THE WORK OF EASTER CONTINUES...(2nd Sunday)

...So an ever increasing number of men and women, believed in the Lord...(Acts 5:12-16)

Conversions followed the Easter proclamation. Thus reported the account in the Acts of the Apostles. We have just celebrated the holiest of our festivals. We have just celebrated the Holy Pascha of Our Lord's Suffering, Death and Glorious Resurrection. We are still in the great season of the Lord's Rising to new life. The mission of Easter continues.

But needless to say, our Easter can only be authentic if it indeed echoes that which our forebears experienced and witnessed, that is, the conversion of a multitude of new believers, which added up to the numbers of those who believed in the Lord after they have heard of the Gospels and saw for themselves how the Christians conducted their lives. We need what our ancestors in the faith have had in their midst. We need to relive amongst us the heart of the Easter proclamation.

Three things describe what true Easter means:

Easter is about being at PEACE with the Lord and with one another. It speaks of complete and genuine reconciliation with God and with our fellow;

Easter is about being SENT by the Lord; it is about receiving the mandate from the risen One, to proclaim the Good News to all the world, the Good News of His love and mercy, the Good News of his saving work;

Easter is about being at the SERVICE of our brothers and sisters in the name of the Lord. It is about doing what Jesus did to others; it is about sharing what Jesus shared with others; it is about establishing friendships with our neighbors the way Jesus befriended and loved his.

Easter witnessing is my being at PEACE and RECONCILED with the Lord; it is about my being SENT by Him to bring Good News to all; it is about dedicating myself to the SERVICE of my brethren just as Jesus did. It is through this new way of living that the church can indeed experience the influx of "an ever increasing number of men and women" who discover this intense love for God and for neighbor.

EASTER IS BEING AT PEACE!

EASTER IS BEING SENT!

EASTER IS BEING AT THE SERVICE OF MY SISTERS AND BROTHERS!

FOR AS LONG AS THERE ARE STILL THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER HEARD OF JESUS NOR HIS RISING TO NEW LIFE, OUR JOB AS EASTER PEOPLES'S NOT DONE YET; FOR AS LONG AS THERE ARE IN OUR FAMILIES, IN OUR COMMUNITIES, IN THE MARKETPLACE AND ELSEWHERE, THOSE WHO ARE YET TO MEET AND EXPERIENCE JESUS, THE WORK OF EASTER CONTINUES...