We Are an Easter People in a Solemn Holy Friday World “We are an Easter people, and Alleluia is our song.”
These words, often attributed to St. Augustine and later popularized by Pope John Paul II, capture the essence of the Christian life. We live in a world marked by suffering, brokenness, and uncertainty, a Good Friday world. Yet, as believers, we do not live without hope. We are Easter people, grounded in the promise of the Resurrection.
I had heard that line before, words often attributed to St. Augustine and later brought to life for so many by Pope John Paul II. But for a long time, it was just something I believed in theory. It wasn’t until I started traveling that I really understood it.
I went to Mexico once on assignment to cover Pope John Paul II. Like many, you might think of Mexico and picture beaches or nightlife, but that wasn’t my experience. I found myself near the dumps outside Mexico City, DF, surrounded by families living in conditions most of us can hardly imagine. And yet, that’s where I saw it. Hope. Joy.
Faith that didn’t make sense unless it was real. I dedicated my time meeting the community, but what stayed with me the most was celebrating in a small, poor parish. There was no grandeur, no perfection, just people who believed. People who sang like they knew the ending of the story.
I had felt something like that once before, years earlier, singing “Hallelujah” with a chorale. Back then, it was beautiful music. But I in Ecuador and El Salvador, that same “Alleluia” became something deeper. It wasn’t just a song anymore. It was a declaration.
https://youtu.be/Ux2ypebng1k?si=hEgt9_hOngxd6-GX
Later, when I came to The Bronx to build News 12, one of the first things I did was visit a small convent. I brought a simple donation, but more than that, I went to be present, to pray, to give thanks, and to stay connected to that same spirit I had encountered abroad.
It reminded me of the life of Mother Teresa, who found Christ in the poorest of the poor. She didn’t wait for perfect conditions to live out her faith,she stepped directly into the suffering of the world and carried hope with her.
That’s what it means to live in a Holy Solemn Friday world. Because the suffering is real. The brokenness is real. I’ve seen it—in landfills, in struggling communities, in quiet places where people are often forgotten.
Scripture tells us that Jesus endured the cross “for the sake of the joy that lay before Him” (Hebrews 12:2). He saw beyond the suffering—and because of that, so can we.
That’s what I witnessed in those communities. That’s what I try to hold onto in my own life.
We don’t deny the pain of this world. We live in it. But we don’t belong to despair.
We are Easter people. And Alleluia is not just something we sing, it’s something we live I came to understand this not just in theory, but through experience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akb0kD7EHIk&list=RDakb0kD7EHIk&start_ra…