For now is Christ risen from the dead, the first fruits of them that sleep. Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:21-22)

Death came about through the rebellion of Adam and our resulting separation from God. Death is conquered by the obedience of Christ. Our separation from God is ended in reconciliation through Christ.

Jesus was born to be a bridge from hopelessness to hope, from being alone to being loved, from death to eternal life. He was born and did not die so that we might better understand our true vocation.

We are called to wholeness with God. In shared purpose and practice we may be fulfilled and become sources of fulfillment. There is no need to fear, no cause to hesitate. In relationship with God all that is broken will be healed.

The Greek used above for dead can also mean to dry up, rot, or lose fertility. Too often we feel trapped in a kind of dry darkness that is neither fully alive nor quite dead; like a seed in the cold, hard ground of winter.

In relationship with Christ we are made alive - the Greek is zoopoieo - we are restored, aroused, invigorated; we are endued with new and greater powers. We become as a seed in soil warmed and moistened by spring.

You may listen to Elizabeth Parcells sing For Now is Christ Risen from the Messiah. (Following I Know that my Redeemer liveth.)

Above is the Last Judgment by Michelangelo (Sistine Chapel).