EASTER SUNDAY: 20th APRIL 2014
He is risen and he goes before you to Galilee,
announces the angel today! Yes, the Lord is Risen! Alleluia! And he has resumed
his life… we have to keep pace with him today! The Risen Lord invites us to be
Easter People Today. The world is in need of Easter People; if I am not an
easter person there is one hope less. The Resurrection of the Lord invites us
to a life of difference, to know the difference, to make a difference and to
feel the difference! We cannot conform to the world, the Lord calls us to a transformation
of the mind and spirit (cf.Rom12:2) that we may challenge the world. This
non-conformity to the world is what marked the Early Christians from the rest
of the people… the world recognized they were a different people, they were
easter people!
The world today poses promises after promises
for a happy life – possessions, comforts, popularity, power, pleasure… all
these are presented to us as sure means of happiness in life! But a closer look
at the situation today will let us know instantly how unreal these are. They
make you slog with a promise of a great future till you suddenly realize that
future never comes… you slog, slog and slog only to finally leave everything
behind with a heavy heart and a resentment of the lost past. From these unreal
promises, the Risen Lord invites us to the Real: to know the difference, the
difference between the fleeting promises and the promises that stand forever!
Being Easter People Today demands that we know this difference, the difference
that the Lord wants to make in our lives. He has risen precisely for that, that
he may make a difference! Shifting our focus from the unreal promises of an
unreal happiness, the Lord invites us to focus on the Real promises of joy:
that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete (Jn14:11). It is in living our life
in union with the Lord, experience the love of the Lord and sharing it
generously with our brothers and sisters, that our joy can be Real, lasting and
permanent. Don’t you think as Easter people we have something concrete to offer
to the world in this regard?
The world today reports darkness and darkness
everywhere – Killings, Terrorism, Crisis, Abuse, Exploitation, Deception,
Suicides and such news of desperation fill the dailies and the newstubes today.
There is darkness everywhere because people have gone a long way with the
unreal images and misleading guideposts. But the Risen Lord fills us with hope
that it is no point of no return! There is a hope, if we as Easter People
accept our call to move from the darkness to the Light. The same Lord who said,
“I am the Light of the world” (Jn 8:12) looks at each of us and says, “You are
the light of the world” (Mt 5:14). Arise! Shine! For your light has come, and
the glory of the Lord has risen upon you, says Prophet Isaiah (Is 60:1). No
darkness can overcome the Easter People…we are people of the light and this
light we have to let it shine, let the world see, let the world be guided.
Often times, the sad fact is that we do not realize who we are and continue to lament
on the darkness that surrounds…there is unrest, there is crisis, there is
hatred, there is desperation… yes they are there, but what have I done to make
a difference! What have I changed within myself, what have I contributed to my setting, what have I
changed around me to make a difference? Without really having done anything to
make a difference can I claim myself to be an Easter Person? What meaning would
it have to celebrate Easter then?
The world today is rushing into a culture of
death, warns us Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Hopeless pessimism, inhuman
utilitarianism, exaggerated materialism, limitless consumerism…these are signs
of the Reign of the Evil one, of the kingdom of death! The Risen Lord invites us from this reign of
death to the glory of eternal life. An unfailing optimism, love filled
relationships, balanced understanding of development and advancement, use of
things and love for people…these are the signs of eternity, because they will
never end. We are called to be people who feel the presence of these signs
within us and witness to these infront of the word today. An Easter person has
to be filled with life and has to fill those around him with life. Standing
against the culture of death we are called to witness for optimism rather than
desperation, to opt for love rather than exploitation, to liberate ourselves
from slaveries and challenge the world to a liberated life style. The Risen
Lord fills us with this life… a life that is filled with Joy, a life that is
lit with Truth and a life that is defined by hope. Let us take it to the rest
of the World as the disciples took the risen Lord to the rest of the world.
Being Easter people today demands that we know
the difference between the unreal and the Real, that we make a difference and
lead the world from darkness to Light, and that we feel the difference that the
Risen Lord offers us: the promise, the gift and the hope of Eternal Life.
WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY EASTER...BE FILLED WITH THE HOPE OF THE RISEN LORD!!!
