"I have seen the Lord!"

The first proclamation of one of the disciples was of Mary Magdalen to the apostles hidden away in the Upper Room. "I have seen the Lord!" Whether her hearers believed her or not, she believed and couldn't keep it to herself.

Our 50 days of celebrating Easter could be a mirror of the "apostle to the apostles" -- making our proclamation of faith: Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again. We are charged with being missionary disciples and taking what we believe and profess into the world of our daily lives.

The reality of the world of racism, greed, disease, and fear are in great contrast to the message of discliping Christians. We are the ones who shout the victory of the Risen One over evil, slavery, and death. And once defeated, how can those enemies stand before the blazing figure of the risen Christ Jesus!

The Triduum celebration of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday needs that many days to encompass the fullness of the mystery of our redemption. The Fifty Days of the Easter season is needed to celebrate the festivity and gratitude and joy and certitude of Life always outlasts death!  Christ is risen indeed, alleluia!
 

_______________________________________________________________________________
 

Come and join us online for Sunday livestream of Mass at 10:30am. Also, join us for the various Easter prayer opportunities and other activities.
 

______________________________________________________________   
 

"All who remain in me and I in them will bear much fruit."
The idea of perseverance occurs often in the scriptures and is expressed in various ways. For example: “to keep the word” implies lasting and stubborn patience: “But as for that [seed] in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance” (Lk 8:15).When situations test us we face up to them by perseverance and persistence, by endurance, by keeping the word. Trials tend to make us turn back; they persuade us to lose heart. The direct opposite is not necessarily immediate victory; rather it is the endurance that enables us to stand firm and strong. John the evangelist uses a very simple verb: menein (“remain” or “abide”), which in context carries the same overtones. “If you abide in me,” Jesus says, “and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). “Abiding in Jesus” is the way to meet trials and tests.

Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, Perseverance in Trials

  Carlo Maria Martini (1927–2012) was an Italian Jesuit and biblical scholar who served as archbishop of Milan from 1979
until his retirement in 2002. He was named a cardinal in 1983. Pope Francis has called Martini “a father for the whole Church.”