Credopedia
Looking towards Easter: Jesus is alive – and that changes everything!
The disciples of Jesus knew what it was like to lose the ground under their feet. They had put all their hope in Jesus – and then he died on the cross. Their hope was shattered. Maybe you know moments like that: disappointment, doubt, or fear for the future. But it is into this darkness that the Easter message shines: Death does not have the last word. Jesus lives – and that changes everything!
- Easter – the greatest game changer in history!
- Hope does not disappoint
- Easter: A chance for a new beginning
- Experience Easter: Let yourself be forgiven – and forgive others
Easter – the greatest game changer in history!
Easter is more than just a long weekend of chocolate bunnies and spring fever. Easter is the greatest game changer in history! It is an invitation to let go of the old and to dare at something new. Yet we often find ourselves in situations where it’s hard to trust that God really is in control. Personal doubts, crises, or unexpected events can paralyze us. In those moments, it can feel like all hope is lost. And yet Easter shows us that the cross is not the final destination, neither is the tomb.
Jesus says: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)
The resurrection of Jesus is not an invention, not a fairy tale, not a metaphor – it is a reality that changed the lives of the disciples forever. Suddenly, they were no longer afraid but were courageous instead. They had no more hopelessness but rather, joy. They knew if Jesus has conquered death, then no situation in our lives is hopeless. The empty tomb on Easter morning changes everything!
Hope does not disappoint
“Everyone knows what it is to hope,” Pope Francis writes in the Bull of Indiction for the Holy Year 2025, Spes non confundit – Hope does not disappoint. “In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring.” (Spes non confundit, §1)
The Pope invites us not only to make an external pilgrimage, but above all else to go on an interior journey and to become pilgrims of hope. Especially as we prepare for Easter, we can respond to this call. By setting out, receiving God’s love anew, and carrying hope into the world, we live what Easter truly is: a living and personal encounter with Jesus Christ, who is the ‘door’ to salvation, to life in abundance (cf. John 10:7, 9).
True Christian hope means not seeking the deepest joy in fleeting material things or momentary pleasures. Pope Francis expresses this powerfully in Spes non confundit: “What is the happiness that we await and desire? Not some fleeting pleasure, a momentary satisfaction that, once experienced, keeps us longing for more […] We aspire to a happiness that is definitively found in the one thing that can bring us fulfilment, which is love. Thus, we will be able to say even now: I am loved, therefore I exist; and I will live forever in the love that does not disappoint, the love from which nothing can ever separate me.” (Spes non confundit, §21)
Easter: A chance for a new beginning
Easter is the feast of hope! You can start afresh. It’s the perfect moment for spiritual renewal. Just as we want to do some spring cleaning when the sun shines again, we also long for an interior renewal: letting in fresh air, clearing away the clutter, making space for something new.
Easter is an invitation to clean up our own lives and to dare to start a new beginning. The Easter season is an opportunity to renew our hearts and let God’s love take hold of us.
Through the forgiveness we receive in Christ, old wounds can be healed and the burden of the past can be lifted. Forgiveness gives us the freedom to see the future with new eyes.
Forgiveness opens the door to true healing – not by denying or trivializing the wrong done. As Spes non confundit puts it:
“Forgiveness does not change the past; it cannot change what happened in the past, yet it can allow us to change the future and to live different lives, free of anger, animosity and vindictiveness. Forgiveness makes possible a brighter future, which enables us to look at the past with different eyes, now more serene, albeit still bearing the trace of past tears.” (Spes non confundit, §23)
Experience Easter: Let yourself be forgiven – and forgive others
Only when you allow yourself to be forgiven by God and also forgive others can true redemption take place. The new life we receive through the resurrection is inseparable from forgiveness.
In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Jesus himself forgives you. “There, we allow the Lord to erase our sins, to heal our hearts, to raise us up, to embrace us and to reveal to us his tender and compassionate countenance. There is no better way to know God than to let him reconcile us to himself (cf. 2 Cor 5:20) and savor his forgiveness. Let us not neglect Confession, but rediscover the beauty of this sacrament of healing and joy, the beauty of God’s forgiveness of our sins!” (Spes non confundit, §23)
This is the joyful message of Easter: Christ is risen! There is no darkness that he cannot illuminate, no suffering that he cannot end, no sin that he cannot forgive, and no wound that he cannot heal, if only you will go to him with trust. Suddenly you’ll find new strength to face the future with hope and to live with greater joy and confidence.
So, pause and ask yourself: And I – what do I offer Jesus this Easter?
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