Hallelujah. He is risen. What aspect of your life needs to be raised from the dead? Are you in a broken or loveless marriage? Are you physically sick? Have you lost your way spiritually? Are you suffering under the unbearable weight of financial debt? Are you addicted to something that is sucking the life out of you one day at a time? Has your career lost its luster and meaning? Ask Him. Ask Him to raise that aspect of your life from the dead today. What are the most important events in history? We have spent the past several days reflecting on them and reliving them. The whole world changed on Easter Sunday. It was an earth-shattering, life-changing, historic event. To reflect on it should inspire awe in all of us. On Sunday morning, three women came to the tomb. Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salom. Arriving at the tomb, they discovered that the large stone that had been covering the entrance had been rolled away. An angel appeared to the three women and announced, "Do not be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn't here. He has risen from the dead, just as He said it would happen." The women ran with great joy, the Scriptures tell us, to tell the disciples. And behold, Jesus met them along the way and said, "Hail." And they took hold of his feet and worshipped Him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me." Jesus' first words after His resurrection were, "Do not be afraid." Despite the fact that Jesus had told those closest to Him repeatedly that He would rise from the dead on the third day, I think they still would have been freaked out. What would your reaction have been to seeing Jesus risen from the dead three days after you saw Him brutally murdered?

What are you afraid of in your life right now? Jesus' resounding message, "Do not be afraid." What are you afraid of in your life right now? This Easter Sunday, Jesus is greeting you with the same words, "Do not be afraid." This was the first of at least five separate appearances that Jesus made on Easter Sunday. The first person to see Jesus alive was Mary Magdalene. Jesus also appeared to Peter, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and later that evening, to all of the disciples except Thomas. Thomas expresses the doubts of every person who has had doubts throughout human history. But too often, we don't pause to consider the possibilities. Too often, we are caught between active belief and active doubts and we live in the passive space between the two. But take some time today to ask what if? What if it really is all true? Rising from the dead. Wow. This is the main event. You ask people to put together a list of the biggest events in human history, most people won't put the resurrection on the list and most people will be wrong. The ultimate proof that Jesus was a radical is also the central premise of Christianity. Without the resurrection, Christianity is foolishness, Paul tells us. Did the resurrection of Jesus actually happen? Though there is plenty of evidence to suggest to the open and honest heart that it did, I cannot prove it. There has to be room for faith. Otherwise, it would be called certainty. But if it did actually happen, if Jesus did rise from the dead, what else is left to be said?

What were the disciples thinking on Easter Sunday? What were they feeling? Their lives had been completely turned upside down on Friday and completely turned right side up again today. Think about all the emotions that the disciples and the women who cared for Jesus experienced in this one day. Now, let's put ourselves there in Jerusalem on that Sunday morning. Imagine how quickly word would have spread. Imagine how many versions of the story were circulating. The city would have been filled with emotion like never before. What sort of emotion? Joy, anger, fear, outrage, confusion, anxiety, frustration, indifference, hatred, and many, many more.

What do you think the Pharisees thought when they first heard? What did they feel in the pit of their stomachs at that moment? How did it make Pilate feel? What did he think? Were the men who tortured and executed Jesus afraid he would come back and exact revenge? And no doubt, there were many who went on with their lives completely indifferent, thinking Jesus was just another man and accepting the story that his followers had stolen his body. It must have been some Sunday morning. The city would have been drowning in gossip and emotion. But few, if any, would have recognized that this was the main event in human history. Jesus rose from the dead.

On that day, there were no doubt many who ignored it and many others who doubted it or rejected it or were skeptical or cynical. These people have existed in every age, and they exist today. But you see them wandering through their lives, confused. It is simply impossible to make sense of life and history without acknowledging the resurrection. You and I are walking through the streets of Jerusalem, listening to the people talk about it on that Sunday morning. Do we believe? Do we have doubts? Are we too busy attending to the urgent matters of our own lives? Do we even care? We keep walking and decide to visit the tomb. The place is crowded and there are guards trying to keep people away. But we stand there for a few moments, quietly, and we wonder, what does all this mean? Now, returning to the present, what part of your life needs resurrecting today? Do you want Jesus to resurrect that part of your life or are you attached to the dysfunction and self-destruction?

It's time to live in the risen Christ. When we do, we are fully alive. We experience joy and ecstasy, detachment from the passing troubles of this world, and confidence that in the end, truth and goodness will always prevail. Your whole life can be illuminated by these eight days. Everything that happens in our lives can be found in these eight days. For the most part, we have spent this week looking back at the events of our lives and looking for lessons in the happenings of Jesus' life over these eight days. But the gift I hope you will be given by reflecting in this way, this Holy Week, is that you will be given a new awareness and that that new awareness will allow you to recognize the connection between the events of these eight days while new events are unfolding in your life, that you will be given the gift in real-time to be able to connect whatever is happening in your life to the events of Jesus' life between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday.

May the glory of the risen Christ be with you and remain with you, especially during moments of trial and tribulation. When you are discouraged or feel yourself losing hope, call on Jesus, the risen Lord. Trust, surrender, believe, and receive. Happy Easter. May God bless you and all those who love this Easter. It has been an honor and a privilege to make this journey through Lent and Holy Week with you. Your feedback this year has been extraordinary. It has led me to believe that this has been a very, very special journey indeed for many people.

So on behalf of the entire team at Dynamic Catholic, we pray you have a blessed Easter and look forward to serving you powerfully in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead. And remember, that Bible verse I wanted you to keep in mind, starting on Holy Thursday, no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor has the heart of man conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. God bless you. Have an amazing day. Remember, be bold, be Catholic. 

Jesus, I believe that you are truly present

In the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist.

Every day, I long

For more of you.

I love you above all things.

And I desire to receive you into my soul.

Since I cannot receive you sacramentally at this moment

I invite you to come and dwell in my heart.

May this spiritual communion increase my desire

For the Eucharist.

You are the healer of my soul.

Take the blindness from my eyes.

The deafness from my ears.

The darkness from my mind.

And the hardness from my heart.

Fill me with the grace, wisdom, and courage.

To do your will in all things.

My Lord and my God.

Draw me close to you

Nearer than ever before.

Amen.

Consecrate America to the Eucharist. Bye-bye. Have a great day.

Have a great day.

Have a great day

Come on.

Have a great day.