Alleluia! There. I said it. We haven’t said that since March 4, and well, I for one, have missed it! I enjoy singing Alleluia before the proclamation of the Gospel. I enjoy hymns where Alleluia is a part of the refrain. I guess along with St. Irenaeus who said, “We are a risen people and Alleluia is our song,” I am exuberant at being a member of the risen people.

Today we celebrate the Great Solemnity of Easter, the most important celebration of the liturgical year. So significant, so monumental is Easter that every Sunday celebrates Easter in its own way. 

Jesus is risen we proclaim – he is truly risen!

Yes, in this life and ministry Jesus had performed some outrageous miracles. While the crowds were awed, there were always skeptics, and those naysayers grew more and more numerous as Jesus’ ministry moved to Jerusalem.

For whatever religious and political reasons, Jesus was crucified. This most horrible form of execution was all too commonplace among the Jews.

Amid the chaos and confusion of that Passover weekend, Mary Magdalene ran to the hiding place of Jesus’ disciples and announced that Jesus’ body had been taken. Immediately, Peter and the beloved disciple take off for the tomb, rushing through the crowded streets of Jerusalem. They were not entirely prepared for what comes next, but it changed their – and our lives forever.

First they needed to figure out how to explain what they knew happened to the others. Jesus was dead – they knew he was dead – he was put into the tomb three days prior.  No one has ever been raised from the dead like this before. This is not at all like the raising of Lazarus or of the daughter of Jairus or the widow’s son. Jesus is something new and yet, he is the same. This is something totally and radically new. They have yet to encounter Jesus as raised from the dead, but they already know what has happened. Their hearts are already aflame with the news, even if they still do not understand the full implications of what has happened.

When Peter and the beloved disciple return from the tomb to speak with the others, they become the first evangelizers – proclaimers of the resurrected Christ to the world. It will not be until Pentecost when it all comes together and they can take their experience to those outside of the company of disciples, but here is found the origins of Resurrection language.

If we are to be true evangelizers of our own families, neighborhoods, coworkers, we need to share the overwhelming enthusiasm and exuberance of the disciples as they recognized the resurrected one in the emptiness of the tomb. We cannot allow ourselves to complacent with our celebration of Easter. It doesn’t have all of the flair of Christmas and carries so many non-Christian trappings as to get totally lost in the spring fervor. This day, this celebration changes our lives forever. We now live in the promise of eternal life. Every day, the Church celebrates the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. The Resurrection of Jesus is not a moment in time, it defines time itself.

Each day of our lives, especially the most bleak and painful, should carry with them the spark of this day, the truth that Jesus has preceded us to eternal glory where he prepares a place for us who believe. Let our song always be the same: Alleluia!

Father Garry Koch is parochial vicar of St. Joseph Parish, Toms River.