Alleluia! Jesus Christ has risen! Alleluia!

Intermountain Catholic

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The Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City

This proclamation of Holy Mother Church reverberates in our hearts as we join with our brothers and sisters throughout the world in proclaiming the good news of Christ’s resurrection. Like our cathedral patroness, St. Mary Magdalene, we stand in awe and wonder as we confront the living Christ, who has triumphed over sin and death. His victory is our victory, his inheritance as the Son of God is our pledge of eternal life. So great is this mystery of faith that the Church will take the next 50 days to celebrate. Notice that we do not refer to the days of the Easter season as being "after Easter", but rather "of" Easter. Thus, we say the third Sunday of Easter. In fact, Easter is celebrated every single Sunday of the year when God’s holy people gather around the altar for Eucharist. There is no way to put a period on the celebration that we now begin. Easter has such a profound impact on the whole of the universe that it is hailed by the Church as an even greater miracle than the first creation depicted in Genesis. How true it is that "Alleluia" is always our song!

There are, of course, many ways for us as church to sing "alleluia." The point here is that Jesus calls us, as he did his first disciples, to spread the good news of the empty tomb. We Catholics are called to live our lives in such a way that people can readily see and discern our belief in Christ’s resurrection from the dead. Even though we experience pain, sickness, disappointment, failure and suffering like anybody else, we strive never to succumb to defeat. We believe that the resurrection of Jesus Christ has transformed all life and that everything is touched by his victory over the grave. Death never has the last word. Rather, all things work to the good and lead to new life. That is why we pray at a funeral Mass for a deeper understanding of the fact that death does not end life, but rather changes it. In Christ, death becomes nothing more than a passageway into a new way of being, the realization of a new heaven and a new earth. This kind of Good News must be proclaimed and we are the ones to do it.

It is my prayer that all of our Intermountain Catholic readers will continue to give witness to Christ’s resurrection in their lives. By living our Catholic faith here in Utah, we are joining the ranks of the apostles and of St. Mary Magdalene, the Apostle of the Resurrection, in proclaiming the good news of Easter. May this proclamation ring out loudly and strongly throughout the holy days of Easter and may "alleluia" continue to reverberate in our hearts, in our churches and in our communities until the end of time.