Growing up in the church and in Catholic schools, I have heard the biblical account of Easter dozens of times, so much so that when I hear the story now, it seems to have lost a lot of its greatness. How sad! I read the Easter Gospel this morning alert to my possible numbness. I went through silently and slowly and intently and found the story’s brilliance once again.

Jesus rose from the dead! People don’t do that. As Christians, we say it like it is no big deal, but it is a big deal. Jesus was as human as you and me but He rose from the dead because he was also God.

This, my friends should be astounding. Jesus is so deep that even death has no power over him.

So many people live in fear of death. But this Easter (and every Easter) that fear is trampled. We hear again that Jesus overcame that inevitable force. By aligning ourselves with Jesus, we become part of this overcoming!

This year, I am reading the Easter story like a child who has never heard it before.