Acts 10:34, 37-43 / Colossians 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6-8 / John 20:1-9
The past three days were days that was filled with prayer as we came for Mass.
On Thursday morning, there was the Chrism Mass at our parish.
At the Chrism Mass, the Archbishop and the priests of the Archdiocese gathered for the renewal of priestly promises and the blessing of the Holy Oils.
Then in the evening was the Mass of the Lord’s Supper followed by Holy Hour.
On Good Friday, there was the recalling of the suffering and death of Jesus and the veneration of the Holy Cross.
Last evening, was the Easter vigil where we witnessed 28 adults being baptised and joining our parish family.
In all these Masses and moments of prayer, God is calling out to us, the Church, and telling us this:
Through the suffering, death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, God is sending His blessings on us, on the Church and on the world.
That was also the message at the beginning of Lent, and that is also the message as we begin Easter.
As we reflect and meditate on the suffering and death of Jesus on the Cross, God is telling us that our sins are forgiven and we are saved from the snares of the devil and the fires of hell.
As we reflect and meditate on the Resurrection of Jesus, God is telling us that He wants to restore us back into the image of Christ, which is an image of love.
Later, we will renew our baptismal promises, where we declare that we reject the devil, and profess our faith in God.
We will also be sprinkled with Holy Water as a reminder of our baptism in Christ.
God is calling us out of the empty tombs of our sinfulness to rise with Jesus to a new life of holiness.
Yes, we will still have our resentment and frustrations, our anger and greed, our desires and fantasies, our unfaithfulness and our weakness.
The devil will use all that to draw us back into the tomb of sin and to die there in the darkness.
But God is calling out to us through the Resurrection of Jesus, and to follow the light of life.
As the 2nd reading, (Colossians 3:1-4) say:
Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, and 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.
To die to sin is to come back to life and to be truly human, and to be restored back into the image of love, which is the image of Christ.
A child was asked, “Do you like to come to church?”
She answered “Yes.” When asked why, she replied, “Because the aunties and uncles in church talk to me and they are nice to me.”
That is as basic as being human can be, and that is to be childlike, to be kind and gentle, to be loving and welcoming.
To be truly human, we don’t look at the things of earth, but we look at the things of above, where Christ is sitting at God’s right hand.
And as we look at Jesus Christ our Risen Lord, let us ask Him for His blessings, so that we can be truly human and be an image of love to others.