LIFE OUT OF DEATH
A Thought a Day for the Easter Season

Jesus’ resurrection celebrates something special never known before or since. To rise from the dead is so far beyond any human concept, and so much solely God’s work, that people have always had a hard ‘fame trying to comprehend it. In our Nicene Creed we affirm: “I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.” In celebrating Jesus’ Resurrection, therefore, we celebrate our own as well. For all who follow Christ Easter, stretching from Easter Sunday to Pentecost, is “party time,” a time of stimulated consciousness, an invitation to penetrate more deeply into this mystery of our faith, and to enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. Easter is a season of “alleluia.” For centuries joyful Christians were known as “Easter people,” and Easter was the principal festival on the Church calendar. The central theme of the Easter cycle – the death and Resurrection of Christ – is not merely an historical commemoration, but a here-and-now manifestation in the Christian assembly of Jesus’ glorification, and a fervent prayer for the full realization of the redemption of humankind brought about by Jesus. Like the Jewish Pasch, Easter celebrates deliverance from slavery: in this case the slavery of sin and death. As such it is the ideal time for the initiation of new members into the community of the saved and for their acceptance into the Body of Christ by Baptism, Confirmation, and first Eucharist. All of these themes and more are presented here by the author in a manner both lighthearted and serious as befits the season. These reflections will benefit enormously those who wish to enter more profoundly into the spirit of Easter.

About the Author: With this volume, Father Harold A. Buetow, PhD, JD, rounds out his very popular and highly-acclaimed homily reflections covering every Sunday and Holy Day, every weekday and special occasion for all three Cycles (A, B, and C) of the Liturgical Year (I and II): Pastoral Talks for Special Occasions; God Still Speaks: Listen! (Cycle A), All Things Made New (Cycle B), Ode to Joy (Cycle C); Thirst for Life (Weeks 1-9), The New Out of the Old (Weeks 10-21), Rejoicing in Hope (Weeks 22-34); Walk in the Light of the Lord (Advent/Christmastide), Embrace Your Renewal (Lent) and Life Out of Death (Easter).