CELEBRATING THE RESURRECTION

EASTER SUNDAY - Mark  16:1-8

Easter is the feast of feasts. From the beginning of the People of Israel, it was the feast of deliverance. For Christians, Easter is the feast of salvation in Jesus Christ. It is the feast in which we celebrate the paschal mystery: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the feast of the victory of love over hatred and of life over death. Singing a victory hymn, St. Paul wrote:

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

“Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, 

and the power of sin is the law. 

But thanks be to God, 

who gives us the victory 

through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 15,55-57)

After Saturday evening, which is already the first day of the week, that is the day of the Lord, we have the Easter Vigil in which we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ in four celebratory moments: a) the celebration of the light with the paschal proclamation; b) remembering the history of salvation through the reading of the Word of God; c) baptism and the renewal of baptismal promises; d) The Lord's Supper.

1. Fire and light are signs that are easy to understand in all cultures. Recognised as signs of the Spirit, of the power and glory of God. Fire is also a sign of love that purifies and transforms. And light speaks to us of truth and good. Christ is proclaimed as the Light, being at the same time proclaimed as Yesterday and Today, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega. He is the Center of the Universe, and from him, everything exists and gets its meaning.
2. The Scriptures speak of Christ and lead us to encounter Christ. The whole history of salvation is turned towards Christ, and Christ is the culmination of this story. We remember the past to understand the present and learn how God manifests his presence and his saving action in the history of humankind. It is always the word of God that gives meaning to our lives and our walking to the life of fullness in Christ. So we listen to the Word.
3. At baptism we were grafted onto Christ, making with him the experience of death and resurrection. In baptism, we are born again by the power of the Spirit that makes us one with Christ, making us children of God, called to the same glory of Christ. So we remember baptism and renew our baptismal promises.
4. Finally, we celebrate the Lord's Supper, following his example and obeying his commandment. With him, we offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving (Eucharist) and we sit at his table to be fed with the bread of heaven, his body and his blood.

It is with great joy that we sing alleluia.

Recognising God’s merciful love, 

we sing his praises and his power to save.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good,

  for his love has no end.

Let the sons of Israel say:

  ‘His love has no end.’

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

The Lord’s right hand has triumphed;

  his right hand raised me up.

I shall not die, I shall live

  and recount his deeds.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

The stone which the builders rejected

  has become the corner stone.

This is the work of the Lord,

  a marvel in our eyes.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! (Ps  118:1-2,16-17,22-23)

At Lubengele Parish, the newly baptized sing in thanksgiving to the Lord. To him we sing: Amen! Alleluia!

St. John Damascene composed The Canon of Pascha, sung here with different melodies.

The day of Resurrection, 

let us be radiant, O peoples! 

Pascha, the Lord’s Pascha; 

for Christ God has brought us 

from death to life, 

and from earth to heaven, 

as we sing the triumphal song. 

Glory to your holy Resurrection, O Lord!

Jesus, having risen from the tomb as he foretold, 

has given us eternal life and his great mercy.

 - St. John Damascene

HOSANNA! HOSANNA! PLEASE, DELIVER US

PALM SUNDAY - Mark 11:1-10

Every year, crowds of people coming from everywhere went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. Jesus would never miss that celebration and he went to Jerusalem with his disciples. As they approached the holy city, the crowds recognised him and shouted with exultation, proclaiming him the Messiah King who inherited the kingdom from David: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming!” They saw in Jesus the One who had been promised by all the prophets who would fulfil all their hopes, bringing freedom, restoring the kingdom of Israel and establishing the Kingdom of God on earth. And they cried out to him so that he pays attention to their oppression and comes to their rescue. Hosanna! was a cry of deliverance: Please, deliver us.  Delivers us from exploitation, from oppression and from slavery. Set us free. Please, deliver us. Later, it would be understood as a cry of praise, losing the original Hebraic meaning. Hosanna is a cry that affirms the messianic role of Jesus. It was a cry with political overtones that were easily understood by the religious leaders of Jerusalem. It is not surprising that they got alarmed and that they decided to stop such an adventure. They were afraid of a possible revolt that would lead to the intervention of the Roman army and to the destruction of the people of Israel.

