Jesus is risen. Alleluia! Alleluia! In his rising, it is revealed to us that Jesus, Son of God, has reconciled us to God and reigns as the Lord of all. He is no martyr to be mourned, but the living God, present to us, in whose footsteps we walk.

In the fifty days of Easter, we celebrate Jesus’s many gifts given us. Jesus’s most miraculous promise—conquering death—has been fulfilled, and so we rejoice in knowing that all of Jesus’s promises are true. His resurrection is a model for sacrificial living, which is to say that Jesus’s life of living not for himself but for us, lead directly to his exaltation and our salvation. He died for us, to self-interest, so that we may all experience the glory of God’s love on earth and in eternal life.