THE BEACON ON THE BOULEVARD

      We have been rich and blessed at our parishes lately. Baptisms have been celebrated, Praise the Lord! After baptizing a little son, now reborn in Christ, I Anointed him with the Oil of Chrism
as member of Christ’ Body. Then speaking directly to this infant child, I continued “You have become a new creation and clothed yourself in Christ.” As I was speaking, little George, calm and half-awake gave me an immediate and confident thumbs up! I hope I never forget that little thumbs up. Newly baptized George knew, as John the Baptist knew in the womb, but in an ever- greater way, His reality had changed forever. This is the same reality for every person baptized in Christ, who became a new creation in the Risen Lord. In a way the world itself was baptized when the Lord rose from the tomb: a new creation. Jesus chose to be plunged into our death, taking with Him our humanity and the sentence of our sins, that His victory would become irrevocably ours: a New and Eternal Covenant. When His soul ascended from hell and resurrected from death: as the burial cloths sank-empty; as He stood up; the stone rolled back with angels waiting with eager-joy, OUR reality was changed forever. Creation itself resounded its “Alleluia!”
       May we never forget the confidence of our “thumbs up” to the risen reality we live in, baptized into Jesus Christ who rose from the reality of our death and alleviated its sting. He has infused in
us the healing remedy for our sin. Even if the world in all its logic wants us to feel hopeless, we have an undying wellspring of hope and an unconquerable light that points to the Risen Christ.
Now, there is nothing Jesus cannot touch and nowhere we cannot find Him. Don’t forget the “Alleluia” we live: the “Alleluia” we once took for granted; the “Alleluia” we withheld the last 40 days in the desert. This is the “Alleluia” Jesus alone won for us, that heaven and earth sang out together in ecstasy and resounds for all time. Happy Easter! Joy in Jesus! Christ is risen from the dead, as He said!