Easter is indeed a celebration of God’s love and friendship, and a celebration of our hope.
It is a time of God’s love because we have seen in a very concrete form how seriously in love God is with us by laying down his life for us his friends.
This has been the motivation and the reason for us to remember, celebrate and re-live the events of the first Holy Week and Easter that happened 2000 years ago.
Listening to the many readings of last week I couldn’t help but rejoice in the knowledge that God is always present in our lives even when we think or feel he is not there.
For instance, in Genesis, He is the Creator-God who breathes in all of us the gift of life and who showers us with many blessings.
In Exodus, He is our Saviour God, who sets us free from the slavery and protects us from all our enemies, i.e., from all those who make life difficult for us.
In the Prophet Isaiah, He is our God who provides us with good things to eat and rich food to enjoy for free.
In the Letter of St Paul to the Romans, He is our God who has destroyed all power of sin and freed us from all slavery to sin. In the gospels, especially of Matthew, we have the God who suffered, died, was buried, and now risen as our hope of glory.
Easter is also a time to celebrate our Christian hope. The world needs hope today more than ever.
The constant flow of information and the bombardment of information through the various forms of media somehow cripple us of deeper reflection on things, and often, we can get caught up with the trivial rather than things that really matter.
We need hope to see the depth of who we are, the meaning of our existence and the reason why we are here in the first place.
The world also needs hope today especially in face of apparent acts of evil in terrorism, war and conflicts between nations and peoples.
We need to hope and pray for peace in the world, for justice to be upheld and for the right and proper course of actions to be done.
I am thinking especially of the victims of terrorism and those in the midst of war and conflicts.
May the Risen Christ strengthen our hope and motivate us to live in faith.
Last week we were saddened to hear the death of Pope Francis. He was a simple and humble man who was an advocate for the poor, sick and marginalised.
He oversaw four encyclicals including ‘Laudato Si’ Care for our Common Home and wrote many exhortations and letters.
He also described the “Church as a field hospital where wounds could be healed and hearts could be warmed”.
His teachings were challenging and encouraging and will remain a source of inspiration. May He rest in Peace.
Fr Uday Kumar Marneni ALCP/OSS
Parish Priest Kyabram
