Every Sunday, Bishop Edward Malesic writes a Scripture reflection for the faithful. Follow the bishop on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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“On the first day of the week ...” (John 20:1).
People say that every new day is the first day of the rest of your life. When Jesus came to life in the Resurrection on that first Easter Sunday, it was the first day for the rest of the world. The world would never be the same again. Nor can we be the same again. When we believe in the power of the Resurrection, we experience our own Easter Sunday.
Our “first day of the week” began on the day of our baptism. This is the day that the divine life of God’s love entered into us and we became his adopted son or daughter. We were washed clean of all that kept us from God – and we were united with him. Baptism was a true “first day of the week” for us
But there is another awakening that happens to us. Another “first day of the week” occurred when you experienced God’s love for you in a personal way, when you accepted your baptism, what God had done for you in baptism, and you came to a more mature faith that not even death could keep Jesus from you. He lives in you and has ever since the day of your baptism. The day you realized and accepted your baptism into Christ (your immersion into his great love) was probably a day of overwhelming joy for you. You were “born anew.” Sometimes this happens many times in a single lifetime. But this feeling of being renewed in Christ is always rooted in being “born again” in our baptism.
Today, on Easter Sunday, reach down into your soul and find that memory of when you first believed that Jesus was alive for you. Remember when you first felt his love for you and you loved him in return. Remember when you admitted your sins and he forgave you and lifted you up. Remember the joy, the peace, the exhilaration of knowing Jesus. Then remember where it all began – in the sacrament of baptism. Rejoice for those who have been baptized into Christ and in our Church this weekend. And renew your baptismal promises at the sacred liturgy as a believer, a follower, a redeemed person, a child of God.
May today -- Easter Sunday -- be for you another “first day of the week” of God’s life-giving power rising up in you to eternal life itself.
We are so blessed because he is risen! He is risen, indeed!
Happy Easter, everyone.