Easter is our feast of feasts.  It celebrates our truth of truths.  Here we are standing at the very source of our Christian faith.  Here we say a basic yes to what the power of God can do.  As Peter proclaimed in our first reading:  this man Jesus, crucified to death through our fears, God raised.  On Easter we affirm and commit ourselves to this fundamental truth:  God’s power can take what is dead and lifeless and raise it to new life.  Jesus now lives!  And this living Jesus now brings us to new life!  Jesus is Lord!

Jesus lives.  Jesus brings new life.  Jesus is Lord.  That is the Easter proclamation.  We hear the proclamation.  We may even repeat and sing the proclamation.  But has the proclamation of resurrection reached deep enough into our minds and hearts so as to shape our expectations – shape our expectations of life, of ourselves and, above all, of Jesus?

It makes a big difference to our expectations whether we think someone is dead or alive.  When someone is dead, even someone we knew alive, we may be able to learn more about him or her as time goes by, but the information is about someone no longer here.  We hear an echo from the past.  And we expect nothing more.

When we think someone is alive, we have a completely different set of expectations.  People who are alive are still capable of doing things and saying new things.  They can show up in different places from the ones they used to inhabit.  They can surprise us.  When someone is still living and we are in relationship with that person, our knowledge of the person can grow and change.  New data is always coming in, sharpening our understanding of earlier actions and words.  We are not limited to old data and past memories.  With the dead, on the other hand, their deeds are ended.  Their words are complete and their power is gone.

The Easter proclamation raises for all who hear it this most important of all questions: do we think Jesus is dead or alive?  Are our expectations of Jesus of someone who is dead or someone who is alive?

For those who do not share our Christian faith, Jesus is just another dead man.  His deeds are done – now he does nothing more.  His words are complete – now he speaks nothing new.  His power is gone – now he affects no change.  The non-Christian can always learn more about Jesus but can never learn more from Jesus.

For the Christian Jesus is alive.  His deeds continue – he does new things among us.  His words continue – he speaks new words, new meanings into our lives.  His power continues – he affects change in our lives.  We find ourselves being changed – being transformed.  That is why Paul calls Jesus Lord and life-giving Spirit.

Jesus lives.  Jesus brings new life.  Jesus is Lord.  That is our Easter proclamation.  It raises for us a fundamental life-question, but it also comes as encouraging invitation.  It is God’s own invitation to learn from the living Jesus – to open mind and heart to Jesus’ life-giving Spirit.  This is my Son, my Beloved; learn from him [Mk 9, 7].  He is your way.  He is your truth.  He is your life [Jn 14, 6].

The classic Christian prayer is always:  Maranatha!  Come, Lord Jesus! [Rev 22, 20].  Every liturgy acts out that prayer.  It intends to address a real, living person fully capable of manifesting his presence ever more palpably, ever more clearly and closely.  As we begin the Easter season, let us pray Maranatha each day – looking for and learning Jesus’ life-giving presence in our lives.  Come, Lord Jesus!