Easter

CHRIST IS RISEN…ALLELUIA

There was a tradition among the followers of Christ namely during Easter time, when a person meets with another, he would say, “Christ is risen…” the other would respond saying, “Christ is risen indeed”
Now I am going to say, ‘Christ is risen and would you please say, “Christ is risen indeed”.

Once a group of theologians were asked to describe Easter and everyone came up with different definition and there happened to come a ten year old boy and he said, ‘I can describe Easter”. They all looked at him and then he said, “Surprise”.

Easter can be better described with a word “surprise”.

It was a big surprise for many people who never thought that Christ would come back to life. The Pharisees and the Scribes criticized His teachings and preaching. They put Him down for His miracles and wonders. They finally crucified Him on the Cross saying, ‘ He is a blasphemer”, he compares Himself with God saying that He is the Son of God. When Christ came back to life, they believed His words and they became His followers and disciples.

It was a big surprise for death. Who could destroy death? Death was understood and accepted by humanity as a natural phenomena. But Christ our Lord by dying on the cross destroyed death and restored life. There is no death for those who believe in Christ. Yes, we will never die but live forever and ever. And that is why we are called to celebrate life every day.
It was a big surprise for sin. Because of original sin we all became slave to human nature and conditions but our Lord Jesus Christ by His resurrection, washed away our sins and made us new in Him. We are God’s people without original sin and suffering.
It was a big surprise for Satan who celebrated death of Christ thinking that He would never come back and He was gone for ever but Jesus our Messiah and Savior as He predicted rose to life, the tomb was empty. When people went to anoint the body of Christ, all they saw was empty tomb. Conclusion:
Dear friends in Christ, the tomb was empty, there was nothing in it. The nothingness has a deep and rich meaning. Yes, when we empty ourselves, we will understand the nothingness of the tomb and how God raised Christ from death to life. Christ is risen… indeed Alleluia. Amen

holy thursday

Dear friends in Christ Jesus, today we celebrate Holy Thursday and thus enter into sacred tritium. Except for the resurrection on Easter, Holy Thursday is possibly one of the most important, complex and profound days of celebration in the Catholic Church. Holy Thursday celebrates the institution of the Eucharist as the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. This day, Christ our Lord in His venerable hands took the bread and blessed it and gave it to His disciples and said, “ Take this all of you and eat it, this is my body which will be given up for you”. Then He took the chalice of wine and blessed it and gave it to His disciples and said, “take this all of you and drink from it. This is my blood poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins”. Every time, we celebrate the Holy Mass, we celebrate the this day event and experience the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Then our Good Shepherd instituted the sacrament of the priesthood to serve humanity remembering the sacred words of Christ, “I came to serve and not to be served”.
　
During supper, Christ our Lord who came from God knew that He is going to God got up from the table and took off His outer robe and tied a towel around Himself, then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of His disciples and then wiped them with the towel that He had around him, saying, “Do you know what I have done to you? you call me Lord, Master and teacher-and you are right. That is what I am. And I your master and Lord have washed your feet. you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
And Christ our Lord today gives them a commandment saying, “Love one another as I have loved you. Do as I have done to you”. So let us imitate our Master and serve one another and bring Christ’s love and forgiveness to all.