True Easter Joy That Never Ends Living as People of the Resurrection Beyond Easter Sunday

True Easter Joy That Never Ends
 Living as People of the Resurrection Beyond Easter Sunday

My brothers and sisters, Easter is not a single day. It is not just an event to be remembered—it is a reality to be lived. Like the eight-day feast of Easter overflows into a season even longer than Lent, the joy of the Resurrection is not a fleeting feeling but a living flame that the Risen Jesus lights in our hearts. As Pope Francis reminds us, “Christ is alive. He is our hope, and in a wonderful way He brings youth to our world.”

 

This year, the light of Easter is especially radiant in our collaborative parishes. At the Easter Vigil, eight adults stood before God and the Church, professing faith in Christ and receiving the sacraments of new life—Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist. This took courage for them to step forth in faith; as much as they felt drawn to join us in the faith of our Church, we need to follow their example of courage living our faith in the world. Their ‘yes’ to the grace of God reminds us of the joy that comes from encountering Jesus, who died and rose again so that we might live fully and forever. And they are not alone. Many who are already Catholic are returning—quietly, humbly—to be nourished and strengthened by the Real Presence of Christ in Holy Communion, drawn again to the source of true hope and peace.

 

This is the Easter joy that never ends. It is the joy that comes when we realize we are not alone in our struggles. It is the joy of meeting the Lord in His Word, in the sacraments, and in one another. I have seen this joy in you—in the way you surround the grieving with comfort, the suffering with care, the lost with welcome. When we live the Resurrection, the grace of Jesus reaches those who need Him most.

 

Yet we know how easy it is to let that joy fade. The lilies wilt, the alleluias become routine, and the weight of life creeps back in. But Easter is more than a liturgical season—it is the heart of our Christian identity. We are people of the Resurrection, and Alleluia is our song! Christ’s victory over death is not just His—it is ours. And so we must ask: How am I allowing Easter to shape my life now? How am I letting the Risen Lord renew my heart, my habits, my hope?

 

This Jubilee Year calls us to be “Pilgrims of Hope.” Pilgrims are not tourists—they are people on a journey of purpose. And hope is not naïve optimism; it is trust in the promise of Christ, who goes before us and walks with us. Let your life be shaped by this hope. Let your prayer deepen. Let your presence be healing. Let your witness shine with the peace of the empty tomb.

 

When we live Easter with open hearts, the world around us begins to change. Despair gives way to courage. Division yields to reconciliation. And the Church—our Church—becomes what she is meant to be: a beacon of hope, a sign that Christ is alive.

 

Let us walk forward, then, with joyful hearts—Easter hearts. May the Risen Lord renew our faith, revive our hope, and make us instruments of His peace. This Easter joy is not meant to end. It is meant to send us—out into the world as pilgrims of hope.