On Easter, Christians throughout the world celebrate with joy a central truth of our faith – that after three days in the tomb, Jesus was raised – and the future of all of humanity with him. St. John Paul II said years ago that we are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song! Indeed, with full voice and joy-filled hearts we sing out in praise of God for the gift of new life in his Risen Son. This gift of new life is extended to all of God’s children and contains the power to transform our lives and our world.
What a privilege it is to celebrate Easter in our beautiful and historic church – America’s first basilica. With hope and anticipation, I look forward to celebrating these great Christian feasts in a fully restored church. I welcome your help and support as good stewards in undertaking this generational project. With gratitude to God, this Easter we welcome several new members into full communion with the Catholic Church. Their faith is an inspiration, and their gifts will add to our rich communion of faith at The Basilica. Please keep them in your prayers and accompany them as they continue their journey of faith.
We often equate Easter with joy, which is certainly true. This year, as we celebrate a Jubilee year as Catholics, we are invited to renew our faith and deepen our relationship with God. The theme for this Jubilee year is “Pilgrims of Hope.” In addition to joy, the reality and celebration of Easter fills us with hope – hope in a God in whom all things are possible. The hope of Christians is not etherial or fleeting but is a gift from God which is real and transformative. This is the hope of the saints and Christian martyrs – that death does not end onto itself but onto new life. This is the hope that accompanied the figures we met during Lent – the prodigal son and the woman caught in adultery. It is a hope that rightly believes that no sin is beyond God’s mercy and that when we encounter God, we encounter the fullness of love and truth.
As an example of the lively hope that is at the heart of Easter, I recall a painful tragedy from my family. In 1988, I was a senior in high school. I remember coming home from a gathering of friends. I knew instantly that something was wrong. My parents and some of my siblings were gathered in the living room and there was a palpable somber mood present. My family relayed that my brother Patrick was missing and presumed to have drowned. The next day they recovered his body at my grandparents’ lake near Milwaukee. My brother’s death was a deeply painful loss for our family – especially for my parents.
From that painful time of loss, I remember distinctly something that gave me real hope. My brother Michael read a Scripture verse from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 54-56). At the conclusion of Paul’s long defense of the resurrection of the body, he states emphatically that Chris’s death and resurrection has hallowed the graves of those who believe: “Death is swallowed up in victory. Death where is your victory? Death where is your sting?” Even amidst the tragic death of my brother, those words of Scripture filled me with great hope, so much so that I kept for years the index card that my brother had used at the graveside.
As we celebrate Easter and the Easter season, God calls us to be both pilgrims of hope and emissaries of hope. We are called to carry the message of hope to a world which often suffers from a privation of hope. Just as death was swallowed up in victory through the cross and resurrection of Christ, so too love and light will triumph over hate and darkness – the victory of God has already been won! With confidence, Christians are called to lean into this reality of our faith and announce the joy and hope of the Gospel. The message of God’s redeeming love is attractive, needed, and transformative. We are God’s emissaries – emissaries of hope.