Easter Sunday was four days ago.\u00a0 For many, life has already gone back to exactly whatever it was before.\u00a0 Life goes on without change.<\/p>\n
First, let me say that Easter is not over.\u00a0 For Catholics, Easter is not a single day.\u00a0 I began by saying “Easter Sunday<\/em><\/strong> was four days ago.”\u00a0 I emphasis the Sunday<\/em> because we celebrate Easter for 50 days until Pentecost.\u00a0 Even more so, we are still in the octave of Easter.\u00a0 “Octave” refers to eight days.\u00a0 The Octave begins with Easter Sunday and continues until this coming Sunday (April 15th).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 During the octave the Gloria is said even at Daily Mass as we celebrate the Resurrection.\u00a0 Easter (seeing the Triduum as one event) is the most important time of the year.\u00a0 It deserves not just a day but a season.\u00a0 The Crucifixion and Resurrection are crucial to understanding our Catholic faith.<\/p>\n From the Crucifixion and Resurrection comes hope<\/em>.\u00a0 <\/strong>Hope that comes knowing that Jesus died so that our sins might be forgiven.\u00a0 Hope that comes from knowing of the Resurrection to see that there is much more to life than what we know in this world.<\/p>\n What\u00a0strikes\u00a0you during this Easter Season?\u00a0 For me, two things come to mind.\u00a0 First, during the readings at the Easter Vigil I became very much aware of how God was\u00a0present to all his people in the events from Salvation History that we heard in the readings.\u00a0 It wasn’t any one reading.\u00a0 (See my homily from the Easter Vigil<\/a>).<\/p>\n The other moment of grace was celebrating the Sacraments with our RCIA participants that I had been working with over the last few months.\u00a0 It was my privilege to preside as two were baptized, one received into the Church, and two completing their sacraments.\u00a0 Our faith is not a dead faith.\u00a0 It still speaks everyday to what is going on in our lives.<\/p>\n What difference does faith make in your life?\u00a0 It might be a particular moment of grace during Lent, the Triduum, or Easter.\u00a0 Has your life been changed by your faith?\u00a0 Sometimes the change happens quickly and sometimes we barely notice any change because it happens over months or years.<\/p>\n