The month of April is illuminated by Easter (April 4), by Christ’s resurrection! It marks the beginning of a new condition for every person: the risen Lord lives in us, and we can live in him and for him, already savoring the unending joy of eternal life.

Since a single day is too short to celebrate such a mystery, the Church devotes fifty days to it, extending the Easter joy. Fasting has always been prohibited during this period. Pentecost will not be a separate feast, but the fullness and fulfillment of what was inaugurated on Easter night: the gift of the Spirit, who raised Jesus from the dead.

The first eight days of the Easter season make up the Octave of Easter, celebrated as a solemnity of the Lord: it has a more pronounced character of joy and leads us to meditate on Christ’s resurrection. But the entire fifty-day period has this character: the Alleluia is sung continually.

The Easter season is the most suitable time to pray the Way of Light, setting out on a journey with the Risen One. The Way of Light is presented as symmetrical to the Way of the Cross: fourteen stations, each with a corresponding biblical passage, ranging from the discovery of the empty tomb, the first sign of Easter, to Pentecost.
As we follow the Way of Light, we will discover that we are not alone on life’s unceasing journey. The Risen One promised: “I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28:20). Life must be a journey of continual resurrection. 

Let us welcome the grace of Christ’s resurrection! Let us allow ourselves to be renewed, let us allow Jesus to love us, and let us allow the power of his love to transform our lives as well, so that we may become channels through which God can water the earth, care for all creation, and make peace flourish.

Let us therefore live this month allowing the Easter proclamation to resound in our hearts: “Christ, my hope, has risen!” (Easter Sequence). “This is not a magic formula that makes problems disappear. No, Christ’s resurrection is not that. Rather, it is the victory of love over the root of evil, a victory that does not ‘leap over’ suffering and death, but passes through them, opening a path in the abyss and transforming evil into good: the exclusive mark of God’s power” (Pope Francis).

Happy Easter and happy journey!