Alleluia!

Easter Sunday.

alleluia
exclamation
variant spelling of hallelujah .
ORIGIN Old English , via ecclesiastical Latin from Greek allēlouia (in the Septuagint), fromHebrew hallĕlūyāh ‘praise ye the Lord.’
hallelujah (also alleluia)
exclamation
God be praised (uttered in worship or as an expression of rejoicing) : He is risen! Alleluia!
noun
an utterance of the word “hallelujah” as an expression of worship or rejoicing.
• (usu. alleluia) a piece of music or church liturgy containing this : the Gospel comes after the Alleluia verse.
ORIGIN Old English , via ecclesiastical Latin alleluia from Greek allēlouia (in the Septuagint), or (from the 16th century) directly from Hebrew hallĕlūyāh ‘praise ye the Lord.’

Today is a good day for rejoicing!   My family is Catholic, and we find our faith a useful lens to view, and a clear channel to interface with, the mysteries that comprise the Greatness that surpasses us and our understanding.  

We are "big C" Catholic by fate, coincidence of birth, and choice.  More importantly, we are "small C" catholic by experience and choice.  Let me explain with a definition.

catholic 
adjective
1 (esp. of a person's tastes) including a wide variety of things; all-embracing. See note at universal .
2 ( Catholic) of the Roman Catholic faith.
• of or including all Christians.
• of or relating to the historic doctrine and practice of the Western Church.
noun ( Catholic)
a member of the Roman Catholic Church.

ORIGIN late Middle English (sense 2): from Old French catholique or late Latin catholicus, from Greek katholikos ‘universal,’ from kata ‘with respect to’ + holos ‘whole.’

I'm not one to proselytize, at all.  I ascribe to the veracity of the Hindu notion that there are many roads to the top of the mountain.  Meaning (2) of the definition above gives me some comfort, and paves much of my path.  But, meaning (1) is the greater comfort.  Universal.

What a universe!  What beauty.

In the Catholic tradition, today is Easter Sunday.  We spent the last forty days, the forty days of Lent, without uttering the word, "Alleluia."  But on Easter morning, the Alleluias ring and rise.  It is kind of like closing your eyes for a time, to prepare to open them and be dazzled by a beautiful sunrise.

I am allowing myself to be dazzled this morning by the breathtaking beauty of all Creation.  Whatever your tradition, whatever your lens--atheist, agnostic, or practitioner of any faith new or ancient, I hope you are doing the same.  Whatever your tradition, I hope you worship today.  That is, I hope you worship in the "catholic" (all-embracing) sense of acknowledging, in whatever way is meaningful to you, the beauty and greatness of...of that which is greater than you...of, all this...of, the universe...of, life, and love, and joy.

Alleluia, indeed.