resurrection

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Thursday, 4 April 2013 : Thursday of the Easter Octave (Gospel Reading)

Luke 24 : 35-48

Then the two disciples told what had happened on the road to Emmaus, and how Jesus had made Himself known, when He broke bread with them. While they were still talking about this, Jesus Himself stood in their midst. He said to them, “Peace to you.”

In their panic and fright they thought they were seeing a ghost, but He said to them, “Why are you upset, and how does such an idea cross your minds? Look at My hands and feet, and see that it is I Myself! Touch Me, and see for yourselves, for a ghost has no flesh and bones as I have!” As He said this, He showed His hands and feet.

In their joy they didn’t dare believe, and were still astonished; so He said to them, “Have you anything to eat?” And they gave Him a piece of broiled fish. He took it, and ate it before them.

Then Jesus said to them, “Remember the words I spoke to you when I was still with you : ‘Everything written about Me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.'” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And He said, “So it was written : the Messiah had to suffer, and on the third day rise from the dead. Then repentance and forgiveness in His Name would be proclaimed to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things.”

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Wednesday, 3 April 2013 : Wednesday of the Easter Octave (Scripture Reflection)

Christ is risen and He lives! Yes, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all know, this Easter season, we celebrate Christ who is not dead, and who does not suffer the penalty of death in hell, but who rose in glory, that through Him all mankind may have hope of eternal life through His resurrection.

Yet, many of us are like the disciples on their way to Emmaus, blinded in their spiritual eyes to see God’s presence in their midst, and the doubt that evil had sown in their heart shook their faith, when they knew and saw Christ crucified and died on the cross. Their fear and doubt prevented them from recognising and proclaiming that Christ is alive, and that He is not dead.

Yes, the suffering and death of Christ formed a great part of our faith, where we see the Messiah carrying the cross of sin and suffering that is due to mankind and took it upon Himself that all of us can be saved. It is through the suffering and death of Christ that our death may be averted, not in the sense of the death that will indeed claim us all in the end of our lives, but the eternal death in which we are completely separated from Christ.

This will not happen since Christ did not remain among the dead, for just as God is the God of the living, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who did not stay dead, but arisen again to live forever with Him in heaven, therefore Christ too, as God’s greatest servant, the Son of Man, was arisen in glory, that all who bask in His Resurrection may have hope of eternal life through Him.

Our faith is based upon the centrepiece of Christ’s mission in this world, that is His Resurrection. For without the Resurrection, our faith in Him has no base, for He stayed dead just as others did, but because He returned to life in glory, He became the first to be risen, that we too someday may be risen ourselves with Him.

Jesus is calling upon us to follow Him, and to follow His teachings and examples. He is calling on us to cast away the veil of doubt and fear from our hearts. He came to save us, and saved we are, if we remain firm and strong in our faith in Him. Do not fear, and do not fret, for God is with us, all the times of our life. He is there to share our joy in times of happiness, and to help us bear our burdens in times of sorrow and fear.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray, that God will strengthen us, in faith, hope, and love, that we will become shining beacon of truth and the love of God in this world. May through our hands, God will do great wonders in our broken and darkened world, to make it anew and bright once again. Amen.

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Wednesday, 3 April 2013 : Wednesday of the Easter Octave (Gospel Reading)

Luke 24 : 13-35

That same day (as the Resurrection), two followers of Jesus were going to Emmaus, a village seven miles from Jerusalem, and they talked about what had happened. While they were talking and arguing about what had happened, Jesus came up and walked with them, but their eyes were not able to recognise Him.

He asked, “What is it you are talking about?” The two stood still, looking sad. Then the one named Cleophas answered, “Why, it seems You are the only traveler to Jerusalem who doesn’t know what has happened there these past few days.” And He asked, “What is it?”

They replied, “It is about Jesus of Nazareth. He was a prophet, you know, mighty in word and deed before God and the people. But the chief priests and our rulers sentenced Him to death. They handed Him over to be crucified. We hoped that He would redeem Israel. It is now the third day since all this took place. It is also true that some women of our group have disturbed us.”

“When they went to the tomb at dawn, they did not find His body; and they came and told us that they had had a vision of angels, who said that Jesus was alive. Some of our people went to the tomb and found everything just as the women had said, but they did not find a body in the tomb.”

