Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! - Christ has risen!

EASTER CELEBRATION - Colossians 3:1-4

Easter is the greatest celebration of the Christian calendar and Easter Sunday is the culmination of the Paschal Triduum, which started on Thursday evening with the celebration of the Last Supper. On Good Friday, we celebrated the passion and death of Jesus Christ. With his death and ensuing burial, a great silence came over the earth. In this silence pregnant with hope, we are eagerly awaiting the resurrection of Jesus Christ and, then, we will sing a cry of victory - the victory of life over death and love over hatred. Christ has risen and has come forward in triumphant victory. Through his blood shed on the cross, Jesus Christ has wiped away our sins and reconciled us with God. He destroyed division and enmity to bring peace and love.

During these most holy days, we celebrate God’s loving passion for humanity. He created us in his image, thus being the foundation of our dignity and the source of our glory. However, dominated by jealousy, we turned against God and decided to get rid of him and occupy his place. That is the great sin that has enslaved us, leading us to turn against each other. Our hearts became filled with pride, envy and hatred, which brought violence and war., planting chaos where there was harmony. God could have abandoned us to our fate, but he did not because he loved us so much that He sent His Son to live among us, being one like us, that he may redeem us and elevate us to divinity.

At Easter, we celebrate God’s love for us - a merciful love revealed and made present in Jesus Christ. Indeed, “having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” (Jn 13:1). For us, Jesus gave his life so that, if we pass through death with him, we will share in the glory of his resurrection.

“Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth, because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ is revealed – and he is your life – you too will be revealed in all your glory with him.” (Col 3:1-4)

“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.’” (Ps 118:1-2)

EVERY TONGUE CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD.

 EASTER 2024

During this most holy triduum,

we concentrate our gaze,

as well as our hearts and minds,

on Jesus, the Christ, who suffered

in his flesh the most horrible torture

and death on the cross.

Indeed, in the words of the prophet Isaiah,

“his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,

and his form beyond that of the children of mankind”,

“he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.”

Looking at Jesus on the cross,

we can see the cruelty and injustice

evil men are capable of.

Jesus submitted in faithfulness,

going through the pain of death.

“Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows”.

As we bow down before Jesus’ cross,

let’s bring with us all the suffering of the world,

especially the one brought about by conflict and war.

Let us remember that

“he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.” (Is 53)

Jesus Christ, “though he was in the form of God, 

he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 

but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, 

being born in the likeness of men. 

And being found in human form, 

he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, 

even death on a cross. 

Therefore God has highly exalted him 

and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 

so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, 

in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, 

to the glory of God the Father.” (Fl 2:6-11)

Let us give praise and glory to the Lord,

let us sing: Christ has risen from the dead,

and seated at the right hand of the Father,

he intercedes for us. Alleluia! Alleluia!

I wish all of you a blessed Easter.

INDEED, HE IS THE SON OF GOD

PALM SUNDAY - Mark 14:1-15:47

With Palm Sunday, we enter the Holy Week, a week set aside for us to celebrate the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this week, we go through joy and sorrow. We join the crowds who acclaimed Jesus as the Messiah and then, in a twist of behaviour, we join them again in shouting: Crucify him!

Jesus entered Jerusalem in triumph, acclaimed as king and saviour: 

‘Hosanna!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming!

Hosanna in the highest!’

However, he does not behave like any other king. He comes seated on a colt and, instead of an army, has his disciples and a crowd of common people. His kingship is of truth and love. In a few days, we would be arrested, tried, condemned and executed.

Jesus knew what was in wait for him and, in the Last Supper, he gave the meaning of his incoming death: “This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is to be poured out for many.” He accepted his death as a sacrifice, the sacrifice of the new covenant, shed for the remission of sins.

In the passion drama, all of us are intervenient. Are we like Judas who, being disappointed, turned against Jesus, being ready to profit from his betrayal? Are we like the disciples who ran away or like Peter who lied, denying Jesus to save his own life? Are we like the High Priest and all the other religious leaders of the people, who were blinded by their power and wealth? Are we like the Roman governor, Pilate, who did not care about truth and justice? In our world, how many innocent people suffer Jesus’ fate? Insulted, despised and abandoned even by friends! And then tortured beyond imagination! On the cross, his cry is the cry of the suffering servant, the cry of all those who suffer injustice and seem to be ignored even by God.

We begin the Palm Sunday acclaiming Jesus as the Messiah and then, we end it with the proclamation of faith of the Roman centurion: “In truth this man was a son of God.”

Jesus is the Son of God, who put aside his divine dignity to become one like us so that we may be raised high into glory with him.

JESUS IS THE SOURCE OF ETERNAL SALVATION FOR ALL WHO OBEY HIM

V SUNDAY OF LENT - John 12:20-33

The letter to the Hebrews defines the centrality and the role of Jesus Christ with that simple sentence: “he became for all who obey him the source of eternal salvation.” (Her 5:9). We can only find salvation in Jesus Christ, and that implies obedience to him. We are used to hearing say and to say it ourselves that we are saved by faith, as if do not need anything else but faith. “By faith” means by grace. That is, we cannot gain salvation as a reward that we deserve and have a right to receive. Salvation is a gift of God’s merciful love. However, to receive it, we must follow Jesus Christ, ready to obey him. It is useless to claim to be a disciple if I don’t behave as a disciple. In this Sunday’s gospel, John makes it very clear as he presents some Greeks looking for Jesus.

