Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ
The tomb of the Lord Jesus is empty:His love is
unconquerable
The 50 days of Easter is a season in which the Catholic
Church proclaims that the love of God revealed in the life and death of the Lord
Jesus is unconquerable and lives on forever. The news that the Lord Jesus is
risen from the dead is the most powerful challenge for every generation
concerning what we value and what we hope for while we are living in this
world. It points to the ultimate destiny which God had planned for all of us
from the very beginning of creation. The Holy Scriptures emphasize that the
Lord Jesus is really risen from the dead with a glorious body. The risen life
of the Lord Jesus is not merely a spirit– life separated from his dead body but
a complete and fully alive human in whom death has been transformed into
eternal life by his divine love. The tomb is empty and creation has attained
its eternal purpose at last in the glorious and loving humanity of the Lord
Jesus!
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth
The Lord Jesus fulfils in himself the beatitude which says:
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5, 5).The
air Jesus breathed, the ground on which he walked, the water which he drank,
the food which he ate, the sunshine he enjoyed in the day and the stars at
night, the rain and the wind which worshiped his sacred face and body, the
birds which sang and the fish which swam in the lake and everything that made
up the creation of God attained at last their real purpose and hope in the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus. In his resurrection the Lord Jesus has
inherited the earth. Easter makes everything sacred and holy. Everything in
God’s creation can become like a sacramental, a means of communicating God’s
grace, for the disciples of the risen Lord Jesus. It is the season of the
Sacraments of Initiation when people are born again of water and the Holy
Spirit and nourished in the Body and Blood of Christ and look forward in hope
at being counted amongst those who are destined to inherit the earth.
Easter and the new life of the disciples in the joy of
the Holy Spirit
Jesus - our Lord and our God - is risen from the dead.
Easter is a period when we remember the appearances of the Risen Lord Jesus and
the encounters with his disciples. It includes the Ascension of Jesus and the
new experience of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the disciples on the Day of
Pentecost. In fact the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles of the
Liturgy of the Word during the Easter Season relates the stories of the
disciples already filled with the Spirit of God. So in this way the Easter
season keeps in mind the new life of the disciples in the Holy Spirit as well
as the new risen life of the Lord Jesus after his martyrdom. The Easter Season
is a joyous season for all who continually put their trust in the Lord Jesus
because it affirms us in so many ways and reminds us that we are the most
blessed of all people. Yes, the love of Jesus is unconquerable and lives on
forever and only in complete union with Jesus can our joy become complete and
everlasting. Thank God for the Easter Season, Alleluia!
God bless you all in this Year of Faith.
Bishop Joao Rodrigues
