Happy Easter. At Christmas, we sing Joy to the World because the Savior has been born. And today we celebrate with great joy because Jesus has risen from the dead. He's overcome sin and darkness, and he saved us from our sins. It's a day of incredible celebration, a day of incredible joy. John Paul II writes, "We do not pretend that life is all beauty. We are aware of darkness and sin, of poverty and pain. But we know Jesus has conquered sin and passed through his own pain to the glory of the resurrection. And we live in the light of his Paschal mystery, the mystery of his death and resurrection. We are an Easter people, and hallelujah is our song. We are not looking for a shallow joy, but rather a joy that comes from faith, that grows through unselfish love, that respects the fundamental duty of love of neighbour, without which it would be unbecoming to speak of joy. We realize that joy is demanding. It demands unselfishness. It demands a readiness to say with Mary. Be it done unto me according to thy word." Is there a word or a phrase or an idea that you were drawn to today in that quote that captured your imagination? The first one for me was the word pretend.

John Paul II writes, "We do not pretend." He says more than that, but if we just start with that, because it's an enormous part of Christianity, an enormous part of Christianity is we do not pretend. Enormous part of Christianity is that we're willing to face the truth. We're willing to face hard truths. We're willing to face the truth about ourselves and the darkest truths about ourselves. And we're willing to face them because we know that God wants to liberate us from them. But we do not pretend. John Paul II says, "We do not pretend that life is all beauty. We are aware of darkness and sin and poverty and pain. But we know Jesus has conquered." And then there's a beautiful phrase here. He says, "Jesus passed through his own pain to the glory of the resurrection." And we all have to. We all have to pass through our own pain to reach the joy that God wants to fill us with. We have to pass through our own pain to experience the joy, the glory of the resurrection that God wants to flood our lives with. A beautiful phrase. Then he says, "We're not looking for a shallow joy." And that makes us different, right? That makes us different. The whole world's looking for a shallow joy. The whole world's looking for cheap grace. The whole world. And that's what makes our faith different. It doesn't offer us cheap grace, shallow joy, but rather a joy that comes from faith that grows through unselfish love that respects the fundamental duty of love of neighbor. It's a fundamental duty. It's a great mandate to love, without which it would be unbecoming to speak of joy. I love that phrase. Be unbecoming to speak of joy. Imagine you're like in the poorest slums in the world, okay? It would be unbecoming to speak of the great feast you had last night, right? Completely inappropriate. Be unbecoming. We realize that joy is demanding. Beautiful, isn't it? You ask people, "Tell me about joy." You probably don't expect someone to say, "Well, let me tell you about joy. Joy is really demanding. Joy makes demands of you. Joy has a lot of demands of you." And what are those demands? It demands unselfishness. And it demands a readiness. To say with Mary, "Be done unto me according to Your Word," demands a readiness. Are you ready to say yes to God? Are you ready to say yes to God?

And then Faustina, she wrote, "Today during the Mass of the Resurrection, I saw the Lord Jesus in the midst of a great light. He approached me and said, 'Peace be with you.' He looked at me with such kindness and love that my whole soul drowned itself in Him. My whole soul drowned itself in Him." Immerse yourself in Jesus today. Immerse yourself in the resurrection. Don't tippy toe. Don't tippy toe with God. Don't tippy toes, like you're at a lake and you think, "Oh, it looks pretty cold." You just sort of tippy toe in just to sort of test the waters. No. Resurrection is an invitation to jump wholeheartedly, body, heart, mind, and soul, to immerse ourselves completely and utterly in God. That is the invitation of today. And may we have the grace and the courage, the wisdom to accept that glorious invitation. Have a great day. Happy Easter. May God bless you and all those you love. And on behalf of everyone here at Dynamic Catholic, we wish you a happy, holy, most blessed Easter. And remember, we are pilgrims of mercy.

Eternal God–

In whom mercy is endless–

And the treasury of compassion inexhaustible–

Look kindly upon us–

And increase your mercy in us. That in difficult moments–

We might not despair–

Nor become despondent.

But with great confidence–

Submit ourselves to your holy will–

Which is love and mercy itself.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

See you tomorrow.

Thank you, Ambassadors.

You are changing the world.

Have a great day.

Have a great day.

Have a great day.