The ancient Easter greeting says it all: “The LORD is Risen!” And the reply: “He is Risen indeed!” This greeting remains alive in the Church, especially in the Orthodox and Anglican-Episcopalian traditions. Catholics usually employ the simple phrase, “Happy Easter.” I used to struggle with this brief greeting, because the name “Easter” is not based on Christ, but on an ancient goddess who gave her name to the month of April in pre-Christian German culture. But then, Sunday is named for the Sun god, and Monday for the moon goddess, Thursday for Thor, and so on. One way to view the matter is that through faith in Christ, one can see the truth in every ancient belief, as well as its errors, and make one’s peace with an imperfect world!
A more explicitly Judaeo-Christian phrase used throughout the Easter season is the single Hebrew word, “Hallelujah,” spelled “Alleluia” through the Latin form. The word is from the Hebrew words for “Praise Yah,” or more fully, “Praise Yahweh.” As “Yahweh” is translated usually as “the LORD,” the proclamation means, “Praise the LORD.” And as the first Christian confession was simply, “Jesus is LORD,” Alleluia means “Praise the LORD,” that is, “Praise Jesus, the LORD.” It is an implicit acknowledgement that God has raised Jesus from death to life eternal, and that this same Jesus Christ is the rightful ruler over all humankind, and wholly one with the Creator of all. As the famous Christ-hymn concludes in Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, “Let every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.”
If Jesus, crucified, had not been raised; if Jesus Christ were not fully alive and LORD, what difference would it make? It would mean that life here is all that there is, and that death awaits each human being--indeed, every creature--as its interminable end. If God had not raised Christ, “we might as well eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die,” as the Apostle Paul points out. But in truth Christ has been raised. “As in Adam all do, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” Hence, “death is swallowed up in life.” Life eternal conquers sin and death. Hallelujah!
Writing an Easter message in the midst of Holy Week, as I am doing now, may feel like planning a birthday party as one’s beloved lies dying. Heavy hearts of Holy Week are vastly different from the experience of Easter joy in the Lord’s Resurrection. But part of the good news of Christ’s Resurrection is that we are not confined by our feelings, our emotions, but through faith, hope, and charity we arise out of ourselves into the divine Mystery. And in God, there is always and only goodness and joy.