He said to them, “How dull you are, how slow of understanding! Is the message of the prophets too difficult for you to understand? Is it not written that Christ should suffer all this, and then enter His glory?” Then, starting with Moses, and going through the prophets, He explained to them everything in the Scriptures concerning Himself.

As they drew near the village they were heading for, Jesus made as if to go farther. But they prevailed upon Him, “Stay with us, for night comes quickly. The day is now almost over.” So He went in to stay with them. When they were at table, He took the bread, said a blessing, broke it, and gave each a piece.

Then their eyes were opened, and they recognised Him; but He vanished out of their sight. And they said to one another, “Were not our hearts filled with ardent yearning when He was talking to us on the road and explaining the Scriptures?”

They immediately set out and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and their companions gathered together. They were greeted by these words : “Yes, it is true, the Lord is risen! He has appeared to Simon!” Then the two told what had happened on the road to Emmaus, and how Jesus had made Himself known, when He broke bread with them.

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Tuesday, 2 April 2013 : Tuesday of the Easter Octave (Scripture Reflection)

The Lord Jesus Christ is risen, and He offers to all of us who believe in Him, the gift of the Holy Spirit as St. Peter the Apostle had mentioned. Through Christ, the Holy Spirit descends upon us all. Remember the words of St. John the Baptist at the Jordan, that while he would baptise people with water, the Lord, the Messiah would baptise all with fire and the Holy Spirit. That Messiah is indeed Christ, Risen Lord, our Saviour.

The Lord brought justice to all and He brought salvation to all of us. He is our hope, and He represents the living water, the endless spring through which we can sate our spiritual thirst for God’s love, just as Christ had said to the Samaritan woman. He gave us His Body, the very Precious Body, as our spiritual food too, that just like Elijah, who walked the desert for forty days and nights after receiving the food from the angel, we too can do so in our evangelising mission, and here is a Body and Food greater than that received by Elijah!

Christ was lifted up high between the heavens and the earth on the cross, and this reminds us of the time when Israel walked the desert with Moses, when they rebelled against God and rebelled against His love. God who loves all His children, is also a just God, who hates evil. Thus, He sent the serpents to kill many of the sinful people of Israel, due to their rebellion.

Just as Moses crafted the bronze serpent on the Lord’s instruction, such that when it is lifted up high, all the people who saw it may live, therefore, the same happened, as Christ, whom was lifted up high like the bronze serpent, becomes the new symbol of hope, through whom all mankind who look up towards Him can be saved and gain eternal life.

Through the waters of baptism, we have seen Christ, and we have looked upon Him, and He looked down upon us baptised in Him, that we share with Him now the everlasting life He promised all of us who have faith in Him. But never slacken, as our sight of Christ is often covered by the filth of sin, and by the shaking of our faith.

Just like Mary of Magdalene, who was faithful to our Lord, but whose faith in Him had been shaken by then recent death of Jesus on the cross, that she failed to see that the One speaking to her is none other than Christ Himself, risen from the dead. Therefore, we too can fail to see the Risen Christ, because our faith in Him had been shaken.

Never fear! For the Lord comes to save us all, and if we put our faith firmly in Him, we shall get our heavenly reward in due time. Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us strive to put our trust, all of it, in God who is Risen, who died to save us all, and then rise up again to show His triumph against death and sin, that had enslaved us for so long.

Let us be free from the sins and the evils that blind us from seeing the glory of the Risen Christ, and let us pray for one another that all of us will be ever faithful. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 2 April 2013 : Tuesday of the Easter Octave (Gospel Reading)

John 20 : 11-18

Mary stood weeping outside the tomb; and as she wept, she bent down to look inside. She saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, and the other at the feet.

They said, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She answered, “Because they have taken my Lord and I don’t know where they have put Him.”

As she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not recognise Him. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and answered Him, “Lord, if you have taken Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will go and remove Him.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned, and said to Him, “Rabboni!” – which means Master. Jesus said to her, “Do not touch Me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to My brothers and say to them : I am ascending to My Father, who is your Father, to My God, who is your God.”

So Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord, and this is what He said to me.”

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Monday, 1 April 2013 : Monday of the Easter Octave (Scripture Reflection)

Christ is risen! He has risen from the dead!

That is the key to our faith, that is our faith in God. God who has loved us so much since the time of creation till now, and his everlasting love made Him to give us the only means to salvation, that is through Christ who died and then returned to life in the glorious Resurrection, which we commemorate in this Easter season. Such is the joy that our joy overflowed and lasted the entire fifty days since Easter Sunday to the day of Pentecost.

For in Christ, the keys to the kingdom of heaven is finally available to us, for Christ destroyed evil’s hold on us and sin’s slavery of mankind through His death. He descended into hell though He was sinless and pure, all because He did so out of pure love for us, and to release our forefathers who had died before us, who had been righteous but were still enslaved by the power of sin, because of mankind’s rebellion against God.

That was why Christ came into this world, to be the servant of our Lord who sent Him. He was rejected, vilified, and eventually was condemned to death like a criminal on a cross. That was so that the servant of God would be glorified, and lifted up high for all to see. For in Him, lies the salvation of this very world. As I had often mentioned, the Most Precious Blood which He offered to all of us through the Last Supper with His disciples, was poured down the wood of the cross, as a cleansing font of salvation, in which, if we choose to do so, we can cleanse ourselves and purify our beings in the blood of the Lamb.

Yes, Christ who is our Paschal Lamb of sacrifice, who did not resist, and pure as He was, He bought off our sins into Himself, that in His purity, our sins will be destroyed. And yet, as King David had mentioned, that God will not suffer His Son to suffer for such great injustice, that He suffered no corruption, because He who suffered for our sins was indeed still and always will be unblemished. This is why God brought Him up again on the third day as Christ Himself had mentioned.

If Christ died on the cross and remained dead, we would then have no hope, since Christ Himself succumbed to that same power of death which had enthralled us all this while. Death is our just punishment for our rebellion against God who is good and perfect. But Christ, through His Resurrection, showed His triumph over death, and He, who is the first to be risen from the dead in glory, through His own glory, conquered death, and threw a final rebuke against Satan, releasing all of us from the same bonds of death.

His victory gave us a new hope and indeed, the hope in Him, He who conquered death, and conquered evil in the same time. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us, in this Easter season, strive to put our trust and hope in Christ, our Lord, and strive to grow deeper in our faith in our God, and also our love for Him and for our neighbour. That we will grow ever stronger in faith, hope, and love, the three virtues that mark us as truly belonging to God, our Lord. Pray for one another as well.

Amen.

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Monday, 1 April 2013 : Monday of the Easter Octave (Gospel Reading)

Matthew 28 : 8-15

The women left the tomb at once in fear, yet with great joy, and they ran to tell the news to Jesus’ disciples. Suddenly, He met them on the way and said, “Rejoice!” The women approached Him, embraced His feet and worshiped Him. But Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid! Go and tell My brothers to set out for Galilee; there they will see Me.”

While the women were on their way, the guards returned to the city, and some of them reported to the chief priests all that had happened. The chief priests met with the elders, and decided to give the soldiers a large sum of money, with this instruction, “Say that His disciples came by night while you were asleep, and stole the body of Jesus. If Pilate comes to know of this, we will explain the situation and keep you out of trouble.”

The soldiers accepted the money and did as they were told. This story has circulated among the Jews until this day.

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Monday, 1 April 2013 : Monday of the Easter Octave (Psalm)

Psalm 15 : 1-2a and 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11

Keep me safe, o God, for in You I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “O Lord, my inheritance and my cup, my chosen portion – hold secure my lot.”

I bless the Lord who counsels me; even at night my inmost self instructs me. I keep the Lord always before me; for with Him at my right hand, I will never be shaken.

My heart, therefore, exults, my soul rejoices; my body too will rest assured. For You will not abandon my soul to the grave, nor will You suffer Your Holy One to see decay in the land of the dead.

You will show me the path of life, in Your presence the fullness of joy, at Your right hand happiness forever.

