First Reading: Acts 10:34a, 37-43 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23; Second Reading: Colossians 3:1-4 or 1 Corinthians 5:6b-8; Gospel: John 20:1-9

The Easter Sunday Reflection is by Fr. José Minaku, SJ

President, Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar (JCAM)

My dear friends,

At Easter, you light the candles that help you open your eyes and look around when the dry season ends. You will see that nature understands something about Easter. Cracked earth turns green again. Trees, once dry and still, begin to bud. Ducks acquire fresh feathers after winter. Snakes shed their old skin to grow. Creation seems to experience death… only to return stronger and renewed. This is the gift of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!

But what about us?

We don’t grow new skin like snakes. We don’t sprout leaves. And yet, God has given us something even greater: the power to be transformed from the inside. What nature shows on the outside, we can live deep within our hearts. That’s what Easter is about.

Easter is the victory of life over death- not just physical life, but that deep, quiet force of God that brings things back to life: hopes, dreams, love, joy. Easter is light breaking into the night, and that light is the Risen Jesus. Indeed, our world today feels like a long night of war, injustice, loneliness, fear, and broken relationships. It’s easy to feel stuck. But Easter tells us that life finds a way– not loudly, not with fireworks, but like a small seed breaking through the soil, or like a flame that keeps burning even when the wind blows. On Easter morning, the Gospel says Mary Magdalene went to the tomb “while it was still dark” (John 20:1). She didn’t wait for the light; she moved through the darkness, and in that place of sadness, she found life. She heard Jesus call her by name, and today, He calls your name too, in the hope that his familiar voice will stir your heart, illuminate your eyes, and kindle your hope for a new life, a new beginning.

So what can you do?

Be someone who protects life. Look for life, even just a little, in your heart, in others, and in the world. When you find it, safeguard it as you would a delicate plant. Nurture it. Allow it to grow. Share it. When you forgive, speak the truth, say no to hate, and help someone, you become a witness of the Resurrection of Jesus, a witness to hope. You’re not too young to bring hope. In fact, the world needs young people like you — not perfect, but filled with stubborn hope. Because yes, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5)

One day, I visited a camp for displaced persons in an African country. A guest from Europe accompanied me. What we saw was heartbreaking: misery in its most brutal form. Despair had a face, and it looked straight into our eyes. Suddenly, my guest gripped my arm tightly. He stood still, paralyzed by what he was witnessing. You see, watching tragedy on a television screen or scrolling past it online is one thing. It is another thing to be there to feel it in your flesh. To breathe in the foul stench that stings your eyes until tears fall. To be wrapped in hot, heavy air, thick with smoke, that clings to your clothes and pierces your skin. For a moment, my guest whispered that he thought he had walked into hell. And yet — staying there and speaking with our brothers and sisters, something slowly became clear: nothing can stop life. Life always finds a way: children, barefoot and covered in dust, still knew how to laugh — a deep, joyful laugh, born from almost nothing. A mother stirred porridge over an open fire with a tenderness that words cannot describe. They offered us the best tree stump to sit on, as if it were a throne. There was so much humanity in them. So much dignity. So much hope. And in that place of ashes and tears, I experienced something deeper than I ever expected: I experienced Easter: an encounter with the Risen Lord in the poor.

Not in a church or a song, but in the triumph of life over death, in the small miracles of love and resilience that still bloom in the hardest soil.

So this Easter, don’t hesitate to change, to grow, to start anew. Let the Risen Christ revive whatever felt lost within you. Then go — show the world that life is stronger than death.

Christ is risen! He is truly risen!

Happy Easter!