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Easter Sunday
A while agoI had lunch with a dear young friend, who I have loved dearly ever
since she was a baby. According to her, some of her desires have not witnessed
the dawn of fruition. And I insist that she has it all, only she does not know
it!!
The Universe always fulfills desires...In its own time and in its own way.
You may be waiting for a financial windfall, it may not be forth-coming from the
direction that you expect. You may be so engrossed in your conviction that it
will come only from that door, that you overlook another gateway opening.
Sometimes the gift is already there but you do not recognise it.
During the month of April we celebrate Jesus Christ's Ascension. He proved
to us that Life is stronger than Death.
Look at your life and re-acquaint yourself with your blessings Do some
Soul-searching, and 'ascend', this Easter Sunday.
Go for the diploma that you have always wanted to have.
Explore your buried talents.
Express your love and appreciation, to the one who has long enough been taken
for granted.
Experience the power of the 'Risen'
Christopher Mendonca writes:
We don't give death serious thought unless we come face to face with it...The
process of dying, interestingly is woven into the fabric of life. There is a
continuous cycle of death and birth in the seasons...In our mind we experience
the constant birth and death of myriad thoughts and ideas that are here one
moment and have disappeared the next...Fear of death is largely linked to the
ego. It is what we are most attached to that we are afraid of losing...
Death is an abstraction we fear. Dying however is a daily reality that we can
learn to accept. The death and resurrection of Jesus is all about death and
dying. The celebration is meant to take away the 'sting of death'. The central
message of the Easter Season is that if the process of dying is integrated into
ones life, then we need not be afraid of death, when it comes. Death thus
becomes an event in life...
THE
SPEAKING TREE
Special Week Of Nourishment
Sumit Dhanraj
A month ago,
with Spring in the air, Christians began the Lenten Season in spiritual
earnest. This was a 40-day period of spiritual preparation for Easter that
typically includes fasting, penance and prayer. Like every year the season of
Lent began with Ash Wednesday, which this year was on February 17. It will end
with Holy Saturday, that is, a day after Good Friday this week.
Holy Week, the
week before Easter Sunday starts with Palm Sunday. It recalls Jesus’s
triumphant entry into Jerusalem one week before His crucifixion. Holy Monday
commemorates Jesus’s cleansing of the temple,
when he dealt with moneychangers and other commercial agents who had tables
there. Some believe that this triggered his arrest and subsequent crucifixion.
Holy Tuesday
recalls Jesus’s description to his disciples on the Mount of Olives of the
destruction of Jerusalem. Holy Wednesday, once called Spy Wednesday, recalls
Judas’s decision to betray Jesus in exchange for 30 pieces of silver.
Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper, Jesus agony in the garden and
his arrest.For centuries, people in authority have washed the feet of their
followers on this day, as a sign of loving remembrance of Jesus.
Good Friday
recalls Jesus’s death on the cross. Some claim that ‘good’ is a corruption of
the word ‘God’ and that early Christians called this day “God’s Friday”. ‘God’
morphed into ‘good’ just as “God be with you” has become “goodbye”. Others
claim that ‘good’ refers to the blessings of humanity that Christians believe
arose as a result of Jesus’s execution. A fourth-century church manual, the
Apostolic Constitutions, called Good Friday
a ‘day of mourning, not a day of festive Joy’. Ambrose, the fourth-century
archbishop who befriended the notorious sinner Augustine of Hippo before his
conversion, called it the ‘day of bitterness on which we fast’.
Holy Saturday on
Easter Eve is the final day of Holy Week and of Lent. On Easter Sunday
Christians commemorate Jesus’ resurrection. In the early church, converts were
baptised into church membership on this day after a lengthy period of
instruction. This tradition continues today in some churches.
The Holy Week
emphasises specially on the lessons for all during this time of spiritual
nourishment, which stresses more on the attitude with which Lenten exercises
must be observed
rather than strict adherence to details. For Jesus knew that there is a human
tendency to make a show of one’s piety and good deeds.
Therefore, during
this week the call for every follower of Jesus is to observe faithfully the
statutes and teachings of the Church without making spiritual exercises a
matter of public show. Instead of acting as hypocrites, with a sad
countenance, the time is to genuinely repent
and ask pardon for one’s shortcomings with an open gesture of charitable
deeds.
Christians
believe that spiritual nourishment during the Holy Week will help them achieve
the gifts of new life in the days to come with resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.
The writer is
a missionary of the Society of the Divine Word.
Read: Good Friday
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