Alleluia!

During these days, we have been in a spiritual desert through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These forty days of Lent were an opportunity for us to reconcile with God in the wonderful sacrament of Reconciliation. During Lent, we were in silence, but now we can say, Alleluia! Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. With His resurrection, He has opened the gates of Heaven to each one of us. Easter is a joyful celebration where we rejoice for this wonderful moment in the history of human beings.

The Resurrection of Jesus is not just a miraculous event, such as the resurrection of Lazarus was. The Resurrection is the victory of Jesus over death and is essential to our Christian Faith. St. Paul states in his first letter to the Corinthians, “If Christ has not been raised, then empty [too] is our preaching; empty, too, your faith” (1 Cor. 15:14). Pope Francis in his Easter blessing “urbi et orbi” on April 20, 2025 said, “Together with the risen Jesus we become pilgrims of hope, witnesses of the victory of love and of the disarmed power of life.” All of us are pilgrims in this world. We are walking together hand in hand to the house of our Heavenly Father. Therefore, the Resurrection of the Lord should lead us to have this wonderful experience of God who is loving us unconditionally.

For all of this, we can say Easter is a celebration of hope, renewal, and salvation. We have hope that death is not the end of our existence, but the beginning of something beautiful. We renew our faith in the Lord who died for us on the Cross and rose from the dead to give us eternal life. We celebrate that we received salvation through Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Easter is a season of joy. Let us rejoice because Jesus Christ has risen today! Alleluia! No more silence! All of us have the mission to proclaim the Good News of the Resurrection of the Lord, like the women did when they saw the empty tomb the first day of the week (Cf. Mark 16:1-11). Let us announce that the Lord is risen and lives in the Eucharist. Let us always proclaim the death of the Lord, and profess His resurrection until He comes again.

Remember, The parish that we dream is the parish that I help to build!
God bless you and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always!

Fr. Jorge Ramirez

Holy Trinity Church… 165 years evangelizing!