“It is important that the world is able to see the face of Jesus at this moment in time. For it is the Lord, risen from the dead, who desires to be present to this broken and bruised world through you. Your Christian life gives witness that Christ is alive and at work in our world today.”
-Fr. Ed Kilianski, SCJ
The following Easter reflection is from Fr. Ed Kilianski, SCJ, provincial superior of the US Province of the Priests of the Sacred Heart (Dehonians):
By his resurrection from the dead our Savior, Jesus Christ, has conquered death and sin and everything that diminishes the grace of God in us and among us. His resurrection is not just a fact of history to be retold at Easter. It is a mystery to be lived every day. As Dehonians, we are just as moved by the presence of Jesus among us as those who saw him on the first Easter morning.
How is Jesus Christ present among us today? He lives among us in our communities gathered to celebrate the Eucharist. He lives in the Gospel proclaimed by word and deed. Through the Sacraments of the Church, he gathers disciples, heals the sick, reconciles sinners and calls us to service. It is the hand of Jesus that lifts up the poor, feeds the hungry, shelters the homeless and visits the confined through our mission of reconciliation and social justice. In these and many other ways we give witness to the mystery of Jesus living among us. In reality, we become Christ in and for the world.
This great Easter mystery requires a community to support us and to challenge us. Each day, we are called to gather at the table of God’s Word and in celebration of the Eucharist, the source and summit of our life in Christ, making us one body in Christ. It is our Sint Unum.
For the next 50 days we will celebrate the Easter event and are asked to renew our efforts to live the life Jesus has won for us through His Suffering and Death on the Cross. Jesus asks us to allow Him to live in us and, through our participation in His resurrected life, to build up His Kingdom in our world today.
It is important that the world is able to see the face of Jesus at this moment in time. For it is the Lord, risen from the dead, who desires to be present to this broken and bruised world through you. Your Christian life gives witness that Christ is alive and at work in our world today.
I pray that our Risen Lord will be revealed to you in Word and Sacrament in the witness of love and holiness of life.
Happy Easter! Let the Alleluias be sung as we celebrate the great event of the Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior.
