Alleluia people.

We are the people of the Passion, yes, but that is neither all we are nor what we are principally. We are an Alleluia people. We are the people of the Lamb, indeed. We are also the followers of the Light that shines beyond the grave. We have come again to answer the question that comes out of Holy Saturday’s emptiness: no, we are not alone. ~Sister Joan Chittister; The Liturgical Year

In 2011, I wrote about Good Friday.
Last year I wrote on Holy Saturday.

So I guess it’s my year to write about Resurrection Sunday, though I kind of started doing that a few days ago.

This morning I woke up and the sun was shining and I kind of groaned and rolled over and readjusted my blanket and tried to get five more minutes of sleep and then my eyes popped open with realization as I remembered that JESUS IS ALIVE. And seriously, I almost started crying. Before I even stretched, I was almost in tears.

I was laying in bed and imagining what it was like, discovering an empty tomb where you’d thought was a dead body. and then angels. We watched a video in church where Peter and John go to the tomb, and they stand there for a minute and then start laughing. and they stand there holding the burial cloths and laughing. and I really loved that, because I probably would have laughed.. mostly because I would have been so confused.

Two years ago I spent Easter in Phoenix with the Barnes family. I remember writing in my journal this question:

What does the empty tomb mean for me every day? 

Because really, every morning I find myself trying to get five more minutes of sleep and stay all cozy in my bed, my eyes should pop open and I should remember JESUS IS ALIVE. When my gas light comes on in my car, I should remember JESUS IS ALIVE. When I am eating dinner with the kids I should remember JESUS IS ALIVE. When I go on walks, when I sit at Starbucks and drink coffee.. it should all be built on the truth that JESUS IS ALIVE.

I’ve been starting to tell the kids about Jesus every moment I can. Not just nice stories about Jesus healing people and stuff, but telling them what he did for us. Because that is what it is about. It’s important to point people to the cross, but it’s most important to point them to the tomb. Captain Dwayne said today that the best proof we can give for the empty tomb and the risen Messiah is a life that has been changed. A life that has been transformed. The disciples never got over it. The world changed because of it. It is the joy and responsibility for those of us who believe to live a life that declares day-by-day, hour-by-hour and moment-by-moment that JESUS IS ALIVE.

I will leave you with the words of Sister Joan Chittister:

On Christmas morning we find the manger full of life; on Easter morning we find the tomb empty of death. We know the whole truth now: death is not the end, and life as we know it is only the beginning of Life. There is no suffering from which we cannot rise if we live a life centered in Jesus. It is the empty tomb  on Easter Sunday morning that says to us, “You go and tell the others. Now!” (Matt. 28:10, paraphrased)