The most wonder time of the year

With all due respect to Andy Williams, I believe that Easter – not Christmas – is “the most wonderful time of the year.” I don’t have anything against Christmas, except that the over-commercialization and busyness of the “holiday” season often leaves me physically and emotionally spent by the time the actual day of Christ’s birth arrives.

By contrast, even though the day of Christ’s Resurrection follows the busy schedule of Holy Week, it is a day of triumph and joy that always leaves me elated – if somewhat fatigued. While there are some traditions (like the Easter Bunny) that have nothing to do with the biblical account of the Resurrection of Our Lord, Easter remains a festival day that is mostly unsullied by the culture in which we live; you don’t see any bumper stickers encouraging us to “keep Christ in Easter”!

The joy of Easter is at the core of our Christian faith, the good news that we proclaim at the beginning of worship on this most holy of days: “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!” It is the reason we worship on the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week, our weekly celebration of “the day that makes all days possible.” We rejoice on this Easter Sunday that “the strife is o’er, the battle done” because “Jesus Christ is risen today.” Christians here in Rockville Centre and throughout the world will celebrate the greatness of our joy because in “this joyful Eastertide … our love, the crucified, has come to life this morrow.”

Easter is truly “the most wonderful time of the year.” That doesn’t mean that we’ll wake up on Monday morning and all of our problems will be solved, all our fears will be abated, and all of our troubles will be gone. It does mean that even though fear and anxiety will always accompany our journey through life, fear will never have the final word. The Easter Gospel speaks directly to our fears with the message that no fear is mightier than the joy that is ours in the presence of our Risen Lord, giving us the courage to endure our fears, knowing that the final word for God’s people is not fear but love: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” (1 John 4:18).

Let us rejoice in this “most wonderful time of the year.” Christ the Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!