Christ the Lord is Risen Today! Seeing is not believing; the hallmark of all faith is trust

The truth that Jesus Christ rose from the dead is difficult for some people to believe let alone respect those who believe as much.

Prominent people such as Ted Turner and Jesse Ventura have openly mocked faith as for the weak-minded. The nation's news media, while running the obligatory story today about Easter, see people of faith the same.

Yet the very foundation of faith and belief in the Risen Lord have nothing to do with weakness. To believe what one has not seen requires incredible strength. And it is a strength handed down through the ages by our descendants. My great-grandparents believed as their parents did all the way back to the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531 north of Mexico City.

Our faith is our proudest identification.

Belief in today's miracle is as much about tradition as flying the American flag. But no one was there to see and record the resurrection. We only saw the evidence of it afterward, in Christ's appearances to his disciples of both genders and the modeling of his compassion and forgiveness by believers in the centuries after.

I had my best Easter since I was teen, singing last night and carrying a banner this morning during masses at St. Edward. In this Lenten season, I spent the most time of my life in church and prayer, particularly saying the Rosary daily. I consider Easter 2009 a milestone for my faith to take me to new levels of enlightenment and action.

I would prefer to be in heaven with my mother. But God and Our Lady decided to preserve my life from leukemia and my sinfulness. My life is theirs now. But I no longer fear death but look forward to its next visit -- because of what Christ did for all of us on this day.

God and man are reconciled. We can now return to Paradise. All we have to do is die as Our Lord. That's not a lot to ask.

Yes, a lot of wrong has been done in Christ's name throughout history and even to modern times. But what man has done cannot take from what God did that Easter morning. It never will.

You can trust in that.