Today is the great feast that makes everything in our faith suddenly come together. St. Paul wrote to his converts: “If Christ is not risen from the dead, then is our faith in vain?” And this is true because without Easter, it will be hard to understand Good Friday.

Good Friday is a story of the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus, a story of the triumph of falsity over truth, of injustice over justice, of evil over goodness. Jesus was falsely charged of crimes he did not commit, and unjustly sentenced to a death he did not deserve. His good friend betrayed him, his trusted companions deserted him, and his number one man denied him. The people he loved demanded his crucifixion and chose to have the bandit, Barabbas, released in his place. It is a story of betrayal and lies, dishonesty and meanness, unfaithfulness and wicked violence directed against an innocent and apparently helpless victim. All this comes to a head on Good Friday when we see Jesus scourged, mocked, led on the death march, nailed to the cross where he died after a few hours and hastily buried in a tomb. If that were the end of the story, that would be a bad story, a tragedy. But glory be to God it is not.

Death is not the end of the story. There is one more chapter. And this is the most important chapter because this is the last chapter of the story of Jesus—The Resurrection. We see him rise from the dead in all glory and majesty. He is vindicated. His enemies are shamed and confused. Jesus regains his eternal glory with the Father. He is the Lord who will prevail over all humankind, his enemies included.

This is what the Easter experience calls us to do: To rejoice and be glad because Jesus, whom we follow, won the victory over suffering and death. And we can share in His resurrection if we persevere with faithfulness to the end. We may experience suffering, challenges, difficulties and even death along the way but if our faith is strong, nothing can defeat us and separate us from the love of God.

Today I share with you the joy of having our three candidates and one elect who successfully finished their journey into the RCIA program. We welcome Macy Smolic who received the Sacrament of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist for the first time at our Easter Vigil. And our three candidates, Cassie Smolic, Lexi Baer and Lindsay O’Donnell for receiving Confirmation and Communion. Congratulations!

Happy Easter!