By Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice
Let no one fear death,
For the Saviour’s death has set us free…
O Death, where is thy sting?
O Hell, where is thy victory?
Christ is risen, and thou art overthrown!
Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen!
Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is risen, and life reigns! …
To Him be glory and dominion
Unto ages of ages. (From: The Easter Homily of St John Chrysostom)
As Pope Benedict XVI said: “…today the Creator’s promise is fulfilled; today, even in this modern age marked by anxiety and uncertainty, we relive the event of the Resurrection, which changed the face of our life and changed the history of humanity…. Christ is now alive and he walks with us. What an immense mystery of love!”
By dying, Christ opened for us the way to eternal life. Let us all rejoice for He has risen and walks among us today. Don’t you see him in the face of your neighbour, the disabled, the poor and socially excluded, the homeless, the prisoner, and the lonely? The joy we feel at Easter should propel us to do all things new. Let’s really try to become the persons that God wants us to be.
Our faith is a wonderful gift from God. Baptism brings us into the Family of God but there are many baptised Catholics who are still to have a personal encounter with God. In our busy lives many have little or no time for God. Easter is the time to renew our faith; to keep Christ at the center of our lives so that the waves of secularism, relativism, individualism, materialism and selfishness in the world today will not engulf us.
Too often we wait until there is a crisis in our lives or in our families and then we remember to pray to God; to call on him for help. As Msgr Jason says: “True or not true?” I remember when I was young and lived in the UK I went fell walking in the Lake District with a group of under 30s. Some of us strayed from the main group and got lost on the higher fells.
As night fell and fog rolled in, I remembered all the prayers my mother taught me. Talk about pray! And in between the prayers I sang all the hymns my frightened mind could remember. Thankfully, it’s my loud singing that the rescuers heard. This Easter let us commit ourselves to develop our spiritual lives; to remember to pray/speak to God daily. He is never too busy for us.
In the Lenten retreat that I led in Chaguanas recently, I reminded the faithful gathered there that if we are to fulfil our roles as “priests, prophets and kings”, we must “put on Christ”. As Paul said in his Letter to the Galatians, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20).
If Christ truly lived in us we would speak to Him regularly; we would keep Him close to us to guide us as we strive to be exemplars in our communities. There are many ways to pray. I like St Ignatius of Loyola’s advice: “We must speak to God as a friend speaks to his friend…now asking some favour, now acknowledging our faults, and communicating to Him all that concerns us, our thoughts, our fears, our projects, our desires, and in all things seeking His counsel.”
Ongoing faith formation also requires us to read about/discuss issues relating to our faith, reflect on what we read/experience and live our lives according to Gospel values. The address by Fr Thomas Weinandy to Catholic students and laity at a College in South Carolina, USA, entitled: The Catholic Laity: Priests, prophets and Kings, is worth reading. See: www.wf-f.org/06-3CatholicLaity.html.
As we celebrate Easter, let us open our hearts and minds to let in the light of the world, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Just as Jesus died so that we may have life, let us “die” to sin so that we may live according to His plan. May we all grow in the love and peace of Christ. I wish you all a happy and holy Easter.
