Joy is not a mood. It is not passive, and it is not optional. Scripture commands it — not because it’s easy, but because it’s true. We are not waiting for joy to come over us; we are called to step into it, to speak it aloud, to live as if Christ is risen — because He is.

In this age of realized hope, joy is no longer a future promise but a present vow. It is not the absence of sorrow, but the fruit of faith — faith that acts, decides, praises. Not led by feeling, but by truth. And when we fulfill that vow, not as a performance but as obedience, we discover: joy is not just strength. It is the rightful atmosphere of resurrection life.

The Shepherd speaks, and his sheep know the sound. It is not a riddle, not a ruse — but the clear, steady voice of the one who laid down his life and took it up again. In this Easter season, we remember that the Risen Lord is not distant. He gathers us still, feeds us still, guards us still. He is not only with us — he is for us.

What scatters us — fear, isolation, lack — is undone by his presence. We are no longer alone. We are no longer empty. We are no longer prey. Even now, surrounded by dangers seen and unseen, we rest. Because Christ is our Shepherd, and he will bring us home.

Easter is not a day, but a season — a commanded joy, a feast that stretches fifty days. And joy, like fasting, requires practice. We are learning, slowly, to receive the feast as the Church gives it: not as sentiment, but as discipline, culture, and life.

This week, we gathered again and again, not out of obligation, but desire — to savor hymns, to hear stories of the risen Christ, to taste and see.

Faith, too, is not born from proof but from hunger. Like Mary at the tomb, we look again — not because it makes sense, but because love won’t let us leave. We remember: doubt is not defeat, and fear is not foreign to the saints. But joy is not optional. It is our inheritance. It is work. And it is worth everything.

Mark begins the resurrection story with a quiet line: “When the Sabbath was over.” But beneath that stillness lies the turning point of all creation. While Christ’s body rested in the tomb, he was not idle — he descended into death, shattered its gates, and raised Adam and Eve by the hand.

The age of the Sabbath — of shadows and striving — is over. Christ has fulfilled it. He rises not just for himself, but with all of us in him. The silence is broken. The new day has begun.

This is the day of the cross — dark, sorrowful, and still, somehow, good. The weight Christ bore is beyond bearing: sin laid upon innocence, love met with rejection, light extinguished. And yet, this is the day we venerate, for through that crushing burden, life was won.

We are asked to take up the cross as well. But not His. Ours is smaller, shaped for us. It may feel sharp or too much to carry — but it is not. It is light, He says. It is bearable. And when we believe this, even through tears, despair loosens its grip.

This sorrow is not the end. It is the way to joy.

This night begins in communion — bread broken, feet washed — and ends in a garden soaked with blood. Christ, abandoned again, prays the one prayer that undoes our exile: Not my will, but thine be done.

He enters our isolation fully. Judas sells Him. Peter denies Him. The others sleep or scatter. And still He trusts. From the tree where man once fell, He restores what was lost — not by might, but by surrender. In His obedience, trust is reborn. In His love, we are made free.

Now, no betrayal can sever us. No silence can isolate. We are no longer alone.

Tonight the silver is counted. A friend turns betrayer. Jesus is left alone — not just deserted, but handed over, sold. Judas, who walked with Him, shared bread with Him, becomes the figure of all that isolates and breaks trust.

And yet, in this abandonment, Christ takes on the full weight of our fear: that no one will stay, that even God might withdraw. He enters that silence and carries it. “There was no one to help,” says the prophet. Still, He goes — and binds us forever with cords that do not break.

What was shattered, He makes whole.

Palm Sunday begins Holy Week not with sorrow, but with a proclamation of Christ’s triumph. The palms we bless and carry are not mere symbols — they are signs of His victory over death, reminders that the enemy is already defeated. We enter the week of His passion knowing the end of the story: the cross will give way to resurrection, suffering to joy. Even as we go with Him to Calvary, we do so under the banner of His already-won victory, protected and strengthened by the grace these palms proclaim.

As Passiontide begins, Jesus no longer avoids confrontation — He provokes it. In the temple, He speaks openly of His unity with the Father and the freedom found in His word, yet those who briefly believed in Him turn against Him. Their refusal to receive His teaching is bound to their love of darkness and their unwillingness to repent. Still, He offers freedom to all who turn to the light and remain in His word. In Him, the truth is not an idea but a person — and He stands before us.

We see Him take what is far too little and make it overflow. Five loaves, two fish — nothing that could feed a crowd, yet in His hands it becomes a feast. He shows us that when we give ourselves wholly, even our smallness is enough. The cross still stands ahead, but so does the promise of life beyond it. In His presence, there will always be more than we need.