An Easter Message from our Associate Pastor, Fr. Joby
RESURRECTION: A DAILY EXPERIENCE OF TRANSFORMATION
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,
Greetings from Fr. Joby, and I wish you all peace, love, health, and happiness at Easter and always. As we all know, this year Easter celebration was in closed doors. Church may be empty, door may be locked, but as long as the priest is alive no altar will ever rust and Holy Mass will never be stopped. In my every mass, you all (parishioners of IHM and Fatima Chapel) were present, not bodily, but by spirit and faith. I prayed for you all, for this nation, and for the World, which God will raise us up from this situation and will shower his mercy and compassion upon all.
We, the followers of Jesus, believe that Jesus is resurrected from the dead. The Gospel passage, which we listened to, describe the experience of two close associates of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. What is described in the Gospel is the experience of two women. The message the evangelist wants to convey through the experience of two women that Jesus is no more a dead person, but the one who is alive, inspiring, motivating and strengthening his followers to continue his mission. As described in the Gospel, Jesus greeted them saying, "Peace be with you". He also told them not to be afraid as well as to communicate their experience to the apostles.
For us, the followers of Jesus, death is not the end of life, but the beginning of another level of existence. We also believe that our life after death depends on how we live in this world. Therefore resurrection is not something that happens all of a sudden after our death. On the other hand, it is the continuation of the daily transformation we undergo in our lives. Belief in the resurrection of Jesus invites us, the followers of Jesus, for self-transformation as well as social transformation.
St. Paul reminded the Christian community in Rome, as we heard from the Letter to the Romans, through baptism we are buried with Jesus and raised from death so that we live a new life. The baptism we have received is nothing but a commitment to live a new life, a resurrected life. According to St. Paul new life in Jesus is characterized by a resurrection from self-centeredness to other centered, from insensitivity to sensitivity, from greed to sharing, from ambition to a broad and inclusive vision. In order to become agents of transformation in the society, a follower of Jesus has to transform self. Saints like Francis Assisi, Augustine, Ignatius Loyola and Mother Theresa could become change makers in the society of their time because of the self-transformation or resurrection they had undergone.
What is required to undergo self-transformation is reflection or contemplation. Unless and until a person spends time for an appointment with himself and God it would be difficult to find out the areas or aspects in which he/she has to undergo change. Reflection on the Word of God, reflection on what we observe around us and reflection on the deep experiences we undergo will definitely help us to undergo self-transformation.
Once we undergo self-transformation it is easy to become agents of peace and reconciliation. Jesus after his resurrection greeted his disciples saying, "Peace be with you". Peace has been a constant theme in the teaching of Jesus. "Blessed are the peace makers, for they will be called the children of God". We are living in a world fraught with divisions, conflicts and violence. As the followers of Jesus we have a great responsibility to work for the promotion of peace and reconciliation. Working for peace includes not only resolving conflicts but also preventing the causes of conflicts. The celebration of Easter invites us to become partakers in the resurrection of Jesus by undergoing self-transformation and becoming agents of transformation in the society in view of building the Kingdom of God characterized by peace, joy and justice.
HE IS RISEN, ALLELUIA!