This ancient Latin expression, Resurrexit Sicut Dixit, means: He Is Risen As He Said! It is both an announcement of a historical fact and a proclamation of personal faith in the bodily resurrection of the Son of God from the dead. The believer personally experiences the resurrection of Jesus as a reality in his or her life through grace and faith. We feel him in our hearts in a way similar to Mary Magdalene’s encounter with the Risen Christ on the first Easter morn. This religious experience of the individual Christian constitutes a tangible sense of the indwelling of God, a profound connection to Jesus crucified and risen.
This personal knowledge of Jesus’ Easter mystery produces a joy that causes every believer to sing with all his or her heart on Easter morning the beloved eighteenth-century hymn:
Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!
Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!
Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia!
Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!
Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!
Unto Christ, our heavenly King, Alleluia!
Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!
Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!
A happy Easter to all of you, my dear friends! May the whole world come to know the joy of Easter.
Fr. Tim Byerley Pastor