AN EASTER MESSAGE 2008
My sisters and brothers,
I greet you with Easter joy!
This wonderful season that proclaims new life and new beginnings can sometimes seem entirely disconnected from our perceived reality. As we experience challenges and trials on every side – a slowing economy, friends and family in harm’s way across the globe, illness, job loss, hunger, poverty – how can these be signs of new life and new beginnings? It all seems just as it was before. Is our Easter joy mere wishful thinking? Isn’t this still Lent really … only we’ve been gravely misled? Or are we completely out of touch?
When Jesus rose on Easter morning triumphant over the power of sin and death, the evils that afflicted the human family in his day did not disappear either. Rather, his victory brought about a deeper transformation of the human spirit – opening the eyes of the blind, strengthening the limbs of the lame, restoring speech to the mute, hearing to the deaf, proclaiming liberty to captives, justice to the oppressed, and the Lord’s favor upon all people – enabling us to face the challenges of daily life with renewed hope and purpose. The Lord’s triumph over sin and death is made visible when we, his disciples, are not overcome by worldly power and material wealth, when we are not overwhelmed with grief and despair, when we are willing participants in God’s plan of salvation, eager to hear God’s voice and fulfill God’s will. Those truly transformed by the resurrection possess an inner sense of peace and confidence despite the seemingly unchanged landscape of our daily struggles.
The Lord is truly risen and nothing can take our hope away.
Your brother in Jesus Christ,
Fr. Rolo B. Castillo, pastor