Christ is risen! He has burst open the gates of hell and let the dead go free.

He has renewed the earth through the members of his Church now born again in Baptism, and has made it blossom afresh with men brought back to life.

His Holy Spirit has unlocked the doors of heaven, which stand wide open to receive those who rise up from the earth.

[...] In one and the same movement our Saviour’s Passion raises men from the depths, lifts them up from the earth, and sets them in the heights.

Christ is risen! His rising brings life to the dead, forgiveness to sinners, and glory to the saints.

And so David the prophet summons all creation to join in celebrating the Easter festival: Rejoice and be glad, he cries, on this day which the Lord has made.

The light of Christ is an endless day that knows no night.

Christ is this day, says the Apostle; such is the meaning of his words: Night is almost over; day is at hand.

He tells us that night is almost over, not that it is about to fall.

By this we are meant to understand that the coming of Christ’s light puts Satan’s darkness to flight, leaving no place for any shadow of sin.

His everlasting radiance dispels the dark clouds of the past and checks the hidden growth of vice.

The Son himself is the day to whom The Day, his Father, communicates the mystery of his Divinity.

He it is who says through the mouth of Solomon, I have caused an unfailing light to rise in heaven.

And as in heaven no night can follow day, so no sin can overshadow the justice of Christ.

The celestial day is perpetually bright and shining with brilliant light; clouds can never darken its skies.

In the same way, the light of Christ is eternally glowing with luminous radiance, and can never be extinguished by the darkness of sin.

This is why John the Evangelist says: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never been able to overpower it.

And so, my friends, each of us ought surely to rejoice on this holy day.

Let no one, conscious of his sinfulness, withdraw from our common celebration, nor let anyone be kept away from our public prayer by the burden of guilt.

Sinner one may indeed be, but no one must despair of pardon on this day which is so highly privileged.

For if a thief could receive the grace of Paradise, how could a Christian be refused forgiveness?

Maximus of Turin (d. between 408 and 423): Sermon 53, 1-2 (CCL 23:214-216); from the Office of Readings for Sunday of the 5th week of Easter @ Crossroads Initiative.