Easter Monday is a public holiday - most of us don't have to go to work and so we get a long weekend of 4 days (5 if you work or study in the education sector). We all know this and yet today was pretty much the same as every other day - well it was for me anyway. Other than not "going" to church the day was much the same as every other day.
I think sometimes that's where we put Jesus' death and resurrection on Easter Monday. Having walked with Jesus from the triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, through the events of the cross, journeyed the Way of the Cross to the cross and the tomb, and having celebrated his resurrection and all that that means for us as individuals and for all humanity, we can too easily consign Easter to the rear view mirror. After all we've remembered, we've celebrated but Easter is over for anther year - it's time to get on with "normal" life.
But should that be how we react? No, of course not. At Easter we pay special attention to Jesus' sacrifice, but we must never forget that what Jesus did, he did for all people, for all time, for every day of the year. We may focus on the events of Holy Week, Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday just once a year. But its message - that God loves us, that Christ died and rose for us - must be carried and told throughout the year at every opportunity.
"He is risen" is a triumphant message, a shout of happiness and rejoicing for Resurrection Sunday and every day of the year.
