Happy Easter: The Dawn of Our Redemption

Christ is Risen — truly, He is Risen!

Easter is not just the greatest celebration of the Church’s year; it is the very heart of our faith.

Everything we believe as Catholics hinges on this moment — the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. As Saint Paul reminds us, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile” (1 Corinthians 15:17). But He has been raised, and everything has changed.

We do not merely celebrate an event in history. We celebrate the victory of life over death, light over darkness, grace over sin. We celebrate a Person — the Risen Lord — and the dawn of a new creation.

Why Easter? What Does the Word Easter Mean?

When we hear the word Easter, it may seem to come from a secular tradition or sound disconnected from the deep theological significance of the Resurrection. But the roots of the word and its spiritual symbolism are far richer than they appear.

The English word Easter is believed to derive from ēastre, the Old English word for dawn or the direction of the east — where the sun rises. This etymology is rich in spiritual symbolism: just as the sun rises in the East, the Son of God rises from the tomb, bringing light to a world shrouded in the shadow of death.

In Scripture and tradition, the East is the direction of hope and divine manifestation. The prophet Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord entering the temple from the east (Ezekiel 43:2). Christ Himself is called the Dayspring or Orient from on high (Luke 1:78). The early Christians prayed facing east, anticipating the return of Christ, who said, “For as lightning comes from the east and is seen even in the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:27).

The Resurrection happened at dawn — the light breaking into the darkness of night, symbolising Christ’s triumph over the darkness of sin and death. Just as the sun rises in the east, the Son of God rose from the dead, bringing eternal light to a fallen world. In the early Church, it was customary for churches to be built facing East — toward the rising sun — to remind us of the Risen Christ, the true Light of the world.

In the Holy Mass, we pray: “From the rising of the sun to its setting, a pure sacrifice will be offered to Your name.” This echoes Malachi 1:11 and points us to the universality and eternity of the Eucharistic Sacrifice — a foretaste of the Resurrection, offered continually across the world, from East to West.

So when we say Easter, we are not merely naming a day or a season. We are proclaiming a cosmic shift — a movement from night to day, from death to life, from despair to hope. We are pointing to the dawn of the new creation — the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is the true Light rising in the East. And in that light, we are called to live as children of the Resurrection.

As what Saint Augustine says, “We are Easter people, and Alleluia is our song.”

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The Resurrection: From Darkness to Dawn

Easter is not merely a celebration of Jesus rising from the dead — it is the declaration of what His Resurrection accomplishes for us and for all creation. It is not only a triumph over physical death, but the beginning of a new and divine reality for humanity.

At the moment when all hope seemed lost — when the world had done its worst, when the powers of darkness appeared to have prevailed — Jesus, the Son of God, descended into death itself. He did not bypass our suffering or evade our mortality; He entered into the very heart of it. From within death, He shattered its hold. From within the grave, He unlocked the gates. The stone was rolled away not so that He could come out, but so that we could see that the tomb was empty — that death had been defeated.

In that one victorious act, Christ transformed death from a final sentence into a passageway to eternal life. The Resurrection is the reversal of the Fall, the restoration of what was lost in Eden. Through His rising, Christ does not merely comfort us in our brokenness — He re-creates us, offering a life no longer governed by sin, despair, or fear.

This is why the Fathers of the Church often called Easter the “eighth day” — the day beyond the seven days of creation. It marks not just the start of a new week, but the birth of a new creation, a new humanity. The Risen Christ is the “firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18), and in Him we too are invited to rise — now, in grace, and one day, in glory.

From the silence of the tomb came the song of salvation. From the ashes of defeat rose the flame of eternal hope. The Resurrection is not the end of the story — it is the beginning of our redemption, our mission, and our eternal destiny in Christ.

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Why Eggs at Easter? A Symbol of Resurrection

At first glance, the Easter egg may seem like a simple seasonal tradition — but it holds a deeply Christian meaning that speaks to the very heart of our faith: the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The egg, though humble in appearance, is rich in symbolism. It bears within it the mystery of life hidden within something that seems cold and lifeless. The shell encloses new life, waiting to break forth. In this way, the egg has long been embraced by the Church as a powerful sign of the sealed tomb — and of the miracle that burst forth from it on Easter morning.

Just as the hard shell holds the mystery of new life, so the tomb held the Body of Christ. And just as the shell cracks open to release what is within, so the stone was rolled away, revealing the Risen Lord, victorious over sin and death.

In many Catholic and Orthodox traditions, Easter eggs are dyed red to symbolise the Precious Blood of Christ, poured out for our salvation. This red egg becomes an icon in miniature — reminding us that through the Cross came Resurrection, and through the Blood of the Lamb comes eternal life.

The Catechism tells us, “The Paschal mystery has two aspects: by his death, Christ liberates us from sin; by his Resurrection, he opens for us the way to a new life” (CCC 654). The Easter egg reflects both: the tomb that once held death, and the new life that now bursts forth because of Christ.

In the early Church, eggs were often part of the Easter feast — not merely as food, but as symbols of the joy of Resurrection. During Lent, the faithful would fast from eggs and dairy. So on Easter, the return of the egg was more than a treat — it was a liturgical and spiritual sign that something had changed, that Christ had made all things new.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa once said, “He offered Himself for us, a Victim holy and without blemish... and by rising from the dead, He raised with Himself the whole human race.” The cracked shell of the egg reminds us that death is no longer a prison. Christ has shattered its hold, and in Him, we too are called to rise.

So every Easter egg you see, let it speak to your soul. Let it remind you that the tomb is empty, the stone is rolled away, and Christ is truly risen — bringing with Him not just hope, but the promise of eternal life.

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