Easter Day is the most wonderful day of the year! It is different from all other days, because the events of that first Holy Week marked the beginning of a new history for mankind.

Jesus� appearance to Mary Magdalene signalled far more than just an affectionate return to an old friend. He was telling the world that nothing would ever be the same again. That a completely new order had been created; that his promises to his disciples were true; that their tentative belief in him as Son of God was justified. Only God can defeat death, and here he was to demonstrate with his presence exactly who he was for them then, and who he is for us today.

His return from death teaches us that the barrier between Earth and Heaven has been removed. Jesus is both here with us, and there in glory. Because of Easter Day, he remains constantly a part of our everyday lives, just as he was with his friends two thousand years ago.

On Easter Day Jesus is inviting us to share in the joy of the disciples. For the rigours of Lent are over and Christ has overcome death, reassuring us that we no longer have anything to fear. This is the 'new thing' which in our Lenten readings God promised to bring about. We have become a new people with a new future. The old ways and the old fears have dissolved in the waters of new life which Jesus gives us. We can feel safe in the knowledge that Christ who died and now lives will never leave his people again. We experience this 'new thing' every time we come to Mass and receive the new life of the Risen Christ. Every time we receive his Body and Blood we are re-created and renewed.

Easter Day is a day when we should be proud to be called Christians, and a day when we should be unafraid to say so.

For Christ is Risen! Alleluia!