However, Jesus had no political claims. He did not enter  Jerusalem on horseback like a dominating and conquering king at the head of his armies; instead, he entered seated on a humble colt, surrounded by the poor and the needy, the common people, who hoped for better days. Like them and with them, we cry Hosanna! Deliver us, Lord. Come and save us. Please, set us free.

Jesus’ path towards deliverance and salvation is completely different from what the Jews and the Gentiles expected. Rejecting power and dominion, he walked on the path that led him to the cross, carrying on his shoulders the weight of our sin and our rebellion. 

In the first reading, Jesus is presented as the Servant of the Lord who remained faithful up to the end. In the second reading, we are given the hymn of the letter to the Philippians, which describe the mystery of Jesus Christ in two movements: abasement and exaltation. He humbled himself, being obedient and faithful and God exalted him and established him in glory. In the Gospel, we read the passion according to Mark. As we read it, let us put ourselves in the different scenes and pay attention to our inner reactions. Are we very different from the different personages appearing during the narrative? Are we like Peter or like Judas? Are we like Herodes or like Pilate? Would we stand up near the cross like Mary? What would be our role?

During this Holy Week, let us be close to Jesus and accompany him on his way to the Calvary.

WHO LOVES HIS LIFE WILL LOSE IT

V SUNDAY OF LENT - John 12:20-33

As we approach the Holy Week, the passages of the Gospel of John that we read on Sundays present Jesus facing his incoming death. In doing that, he assumes it and gives it a meaning.

This Sunday’s gospel starts with a request from some of the Greeks that had arrived in Jerusalem to worship at the Passover festival. They went to Philip and told him: “Sir, we should like to see Jesus.” It is a request for a personal encounter with Jesus. In the end, true worship can be done only in Jesus and through Jesus. Philip went to Andrew and then both of them went to Jesus. The encounter with Jesus is mediated through the community, and it is the community that leads us to Jesus.

To the Greeks, who wished to see him, Jesus speaks of his destiny, presenting the hour of his death as the hour of his glorification. When he is lifted up from the earth, then he will attract all people to him, meaning that it is on the cross that he will be glorified.

It's like the seed cast upon the ground. Alone, abandoned, hidden in darkness, pressed all over, it experiences the agony of darkness, feeling distressed by a lost hope. However, the one who buried it under the ground did so in the certainty of a new life, with its fullness manifested in the many fruits that will produce. Without this experience of death, it will remain fruitless and alone forever. That would be the true death, with a temporary and futureless life coming to an end. Life is to be shared, spent for the sake of others. If we behave like proud and arrogant lords of life, we separate ourselves from others and remain far away from them. Whenever we turn ourselves into the centre of the world, putting everything at our service, we are on the path that leads to an aimless life, a life without purpose and destiny. As we try to save our lives from death, we end up losing life. It was not so with Jesus. Even though disturbed, Jesus walked into this hour of darkness and death with determination, in total fidelity to the love of the Father, knowing that it is by losing life that one finds it and by dying that one lives forever. Doing so, Jesus will glorify the Father and he was also glorified. If we follow him, we will share his victory over the prince of this world and will share his glory as well.

SAVED THROUGH GRACE

IV SUNDAY OF LENT - John 3:14-21

In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul tells us in no uncertain terms that “it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith; not by anything of your own, but by a gift from God; not by anything that you have done so that nobody can claim the credit.” (Ep 2:8-9) We cannot boast about our own good deeds. Even if we were always just, true, honest and well behaved, we have no right to salvation. We are earthly human beings, whose feet always touch the dusty ground. We cannot demand as a right that the doors of heaven be wide open to welcome us. It is by God’s love and mercy that he opens the doors for us, inviting us to go in. We cannot force our way in. 

In the gospel, we are presented with part of the conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus in which Jesus speaks of God’s love for humankind. The coming of his Son is the greatest proof of love. God does not hold back, but, in Jesus Christ, his beloved Son, he gives us everything. 