The Greeks represent the Gentiles, those who did not belong to the people of God. By that time, there were groups of people who felt attracted to the great values of the Jewish religion. Among those sympathisers, some converted, being circumcised and following all the Jewish customs and Mosaic Law. The evangelist does not clarify to whom he is referring. However, one thing we know: they had come for the great Passover feast. Their attention should be on the Temple, the house of God; instead, they turned their minds and their hearts to Jesus. Indeed, Jesus replaces the Temple as the place of encounter with God.

We assume that his passage reflects the situation at the beginning of the Church when there was a great discussion about the acceptance of the Gentiles, with many of the Christian Jews refusing to accept them without their total conversion to Judaism. It took time for the Church to come to a clear-cut decision. This is reflected in the passage. The Greeks went to Philip and he did not want to decide alone; so he went to Andrew and both of them went to Jesus. It remains clear that the decision to take the Gentiles to Christ is a Church decision.

Philip and Andrew informed Jesus and we may be shocked to notice that Jesus did not reply to their request. However, if we listen attentively to what Jesus said, we discover his answer: “If a man serves me, he must follow me,” If they are ready to serve Jesus, they must follow him and become his disciples. They must follow Jesus’ way to find salvation. We may ask: what are the implications of that? 

• We have to follow Jesus in his hour, that is, in his passion and death
• We must be ready to lose our lives.

If we follow Jesus, we will be with him: “Wherever I am, my servant will be there too.” And then, the one who serves Jesus will be honoured by his Father. He will share in Jesus’ glorification.

SAVED BY GRACE

IV SUNDAY OF LENT - John 3:14-21

Whenever we read the Holy Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, we find a thread linking the whole narrative. Behind all human interactions, there is a plan of salvation designed by God a plan is presented in a sketchy form immediately at the beginning: God promised that the offspring of the woman will crush the head of the serpent (Gn 3:15). The evil power that sows chaos in the world will be defeated and become harmless. The Scriptures try to show the unfolding of this plan through the history of the people of Israel. God’s commitment to his promise and his plan of salvation is shown in the covenant he established with the people of Israel. God remained faithful to his promise, despite the continuous betrayal on the side of the people. The first reading, taken from the book of Chronicles, presents an attempt at reading the history of Israel through the lens of the covenant. Time and again, the people were unfaithful to God, causing God to grow tired and become angry at them. In the end, God’s mercy and compassion would prevail, leading him to redeem his people. Thus, the victory of the Persian king Cyrus over the Babylonians is seen as planned and willed by God to give respite to his people and offer them salvation.

In his conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus speaks of God’s great love for humanity: “Yes, 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.” This great love is shared by the Son, who offered himself to be sent and lifted on the cross. Salvation is found whenever we accept this love and that is done when we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son. The Son was not sent to condemn the world, “but so that through him the world might be saved.”

Salvation is obtained through faith in Jesus Christ and damnation will come upon those who refuse to believe. The unbelievers live in darkness and prefer it to the light. We must search for the truth and always come out into the light so that everything we do is done in God.

In the second reading, Paul writes to the Ephesians that being saved by faith we are saved by grace, by the grace of God’s merciful love. Salvation is not something that we acquire by our endeavours, the fruit of our strength or intelligence. 

“Because 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).

JESUS’ BODY IS THE TRUE SANCTUARY

III SUNDAY OF LENT - John 2:13-25

After hearing the proclamation of this Sunday’s gospel, what is our reaction? How can we classify Jesus’ behaviour? We get the impression that he was a troublemaker, who tried to initiate a riot. The Temple authorities could not be pleased with such behaviour and questioned him: How can you “justify what you have done?”

The Temple was built on top of Mount Sion, thus being called as well Temple Mount. The whole area around the temple was considered to be part of the temple. The same gospel of John presents Jesus “walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon” (Jn 10:23). As part of the temple compound, there was a big courtyard, where the Gentiles could go. It was there that the sellers of the animals needed for the sacrifices would set up their shops. Anywhere, when there is a big feast, traders put up their stalls and all kinds of businesses thrive. In Jerusalem, mainly for the Passover, there were always thousands of pilgrims. Most of them, would not carry the animals for the sacrifices; instead, they would buy them at the temple. However, most of the business taking place at the Temple Mount was controlled by the High Priest’s family, which was accused of abuse and exploitation. 

In the line of the prophets, Jesus did an action of protest that would be well accepted by the majority of the people. According to Jesus, the temple stopped being a place of worship and became a market, that is a place of business, where all kinds of business take place. Thus, moved by the zeal of God’s house, Jesus takes action and cleanses the temple, so that it becomes a place of encounter with the Lord.

Answering the Jews who questioned his action, Jesus alluded to the destruction of the Temple. However, John tells us that, using ambiguous language, Jesus was referring to his body as the Temple. He is the true Temple where the Father dwells and where he can be worshipped. The leaders of the Jews will try to destroy that Temple by sentencing Him to death, but Jesus will rise victorious on the third day. He will suffer death and then overcome it through his resurrection.

Jesus’ body is the true sanctuary that makes true worship possible.