1. Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.<\/a>: <\/p>\n He comes and he says to the women and to you and me: Chairete, that is, \u2018Rejoice in my grace; be filled with God\u2019s favour\u2019. Hence, he comes and encounters them; the Risen Lord gives himself to them. For it is only through a real encounter with Christ that we can truly rejoice. Joy is a gift of the Holy Spirit, it comes from a grace-filled abiding in God that unites us to the Living One. All who are baptised and remain in a state of sanctifying grace have this intimate union with God which produces true joy, the joy that is expressed in the Risen Christ\u2019s first word to us. 2. <\/p>\n \"He is not here for He has Risen\": 6th-cent. mosaic from Ravenna of women at the Empty Tomb https:\/\/t.co\/hk4CVQE4Fs<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Fr Lawrence Lew OP (@LawrenceOP) April 6, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nIn the Mass, before we receive Holy Communion, we say: \u201cLord I am not worthy\u2026 but only say the word and my soul shall be healed\u201d. And in this Eastertide, I suggest, that word is \u2018chairete\u2019. Thus the Risen Lord is present among us, and he gives himself to us in the Blessed Sacrament. Through a worthy and well-disposed reception of Holy Communion we encounter him, we are filled with grace that heals our fears, and so, we come to experience the profound joy of Easter.
\nHowever, this joy, this encounter, impels us out on a mission. For just as the Risen Christ tells the women to become evangelizers, that is, bearers of good news to the apostles, so we are told at the end of Mass to \u201cgo and announce the Gospel of the Lord\u201d, to witness to the abiding joy that only comes from a graced union with Jesus Christ. So, chairete! \u2013 our world, often left with hollow happiness or manifold fears, is in much need of Easter joy!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n