The Lord has risen from the dead, as he foretold, alleluia!
A warm Easter greeting to everyone in our dear University of Asia and the Pacific!
The glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ is the key to interpreting His whole life. It is also the foundation on which our faith stands. Without Christ’s victory over death, as St Paul would say, everything we are believing in and our Christian way of life itself will not make sense. Furthermore, it guarantees our hope for a future resurrection which is meant to wipe away our sadness in this valley of tears. Because, out of God’s immense compassion, He sent his only Son to redeem us from our iniquities by washing away our sins with His blood. Truly, as said in the hymn “Exultet,” all of us could say, “What good would life have been to us, had Christ not come as our Redeemer?” Easter is the celebration of our Redemption, and therefore the celebration of thanksgiving and joy because, even though we expect that life in this world would offer us sorrows, we have a very bright future to look forward to.
The Resurrection of the Lord is a central reality of the Catholic faith and has been preached as such since the beginning of Christianity. The importance of this miracle is so great because it guarantees the truthfulness of the doctrine we proclaim, the sanctifying effects of the sacraments that we receive, and even the moral norms we adhere to. We affirm thus with conviction even after twenty-one centuries have passed that Christ lives! The fact of the resurrection is assurance that Christians everywhere can count on the company of the Lord who is the same just as yesterday, today, and forever!
It is just correct then that we spend this next 50 days of the season rejoicing with firm hope in the Lord. Although most of us had not the chance to do our usual practices of piety in the past Holy week because of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), let’s not forget that we can still do pious devotions in our homes to live this Easter Octave and feed our spiritual life with faith, hope, and love in the Lord. Try going over the Mass readings in the coming days to enter the events that gave the first Christians strength to survive those difficult times they had to endure. Reading the Acts of the Apostles will give us vivid ideas of what it means to live with faith in the Resurrection. Meditating the Rosary, especially the Glorious Mysteries, can also help us do the same.
Before I end, I would like to tell those who want to fulfill the yearly Easter obligation that the confession stations located in the Parking and Sports Building of our university will once again open to everyone when the ECQ is already over. These next 50 days of Easter are a wonderful opportunity to avail of the great gift of Grace which the Resurrection of the Lord brought to our world by availing the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
In the company of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her most chaste spouse, Saint Joseph, may we all have a very HAPPY EASTER!
Banner photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash.
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