Monsignor Enrique Díaz Díaz shares with Exaudi readers his reflection on the  Gospel of this Sunday, April 5, 2026,   entitled:  “This is the day of the Lord’s triumph.”

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Acts 10:34, 37-43:  “We ate and drank with the risen Christ”

Psalm 117:  “This is the day of the Lord’s triumph”

Colossians 3:1-4:  “Seek the things that are above, where Christ is.”

Matthew 28:1-10:  “He has risen and is going ahead of you into Galilee”

Why did only a few women find the strength to go to the tomb on the morning of the first day? The only ones who endured the torment of seeing Christ on the cross were the same ones who now wanted to see the tomb of the one they loved so much. Saturday, the day of rest and sacred time for the Jews, had passed, now becoming like the tomb that sought to keep life locked away. It would seem that death triumphed, and with it those who crucified Jesus. The two women were only looking for a tomb, but they found an empty one. They wanted to bid farewell to the dead man and found the Living Christ. They hoped to close a painful chapter in their lives and found a new mission: to proclaim the Resurrection and the Life. These faithful women, who had not abandoned Jesus and who returned to finish what had been left undone at the funeral, became the first witnesses of the Resurrection. Now they had a greater responsibility: they were constituted as witnesses with full rights, even though the disciples resisted accepting it. We too have drawn near on this Easter Vigil night to the most magnificent event of our lives, to the most transcendental experience for each of us: to experience the life of the Risen Christ in our own lives.

A new time has begun. Saturday is behind us, and the first day of a new era has dawned: the era of life, love, and triumph. Rules, laws, and fears are behind us; the time of life begins, and this day becomes the first “Sunday,” the “Lord’s Day.”  “Do not be afraid,”  are the words of the Angel that inaugurate this new time and that will be constantly repeated throughout the Easter journey, first in the negative and then in the positive:  “Peace be with you.”  For the resurrection of Jesus not only conquers fears but also brings peace. Joy is a constant focus for those called to proclaim the resurrection. True joy, the kind that is contagious, that overcomes doubts, that brings harmony to the heart, that conquers fears. Everything becomes new and different. The angel, with his words, confirms with certainty what they were seeking:  “Jesus, the crucified one ,” but he leads them back down a very different path:  “He is not here .” Yes, the crucified one, the failed one, the abandoned one, is not here. It is true that it is the same Jesus, but now he has been transformed into the Glorious Christ. You can verify this by searching the empty tomb, but you cannot remain indifferent now; now you must proclaim to the whole world:  “He has risen, just as he said.”

The angel’s message is also for us. It invites us to be certain that Jesus was crucified, that he was placed in the tomb, but that this empty tomb is proclaiming his resurrection. We, too, cannot remain indifferent. If Christ is alive, we need to proclaim it. We cannot remain mired in fear, in the crosses of injustice; we need to manifest life. Today, many women, and many men, should be informed that Jesus, the Crucified One, is not in the tomb. There are those who continue to carry a meaningless cross, those who bear suffering without hope, as if Christ had not risen. And suffering, the cross, and the tomb will only have meaning if one has experienced the Resurrection of Christ. Otherwise, they will produce a fatalistic sense of failure, and the meaning of one’s own existence will be lost. So transcendent is experiencing the living Christ.

The two Marys received the angel’s message and, with “fear and joy,” hurried to fulfill their task. It was no longer fear that paralyzed them, but fear that energized them and joy that propelled them forward. They didn’t dwell on their own smallness, their insignificance, or the fact that their words carried little weight. For when life resides within, it doesn’t matter if others believe them, because that inner life bursts forth and manifests itself spontaneously. They set out, hastening as the angel had instructed. Life must be proclaimed, and the light must be shared; it cannot remain locked away in the heart. The more happiness is shared, the more it grows. It is curious that both the angel and later Jesus sent them to Galilee as if to return to their beginnings and to humble beginnings. This was not about dwelling in the past, but about reclaiming the roots of an entire life experience. It is not in the tomb nor in death that they will find Jesus, but in the daily struggle for life, in the forgotten and the lowly; there is where Jesus makes himself present. The world cannot and must not ignore the Resurrection of its Lord; everyone must be given the opportunity to know that Jesus has been raised, because in his Resurrection, we will all find life. And Galilee, the abandoned, poor, and Gentile region, becomes a center that will radiate the new light, because Jesus “has risen!”

The news spreads everywhere and must be present in our own time. Each of his disciples is also given clues to this new way of generating life. We too are sent to Galilee because there the presence of Easter joy is revealed: where service, fraternal love, and the Beatitudes are made manifest. Christ is alive in the midst of the poor who generously share what they have, where people suffer but are capable of hope, celebration, and joy. We must proclaim with enthusiasm the joy that Christ has risen, but we must also be able to discover it and make it take root in all the new Galilees of our time. Yes, the Lord will reveal himself to us in every moment of our daily lives, in the humble Galilee of our homes, in the work of the poor, alongside the marginalized. Today let us proclaim with a loud cry:  The Lord is risen!

Our God, who through your Son conquered death and opened the gates of life for us, grant us to defend, cherish, and live a full life. Amen