THE FEAST OF LIFE AND SALVATION

EASTER CELEBRATION - Romans 6:3-11

The Passover Feast (Easter) is a very old feast, celebrated since the times the people of Israel fled the slavery of Egypt. Since then, Passover has always been a feast of liberation and has inspired countless liberation movements throughout the centuries. The Holy Scriptures speak abundantly of the first experience of liberation: The Pharaoh, king of Egypt, seeing a threat in the growing numbers of the people of Israel, decided first to enslave them and then planned to do away with them. In their suffering, as they faced doom, they cried out to God for deliverance. And God, listening to their cry, set in motion a plan for their liberation, taking them out of slavery and leading them to a land of their own, where they would be established as a nation with her own identity.

While the story of Exodus is being proclaimed during the most sacred Easter Vigil, it may come to our minds that the escape out of slavery in Egypt was mainly or even exclusively a political event, through which a people got their freedom, thus being able to affirm their own identity. However, as we listen to the word of God, during the Easter Vigil, we come to realise that the liberation from slavery and the exodus to the land of freedom is part of a much greater plan, that’s God’s plan of salvation. That Passover in Egypt was the first of many others celebrating God’s acts of salvation. We come to realise that we will only become truly free, when God himself set us free and when we recognise his primacy and accept his love and mercy. Whenever humanity turns its back to God, cuts all bonds with him and affirms its independence, taking God’s place and role, then humanity is running fast into slavery and true freedom is endangered. Left to ourselves, we don’t become gods but devils and evil become the master of our lives and society at large.

Going through the history of salvation, we discover that God is constantly on our side, never wavering in his commitment to making life and salvation possible for us. The people of Israel broke their alliance with God time and again and caused God to be frustrated and disappointed. Despite that, God does not go back on his word and promise. He pays always attention to our suffering and is always ready to answer with love and mercy.

“Oh, come to the water all you who are thirsty;

though you have no money, come!

Buy corn without money, and eat,

and, at no cost, wine and milk.” (Is 55:1)

Seeing that we addicted to evil and unable to become worthy of entering his Kingdom, the Lord decided to give us a new heart and a new spirit:

“I shall pour clean water over you and you will be cleansed; I shall cleanse you of all your defilement and all your idols. I shall give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you; I shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh instead. I shall put my spirit in you, and make you keep my laws and sincerely respect my observances.” (Ez 36:25-27).

Passover goes to the root of slavery to cut it out and establish a way of true salvation. Passover is the feast of life and salvation.

The Passover in which we remember the passion and death of Jesus Christ and celebrate his victory over death and sin makes it clear that humanity left to itself is capable of the most heinous crimes. In an act of revolt and independence, humanity is ready to kill God and take his place. And nothing else is sacred, nothing else is beyond our reach. There are no limits to what we can do, pursuing the ideal of becoming the centre of the universe and of manipulating everything to our profit. That is the way for self-destruction. However, the Passover of Jesus Christ which we are celebrating puts forward a completely different way, the only way possible for salvation. Jesus, the Son of God, offered himself to come and, remaining faithful up to the end, he accepted death imposed on him by evil men and offered his life as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin and the reconciliation with God. The way to life passes through death. Like Jesus, we must carry the cross, so that dying with him we may rise to life with him. The Passover is the great feast of life and salvation, offered to us in Jesus Christ. In him, God has proved his love and his commitment to humanity, as if He cannot be God without us sharing in his glory.

Let us offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise - the sacrifice of Jesus Christ - for the salvation of the world. If we become one with Christ, we will share in his resurrection and his glory.

I wish everybody a happy Easter celebration. May the Risen Lord pour his blessings on each one of us and on the whole world.