“God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son,

so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost

but may have eternal life.

For God sent his Son into the world

not to condemn the world,

but so that through him the world might be saved.” (Jn 3:16-17)

Jesus Christ - the Son of the living God - came to save not to condemn, and we are saved by believing in him, that is by accepting him and following him. He is the role model that we must imitate and to whom we must look for guidance.

Jesus reminded Nicodemus that Moses had lifted up the serpent in the desert so that all those who looked at it would be healed (Num 21:8). The serpent stands for God’s gratuity. They had sinned and sin brings death, but they would be healed freely, just by looking at the serpent. There was nothing that they could do, but open their eyes and look to the serpent. Doing that, they recognised their sin and put all their trust in God who is merciful. At the same time, the lifted serpent is a symbol and a prophecy of Jesus being lifted up on the cross. Jesus is aware of what awaits him: the cross, and on the cross, he presents himself as the remedy which will bring healing to us: everyone who believes in him, will have eternal life. Salvation comes by faith in Jesus Christ. If we refuse to believe in Jesus Christ, then we are already condemned. We may ask why? Only Jesus may bring healing to our diseases; then, how can we be healed if we refuse to approach and to accept him? That happens when we prefer darkness to light and it is so when our deeds are evil. Let us put Jesus Christ forward as our role model and then follow him. He is the way, the truth and the life.

YOU SHALL HAVE NO GODS EXCEPT ME

III SUNDAY OF LENT - Exodus 20:1-17

In chapter 20 of the book of Exodus, we can find the commandments, presented in the framework of the Covenant. God gives the commandments, presenting himself as Yahweh, the Liberator, who took the people of Israel out of “the house of slavery” in Egypt. The commandments are presented as the basic rules to guarantee that the people remain in freedom and do not go back to slavery. God is the guarantor of that freedom. That’s why he has a special claim on the people. He has to be recognised as the only God: “You shall have no gods except me.” We may wonder, why this exclusiveness and this jealousy of other gods. But the people of Israel, throughout their history, would make the experience of the fallacy of worshipping other gods. Whenever we change things into gods, they are gods made in our image to satisfy our craving for power, wealth and pleasure. Instead of liberating us, they oppress and destroy us. The true God - Yahweh - is the only foundation of human dignity, who always challenges us to live in solidarity, respecting the rights of the others. 

God and God alone is supreme. God and God alone must be worshipped. He is the centre of our lives since he is the source of life. Whenever we recognise God and accept him as the foundation of our lives and our societies, then we can live in peace with one another. When God is ignored, rejected and expelled from our lives, then we lose the foundation of a society built upon the respect for human rights. When we see God as non-sense and substitute him by our lust for power and pleasure, we become egotists and transform all the others into tools at our service.

A society that loses the respect for the parents and the elders is not worthy of itself. And then it loses all values upon which it should build itself. Truth stops to be essential and it is changed into convenience. Without a strong attachment to truth, life also is not important and it becomes something to discard whenever it becomes inconvenient. Love is confused with lust and pleasure and people find it impossible to live lifelong commitments. Corruption and stealing become a way of life, and we give ourselves the right to the things we did not work for and to get them we are ready to use violence. When we reject God, we have no more reasons to accept and respect our neighbour.

These basic commandments are so important that God has inscribed them in our hearts. They are the way to life and peace. If we reject them, we put ourselves in peril.

In this Sunday’s gospel, we see Jesus’ prophetic action of expelling the vendors from the Temple, causing a big uproar and disrupting the worship, making it impossible to offer sacrifices. Jesus is ready to bring in a new way of worshipping God - in spirit and truth, in which God is affirmed and accepted as God. Jesus is the source of legitimacy of this new worship, the worship of the New Covenant, in which He is the Temple, the Priest and the Sacrifice. Jesus is ready to offer himself in sacrifice; he is walking on the way that will lead him to the cross. That’s why Paul preaches the Christ Crucified, who is the wisdom and the power of God to bring life and salvation.