The Tomb is Empty! Alleluia!

"Why do you seek the living one among the dead?"

- Luke 24: 5

Alleluia! The Lord is Risen! Alleluia!

Once again we hear the glorious hymn of Alleluia! For the Lord is risen! He has  been resurrected. The tomb is empty and the Lord has come back to life!

But many of us are still living among the dead, more specifically, spiritually dead. It is because we do not manifest in our lives the Risen Christ! It is as if we are still waiting for the moment of resurrection, as if we are still hiding inside houses with closed doors and windows for fear of the Jews and the Romans. We have not yet accepted the good news that the Lord is risen and that we can already rejoice for we are now an Easter People: we are people of the resurrection!

"Why seek for the living one among the dead?" Or perhaps we should rephrase the question to read like this, "Why still live among the dead when our Lord has already gained for us a new life?"

There are among us who have listened to the news of the empty tomb and the message of the angel which the women have shared. And, like Peter, consequently ran to see for themselves the empty tomb and the burial clothes and were amazed. Among them there are those who believed! But some still wanted to have more evidence, especially those who did not try to see the empty tomb and the burial clothes: the story of women is not very reliable.

The Lord is risen and has come back to life! It is time we receive this good news with faith and manifest such faith in our daily lives. We must never let fear keep us from living the new life which the Lord has gained for us. We must never let the Jews and the Romans keep us from going out to proclaim our faith through our very lives. We must never continue hiding behind closed doors and windows for we have been redeemed and have been released from the clutches of sin!

The Lord is risen and we sing again the Alleluia! We must rejoice and be glad for the Lord has triumphed over death after successfully nailing sin upon the cross. We must sing songs of joy and jubilation. The power of sin has been vanquished; the sting of death has been overcome; the influence of evil has been broken! And with St Augustine we declare: We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song!

Being an Easter people singing the Alleluia means the proclamation of the Lord's resurrection in all that we do, say or think! It also means being grateful to the Father for the gift of salvation, for the opportunity to become His children, and for the love that He has given us which has been concretely manifested through the Lord's sacrifice.

It is the Day of the Resurrection and the start of the Easter Season! Let us live in accordance with this new life which the Lord has gained for us through His passion, death and, of course, resurrection! Let us leave the life of sin upon the cross; let us not fear the certainty of death for we shall be resurrected by the Lord at the proper time; let us reject evil in all its forms and live in holiness all the remaining days of our lives in accordance with Easter joy!

Why live among the dead when we have been provided with a new life by the Lord? Think about it for it is truly an expression of faith in the Lord's resurrection if we also live with a brand new outlook in life: an outlook which proclaims to the world, WE ARE AN EASTER PEOPLE AND ALLELUIA IS OUR SONG!

The tomb is empty. The Lord has come out resurrected! Alleluia! Alleluia!