…Looking for some good spiritual reading for Easter?
Try Pope Paul VI’s Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete in Domino…
…Sixteen years ago tonight I was received into the Church. I was confirmed as Mark David Mary. And I received Holy Communion for the first time…
Here is a homily for Easter:
The feast of Easter begins with God commanding us to rejoice. Rejoice, o heavens. Rejoice, o earth. Rejoice, o church. Christ our King has risen from the dead, never to die again.
God commands us to rejoice. How are we going to obey this command? Here are three ways.
One good way to rejoice is to help someone who needs help. Helping others gives us joy. It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture—just some real helpfulness, like maybe doing the dishes or taking out the trash.
A second way to rejoice is to contemplate something beautiful—like take a walk or listen to some beautiful music.
The third way to rejoice is the most important one. We need the Holy Spirit to help us rejoice in the third way. The most important way to rejoice is to immerse ourselves in the truth of God. The mysterious divine truth is fully revealed today.
God loves us. The Almighty Power, the One Who made the heavens and the earth, the One makes the sun rise and the world turn, the One Who holds sway over all things—He loves us.
This is the truth that Christ always knew. Our deepest joy is to rejoice with the joy of Christ Himself, the joy of His Sacred Heart. The source of Jesus’ joy is the Father’s boundless love for Him.
From the moment He was conceived in the Blessed Mother’s womb, the Lord Jesus knew the mystery of the Father’s love. Throughout His pilgrim life and bitter Passion, He knew that His destiny is undying glory. Jesus has always known the truth about the Father, and He has always rejoiced in the truth.
The Holy Spirit gives us Christians our share in Christ’s joy. He gives us the joy of knowing God, of experiencing interiorly the reality of His love.
People thought that the Lord Jesus was crazy to trust the Father the way He did. They said He was out of His mind when He spoke with unshakeable confidence about how the Father would take care of Him.
They taunted the Lord while He hung on the Cross. “If the Father loves You so much, let Him save you now!”
The crucifixion was the ultimate test of the foundation for Christ’s joy. Was He crazy? Had His supposedly loving Father abandoned Him? Or could He be right—that the love of God is stronger than death? That the love of God will conquer all things, all evil, all sin? That the love of God will crush Satan and bring about an everlasting Kingdom of peace?
Christ entrusted everything to the love of the Father. And He was right. He rose again.
May the Holy Spirit give us the joy of Christ. If someone says, “How can you be happy? You could lose your job any day—or you already did.” Or “Your Christians are crazy. The only sure things are death and taxes.” –We can say: ‘Look, man’ or ‘Look, woman, sure there are hard things in life. But God has a plan. I don’t know exactly what the plan is. But I do know that Jesus rose from the dead, and that He is in heaven doing everything necessary to get me there, too.”
Brothers and sisters, today is the day Christ proved once and for all that God’s love triumphs. The joy of Christ is not delusional. His joy is founded on the truth: God loves us.
…P.S.: Reason #1,236 to be Catholic:
If you move into a new city, you just go to your local parish.
Father Mark White Blog 
Happy Easter