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Monday, 1 April 2013 : Monday of the Easter Octave (First Reading)

Acts 2 : 14, 22-33

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, and, with a loud voice, addressed them, “Fellow Jews and all foreigners now staying in Jerusalem, listen to what I have to say. Fellow Israelites, listen to what I am going to tell you about Jesus of Nazareth. God accredited Him and through Him did powerful deeds and wonders and signs in your midst, as you well know.”

“You delivered Him to sinners to be crucified and killed, and in this way the purpose of God from all times was fulfilled. But God raised Him to life and released Him from the pain of death, because it was impossible for Him to be held in the power of death. David spoke of Him when he said: ‘I saw the Lord before Me at all times; He is by My side, that I may not be shaken. Therefore My heart was glad and My tongue rejoiced; My body too will live in hope.'”

“‘Because You will not forsake Me in the abode of the dead, nor allow Your Holy One to experience corruption. You have made known to Me the paths of life, and Your presence will fill Me with joy.'” Friends, I don’t need to prove that the patriarch David died and was buried; his tomb is with us to this day. But he knew that God had sworn to him that one of his descendants would sit upon his throne and, as he was a prophet, he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah.

So he said that ‘He would not be left in the region of the dead, nor would His body experience corruption.’ This Messiah is Jesus and we are all witnesses that God raised Him to life. He has been exalted at God’s right side and the Father has entrusted the Holy Spirit to Him; this Spirit He has just poured upon us as you now see and hear.

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(Easter Sunday) Sunday, 31 March 2013 : Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Week, Easter Octave (Scripture Reflection)

Alleluia! The Lord is Risen! He had conquered death through His glorious Resurrection, and victory over death. He triumphed over Satan, who had tried to end His mission on this world by condemning Him to death through the people and crucifying Him, but all to no avail. Satan failed to realise that in crucifixion lay the very key to our redemption by Christ, who became our Paschal Lamb, through whom we are made whole and worthy of God.

Yes, just as the lamb was sacrificed and the blood marked the doorposts of the people of Israel in Egypt, Christ had shed His blood on the cross, and this blood marked all of us as His chosen people, whom He would protect against certain death, and bring into life in Him. For the blood marked the people of Israel apart from their Egyptian masters, so that the angel of the Lord passed over them when they killed the firstborn sons of the Egyptians, animals and humans alike.

Therefore, in Christ, lie our new Christian Passover, for all of us deserved death for our sins and our sinful ways, and through the rebellion of our forefathers, since the days of Adam and Eve, who disobeyed the Lord and ate the fruits of the tree of knowledge. But although we deserved death, God loves us so much that, He could not bear us to face death and separation from Him.

That is why, God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who became man like us, and was born in the flesh through Mary, His mother. He is the Lamb of God, that became the Paschal Lamb, that is the lamb of sacrifice for our sins, but not like any other lamb. Being divine, and yet lowering Himself as a human, He alone is worthy to redeem all mankind from their sins. His Precious Blood that flowed down from the cross washed down evil and sin in those who believed in Him, and who has faith in Him and believe in His Resurrection.

Let us firmly reject Satan and his lies, and reject his temptations on us with worldly goods and desires, just as our Lord rejected his approaches in the desert. Remain true to our mission just as Christ was obedient unto death on the cross. That through our faith we will be rewarded with resurrection into life just as Christ was resurrected. Let us renew our commitment to serve the people of God and make the Holy Spirit that God had given us through baptism and confirmation to bear much fruit in both ourselves and in our fellow men.

Let us strive to become truly the people of God in this blessed Easter season. Let us make full use of this season of Easter, both in our great joy in the resurrection of our Lord, and as well as to share this joy that we have, with others around us, that they too will learn of the great joy of all Christians, that is the Lord crucified had been risen from the dead, and through that resurrection, all of us are saved, and had our life restored to us.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us keep on praying that God will continue to bless us everyday of our lives, and may He guide us as we embark on the new year after this Easter season, that from today onwards till the next year when we celebrate Easter again, we can make this year a truly fruitful and blessed year. Also in the spirit of the Year of the Faith, let us also strive to strengthen our faith in the remaining half a year of the celebration of this Holy Year.

I wish everyone a happy and blessed Easter, and may the Risen Christ our Lord shine His face upon all of you, to share in the glory of His Resurrection. Amen!