“On this day the Lord has acted; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” the psalmist proclaimed centuries before the first Easter. Whenever we recognize God acting in our lives, in the world around us, it is a time to rejoice and be glad, to celebrate the love of God however surprisingly it may manifest in our awareness. The first lesson appointed for today is a brief passage in the center of the longer story of God preparing the way for opening the fledgling church to the Gentiles, using Cornelius, a Roman centurion of the Italian cohort, and Simon Peter, one of Jesus’ first disciples (Acts 10:1—11:18). They both heard God speaking to them in visions. Both followed through on their experiences, which led to multiple opportunities for them and their companions to rejoice and be glad as God opened the door to new life to those previously assumed to be beyond the pale. Take time to read the whole story and celebrate God’s amazing, life-giving grace along with the Judean apostles and believers of that day who heard Peter’s first-hand testimony (11:18). For another joy-filled story, look at our gospel passage describing the experience of Mary Magdalene that first Easter dawn. It seemed she had no reason to rejoice and be glad. What must she have thought and felt when she arrived at the tomb? Grief? Fear? Chaos? Confusion? What had happened? Nothing made sense. What did it all mean? And then she heard Christ Jesus calling her name. She recognized him and realized he was still with her, alive in a new way, certainly a time for her to rejoice and be glad. Likely we have all experienced our personal Good Fridays, those dark times when we didn’t know how we’d make it through the night, when it seemed impossible just to keep putting one foot in front of the other, when there seemed to be no end to the pain and confusion surrounding us. The good news of the gospel is that God doesn’t leave us in our despair, but calls us each by name and rescues us with the light of the Easter Sonrise. There is new life in which to rejoice and be glad, and once we’ve experienced God’s deliverance we, like Mary Magdalene, are sent out to share our Easter story with those who sit in darkness, to proclaim Christ’s message of liberating love.