During Lent and Holy Week we might have found it a little tough to see ourselves as truly changed persons. We might have tried our best to keep the season a fruitful and meaningful one. Probably we have failed repeatedly in our attempts to keep the Lenten observance. In all our failures, we need to remember that Jesus was a failure in the eyes of the world but He was a success in the eyes of God the Father. The important thing is not to give up in discouragement. God knows your heart and your contrition.

Our Lent and Holy Week journey has ended and no doubt we were constantly challenged and weighed down by the demands during this period. All our experiences, practices, involvements, understandings and knowledge, which we have obtained during Lent and Holy Week have lead us to celebrate Jesus in Easter today.

The Easter season begins today as we celebrate Easter Sunday. It is a season where we celebrate our NEW lives once again. The Lord has risen in our midst. His resurrection marks the triumph of good over evil, sin and death. Because He is risen “the old life has gone, the new life has begun!” (2 Cor 5:17). We have come to acknowledge who Jesus is for us and what He has done in our lives. Easter is not a one-time celebration but we are reminded daily that through our faith in Jesus we experience the NEW every day. The Risen Lord makes our lives NEW by forgiving all the wickedness of our past.

Our whole journey of Lent has been pointing us towards the baptismal font. It is a very important part of the liturgy and this is the whole point of our Lenten journey. Here, at this part we do a renewal of our baptismal promises at the Easter Vigil and on Easter Sunday. It is the one time of the year when we recall our baptism and Jesus gives a NEW hope once again in our lives. We as individuals and as a community give birth to the Church. It is what Lent and Holy Week was building up to with regards to our faith lives.

Every Sunday when we recite our community prayer there is one part that goes, “We are blessed here at the Church of St Joseph with many opportunities to serve and grow in our faith journey.” On Easter, we are given a NEW birth and NEW hope in faith. As individuals or as a community let’s take every opportunity to seek, to serve, to love, to obey, to grow and to trust in the Risen Lord. This will be our Easter celebration. As St Paul advises us to “celebrate the feast, not the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth,” (1 Cor 5:8). In this the importance of our Lenten observance comes to the forefront of our lives.

BE CHEERFUL! CHRIST HAS RISEN FOR YOU AND FOR YOUR LOVELY FAMILY. HAPPY EASTER!     CELEBRATE WITH A LOT OF HAPPINESS AND THANKSGIVING.

Fr. George Packiasamy.