Easter Blessings!
Br Peter Carroll FMS,
President, CRA.