Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!

This is the traditional greeting and response for Easter. So, for the next 50 days (the season of Easter) I welcome and empower you to greet people in this way! This greeting begins and ends with a wonderful word, one of my favourites: Alleluia! (exclamation mark included)

Alleluia and Hallelujah are actually the same word, the first is just the transliteration from the Greek, while the second is from the Hebrew (the more you know!) Both mean “praise the Lord!” 

However, I think Alleluia is a word that has come to take on more meaning and nuance than just this. Whispered or shouted, sung, spoken or danced, on its own, or sprinkled throughout whole sentences, this word has become a way to express what can be joyfully inexpressible. It is a word that comes from somewhere deep within us. 

“We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song!” Often attributed to St. Augustine, these words resonate, expressing our identity as followers of Jesus.  

In Charles Dicken’s famous work, A Christmas Carol, Scrooge, after his transformation, promises to “honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” 

As Christians, I think that our responsibility and delight is to honour the Resurrection in our hearts, and to keep Easter, our Alleluias, all the year.

At the heart of the Church is the resurrection. At the heart of the Church is an “Alleluia!” 

We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song. Sing out your Alleluias with all that you have and all that you are – with every fiber of your being, this day and every day. 

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!

Thanks be to God! Alleluia!

 

CG+