Christ is risen!!!!  Yes, He is risen indeed!!!! And in case you didn’t realize it, that is the greatest news ever!

Why?  Because it means that death has been defeated!  Through His own death and resurrection, Jesus abolished the power of death and granted us victory over the one enemy that we thought could never be conquered...DEATH!

Therefore we will/must REJOICE!  WOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Below is a slightly more eloquent way of saying what I just said – an excerpt from a sermon preached by the great St. Athanasius (patron saint of STSA):

Behold, Christ came of Himself, and of His love He died for us… When we had destroyed ourselves through sin, He came and suffered for us, and gave us life through His love. For He came as a physician unto us, and manifested Himself unto us.  He did not come to us as ones who were sick, but He came unto us as ones who were dead. He healed not us who were sick, but He raised us up, we who were dead.  We who were swallowed up by death, He freed us from its bonds.  

Wherefore, Christ the Lord died for us, so that we might live with Him forever.  For if the Lord had not suffered with humanity, how should man have been saved?

Moreover, death fell at the feet of Christ, and was dragged away captive and quaking.  Hell and its power retreated, when it heard the voice of the Lord calling out to the souls: “Come forth from your bonds, you who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, come forth from your bonds, I proclaim to you life, for I am the Christ the Son of the Eternal God!”