For Easter is a lot to believe. That Jesus lived, died and then was raised up by God on our behalf (Rom 4:25); that bonded with Christ by Baptism, we, too, are raised up and can “live in newness of life” (Rom 6:4).

It’s a lot to believe that “the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also” (2 Cor 4:14), that his resurrection has given us “the victory” over sin, that evil cannot finally triumph—why, even death has “lost its sting” (1 Cor 15:55-57). We know for sure that we will all die, but can we also trust that “in Christ, shall all be brought to life” again? (See 1 Cor 15:22.)

There, surely, is the greatest stretch for our faith: that death—our ultimate concern—is not really for real, that it is no more than a “change of life” (Preface, Mass of Resurrection). Has the rising of Jesus Christ really made death to go backwards for us all—into new life?

It was this amazing conviction that launched the Christian faith. If Jesus had simply lived and died, he might be remembered as another great Israelite prophet. But his disciples became fully convinced that God had raised him from the dead, and so embarked on their own distinctive path that we know as Christianity.

Paul recognized the stakes very well: “If Christ has not been raised, then our faith is in vain” (1 Cor 15:14). If ours is an Easter faith, then surely, all is “changed, changed utterly.” Now no oppression can hold us bound, no evil can finally triumph, no cross is too heavy to carry, no trouble can rob us of hope, no sin can enslave us, no dependency is beyond recovery, no hurt is beyond healing.

If we truly believe that “Christ is risen, risen indeed,” then, “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38-39).

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