Easter Sunday is the greatest of all Sundays. It is a joy-filled celebration of the Risen Lord with the singing of the Gloria and alleluias, the renewal of baptismal vows, and a sprinkling with Easter water. After sharing in the Eucharist, people go forth strengthened in faith to serve the Lord and one another.

The season of Easter is the most important of all liturgical times, which Catholics celebrate as the Lord’s resurrection from the dead, culminating in His Ascension to the Father and sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Church at Pentecost.

Easter is characterized, above all, by the joy of glorified life and the victory over death expressed most fully in the great resounding cry of the Christian: Alleluia! All faith flows from faith in the resurrection: “If Christ has not been raised, then empty is our preaching; empty, too, is your faith.” (1 Cor 15:14)

For everyone living in the Charlotte area – you are invited to join Bishop Michael Martin, OFM Conv., for Easter Sunday Mass at two locations this year:

• 9 a.m. (English) – St. Mark Catholic Church, 14740 Stumptown Road, Huntersville, N.C. 28078
• 2 p.m. (Spanish) – Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, 6212 Tuckaseegee Road, Charlotte, N.C. 28214