Christ is risen!

I have always been at a loss for how to greet people at Easter. I suppose the default common greeting is “Happy Easter” but that has always seemed too small for so wondrous a solemnity of our faith. It is also a little secular and mundane like the greeting “Have a nice day.” 

There is another option I often propose.  The Easter greeting of the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox traditions, I believe, is big enough. This Easter greeting is given as I approach another believer and I say, “CHRIST IS RISEN!” and then the response of the other is, “HE IS RISEN INDEED!”

This greeting is not a simple desire that the other will have a good time but rather a PROCLAMATION of the central mystery and hope of our faith, that Jesus Christ rose from the dead for the salvation of all.

“CHRIST IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED!”

This proclamation/greeting on Easter can be hard to adopt in our lives since religion is often considered a private matter in today’s world. Certainly, this greeting is meant to be given to another Christian, but we might even be reluctant to use it with other Catholics or even within our own families. Why?  By simply saying this Easter proclamation out loud, even to ourselves (out loud is important) or by actually greeting someone in this way may be surprisingly difficult.

We may have not been aware of how internal and personal our faith has become; how little we publicly witness our faith or maybe even how little it is talked about in our own families.  As disciples of Christ, we are called to PROCLAIM Christ crucified and risen from the dead.   Are we hiding our light under a bushel basket? 

Think of the difference in greetings.  “Have a Happy Easter” is a good greeting, but it is generic, superficial and one that can come off the tongue almost without thinking. “Christ is Risen” is more intentional and substantial.  To even decide to greet someone with “Christ Is Risen,” OUT LOUD, we must consider what we truly believe and how it is reflected in our lives.  We realize that it takes courage, a joyful courage, to make a public witness of our faith.      

CHRIST IS RISEN!  HE IS RISEN INDEED! 

To proclaim this Easter proclamation reminds us that we are called to share our faith and not be ashamed.  We are to be the SALT OF THE EARTH!

The message we bring is the hope we proclaim in Jesus — the way, the truth and the life — who was raised from the dead to save us from the darkness of sin and to take away the sting of death. In Jesus we have the true hope that gives our lives an eternal meaning, a hope that not even death can destroy. This same Lord comes to us in the celebration of the Mass as eucharistic food, his true body and blood to strengthen us to become more like Christ each day. 

This is the heart of the church, it is our proclamation, our hope and our witness in the way we live our lives.  This is the witness that we need to bring back into the marketplace, our social lives and into the discussions we find ourselves in every day. 

To be salt for the earth is to bring God back into our lives in such a way that it flavors our choices, our morality and the world in which we live. The challenges before the church today are calling us to consider whether our Catholic faith is just a generic title that has little influence in our lives or whether our Catholic faith is something that we embrace with a love that influences our whole lives and that we give witness to in the way we live.   

So, this Easter proclaim that Christ is risen to all you meet or at least out loud somewhere to someone.  If this is too big a step or you don’t know if someone is a Christian or knows the response, then simply say “The Lord is risen! I hope you have a Happy Easter.” Then the other can respond as he/she is able. 

In any case this Easter, give a public witness to your faith.  Do not just hope for a Happy Easter, but rather pray for a living faith that so fills you with hope and joy that you might be willing, with a joyful courage, to proclaim Jesus risen from the dead, OUT LOUD! 

As a beginning, right now proclaim it out loud, “CHRIST IS RISEN!” And somewhere know that the church is responding, “HE IS RISEN INDEED!”