Easter Sunday • The weather is getting warmer and all around us we see signs of new life. Sometimes, emptiness is a sign of new life. Take for example an egg. If you were to go walking in the woods and find an egg shell cracked open and empty, you would know that some new life has hatched.

We see new life as we gather at an empty tomb. The One who was dead has Risen from the dead, and now He lives forever and ever. Today, this Easter, God wants to give you new life. Where have you experienced death or hopelessness? This is where God wants to heal, transform and resurrect you. Jesus is already there in the darkness working to transform you. Here are three ways to help grow His new life within you:

1. Practice dying. Each night when you go to bed, pray an Act of Contrition and die to the old you. Then say a Hail Mary and put your life in the hands of our Blessed Mother.
2. Practice rising from the dead. Every morning you can rise to a new day and a new you in Christ. Pray an Our Father and let God help you be his wonderful child.
3. Practice going to heaven. Heaven is a place of peace. There are no Mondays in heaven. Our work there is to praise God. We are all brothers and sisters and no one is rich or poor. And God is with His people. We can experience Heaven every single Sunday: a day of rest, renewal, relaxation, and worship. A day for family and friends. A day when the Risen Lord meets us at Sunday Mass. There we eat His flesh and drink His blood and receive God's new life within us.

Two thousand years ago Jesus rose from the dead. Now is your time, today is your day: it's your turn to rise from the dead.

(21 Apr 2019)

Going Deeper: Practicing dying. Practice rising from the dead. Practice going to heaven.