Witness that Christ is Present Now

In some ways, it is not necessary to preach on Pascha, for the meaning of the feast is clear. It is the feast of feasts, which brings joy to our hearts.

Having felt this joy that is in us, it is an experience that we share with Christ’s followers after Pentecost. We share the joy known by the Early Church, recounted in the Acts of the Apostles. This is why we read the Acts during the Paschal season: to connect our joy of the risen Christ with the joy of his first-hand witnesses.

We also read the Acts of the Apostles because it is out of the Resurrection that the church is born. This our critical moment, the beginning of the church, which begins the proclamation of the joy of the Gospel about Jesus Christ. He is no longer dead, but he has been raised up.

For 2,000 years, the church has proclaimed the risen Christ throughout the whole world. And its proclamation is not finished.

It might seem that the Gospel is no longer being preached, but it is not true, because truth and love are not possible to kill. They could kill the early followers of Jesus and they could kill us, but they can never kill truth and love. 

On Pascha, we proclaim in many languages the prologue of the Gospel of John. It is not important that we necessarily understand all the languages, but we must understand the meaning of this proclamation.

The proclamation symbolically shows us that the Word of God must be proclaimed to all the nations, just as we sing the great prokeimenon at the Holy Saturday Vigil, “to him belongs all the nations” (Ps 82:8).

I pray that you keep this Paschal joy in your life. Bring this joy to your families and to your jobs, for you are witnesses. Jesus Christ today sends you to be witnesses in this world.

I am to do this also, but I am limited. Even with social media, my words cannot reach everyone. I cannot do it all. That is why you must continue bringing the Word of God into the world. In this way, you make real the Gospel of John. The Word is made flesh; Christ is made concrete for people to see in your lives, through your living testimony.

Today, Jesus Christ sends you as members of his church to proclaim that he is risen.

You must proclaim that Jesus is not some tale or just a teacher who lived 2,000 years ago. You are witness to the fact that he is present right now, living and dwelling in the church.

Parents, explain to your children the meaning of Pascha: what it means to you and for your life, what it means for us as Christians.

Pascha is not only about the basket of traditional foods. This is a secondary thing. Food is good, but it must be connected to the feast, the primary reason.

It must be connected to the fact that Jesus is risen. He is in our hearts, in our lives, and death is no more.

Christ is risen! Indeed, he is risen!