Death and the Resurrection

My dear brothers and sisters, may the grace and peace of God Our Father be with you all.

Today we celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord, who suffered, died, and rose from the dead. Alleluia!

St. Paul has a question for us in his epistle to the Church of Rome (ch. 6, v. 3-11), which we read at the Easter Vigil:

Brothers and sisters:
Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

Listen closely to the readings for the celebration of Easter, and you might be surprised to find a lot of talk about death, at least for a day when we are celebrating the opposite. But that’s for good reason: without Christ’s death, there would be no resurrection — not for him, and not for us.

At this same Easter Vigil, we baptize two of our own into this death to sin and into newness of life, into our Christian Church, and into the resurrection on the last day.  What a joy for all of us to welcome them, and what a great reminder of the same grace we have received — and of our destiny that awaits.

We Christians can speak of death and sing alleluia in one breath because of he who died and rose so that we may die and rise.  St. Paul continues:

We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death…For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.

May God grant you and yours his Easter blessing.

He is Risen, Alleluia!

Fr. Patrick Hipwell, Pastor