Easter Sunday..

Key Verse : John 20 : 1-9
Meditation : " Mary of Magdalene came to the tomb in the morning, while it was still dark..

      Still dark. Darkness shrouds the earth, dawn has not broken, and the light of faith has not yet risen in Mary Magadalene's heart. The night still seems to reign, yet this is illusion! Something unforeseen, new, living - pulsing with hope - has emptied the tomb of death in the night.

Mary is shocked. Nothing is as it was, yet she does not yet understand what is to be. The idea of christ alive - risen! - is stil unthinkable, beyond possibility. Mary runs to the disciples not in hope, but in desperation: "They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they put him. "She runs in fear, believing the tomb has been raided, the body of one she loves stolen in the night. She runs, because she cannot face this alone.

Why do our hearts resist resurrection ? why can't we grasp the possibility of new life ? sometimes, it's harder to embrace resurrection than the cross ! why ? what keeps us from seeing and believing, as John does ?

Perhaps it is because accepting resurrection means accepting all that came before it. All the pain, chaos, and confusion were necessary in order to bring us this new life of joy, freedom, and hope. The resurrection cannot it remains true, both in the life of christ, and in our own lives. Somehow, it is often in our times of deepest darkness, in the secretive silence of the tomb, that Christ brings us the most profound gifts of grace, insight, maturation, and growth. Jesus then comes and raids our tombs of death with his new life! And we find that we are a new creation. We are utterly transformed!

We may at times find ourselves with Mary, weeping before an empty tomb. Yet we know that in a few short hours Mary's profound grief and fear will give way to profound wonder, joy, and awe !

Prayer :

Jesus, What was it like for the disciples that first Easter morning? I can only imagine! To have one's sense of loss and fear unexpectedly overcome by the unprecedented moment of resurrection! Jesus, I know you are at work in my life, too, opening long - sealed tombs and bringing new life. Open my eyes to the glory of your resurrection with in and around me. Help me to see and believe. And, in believing, may my spirit be disposed to receive the true joy and peace you bring. For you love has conquered death!

Lord I believe ! AMEN....

     

Women witness

Over a thousand year ago a group of women went to visit a tomb to anoint the body of their Messiah as a act of devotion, when they arrived the body was gone and an empty tomb was there.

In gospel of John 20 : 11 – 18 gives the details description of what happened that morning of resurrection. When our savior Lord Jesus Christ broke the chains of death and resurrected to save the world from the clutches of sin.

        This was a big deal for women to have been the first to witness the resurrection of Jesus. Its not only that they saw the empty tomb, but also got to be first to take the message of risen Jesus to others. What a privilege.

                                 Roman Cathalic Jerwish culture women were treated as second class citizens, the testimonies of a woman was not respected. That why women told them the Jesus had risen. As in Luke… “there words seemed to the disciples as an idle tale  and they did not believe.” So peter went to tomb to find out what was the truth. 

                            God also used a special person to be the first witness. Mary Magdalene went to the tomb shortly before dawn and saw it was open. She was the first person to see Jesus after his resurrection. She was very close of Jesus and prominent in the last days of Jesus. When Jesus was crucified, Mary Magdalene was the supporting him in his final terrify moments. In morning his death she stayed with Him at the cross after the male disciples’ had fled. She was at his burial and first to arrive at Jesus tomb Where she met a pair of angels who told her that Jesus had risen.

                           She was first to see him (Mark 16 : 9) that’s why Mary Magdalene is called “ Apostle to the apostles”. Even the apostles did not believe Mary when she told them about the empty tomb.

Mary Magdalene has been often called as sinner or a prostitute in the Bible.          Over and over, the Bible showed how God worked through the sinner, the outcast and the foreigners in his story of redemption.

 Jesus always had special respect for these women and honored them as the first witness of his resurrection. The male gospel writers had no choice but to report this act as God’s favor. He treated women with dignity and respect and he elevated them in a world where they were often mistreated. He showed every one that women were equal to men in the sight of God. And they could be fully participated in the Kingdom of God.

                     Though we live in a different day and time than the group of women that day but need to be as bold as them in sharing with others the story of “ Empty Tomb” and resurrected Jesus. Like no one believed them we might be discouraged many ways.

                          But we should get our courage and strength from his Holy spirit to witness above the resurrection. If you are backing out or something may be holding you back from sharing your faith in Jesus, don’t be discouraged. But rather acknowledge and confess your faith because God will guide and empowered you to be His great witness.

                          As women we have a great cloud of witness like the women who first saw the resurrected Jesus, we have to testify about Him and serve others . So my dear women share your faith with atleast one person this Easter and receive the greatest blessing.  

May God bless you and guide you always.
Sangha

Easter Vigil – C

Key Verse : Luke 24 : 1 – 12

Meditation : “ And they remembered.”

                     It was barely morning. Had those women moving purposefully towards the tomb even slept ? What was the sign that it was dawn and not still night ? Numb with grief, the women were intent on their labor of love, their final act of reverence and respect. They had work to do! First things first !

                          Who were these women who came to anoint the defined body of a crucified man? “The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James,” Luke tells us. But they were not alone. “Why do you seek the living one among the dead….Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee..” the mysterious messengers said at Jesus’ empty tomb.

“And they remembered”.

                           There is something remarkable about that remembering. It gave them the interpretive key for the whole bewildering set of experiences they had been through that week. On the power of their restored memory and all that it revealed, the women went to the eleven apostles with a world – changing message. Once they remembered the words Jesus had spoken, the women had everything they needed: they had found Good News and became the first ones to proclaim it.

Prayer :

Lord, the call to remember awakens my mind to a time when your grace was especially present and powerful in my life… that grace is not locked in the tomb of time it is still alive, still present, still active, because it is your grace. Throughout the Easter season, renew me daily in the memory of all you have done in my life, so that I can give you daily thanks and praise!

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Easter Vigil – B

Key verse : Mark : 16 : 1 – 7

Meditation : “Do not be amazed ! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here”.

       The sun was just inching its way over the horizon when the women sought to anoint you, Lord. Their love for you pushed aside any apprehension they must have felt at seeing the stone rolled away. Your messenger, the young man in white, told them the Good News : “ The Crucified has been raised !” They saw the empty space where your body lay on Good Friday evening. They believed and were immediately commissioned: “go and tell” the apostles that Jesus is alive and “you will see him, as he told you”.

Lord, I often take this Good News for granted. Your paschal mystery encompasses your saving passion, death and resurrection. Sometimes I fall into a sort of spiritual denial by resenting opportunities to share in the first two parts of your paschal mystery. My sufferings and the little “deaths” of daily living pull a thick curtain over the window of my soul. When your grace reminds me of the resurrection, it pulls aside that curtain and floods my soul with the light of resurrection hope and joy.

Of all the days of the year, today is a day to “rejoice and be glad.” Your resurrection erases all fear. It’s the bedrock of my faith. As saint Paul says, without the resurrection, our faith would be in vain (1cr 15:17). Two millennia of martyrs and saints, a true “could of witness,” have gone before us and invite me to join them. Like the holy women, I too am entrusted with the message “ to go and tell” the consoling news that death is not the end, but the beginning of eternal life.

Prayer :

Lord Jesus, I kneel in awe before your tomb. I do believe in your resurrection and in my resurrection in the life to come! Thank you for your resurrection that roots me in Christian hope. Demolish the tomb of my woundendness, regrets, and bad habits. Let me look beyond myself to see those longing to hear the Good News from my lips, to see Good News in my actions and my conviction. Let me be aware of those next to me longing for your Good News. May my life be a sign of hope for all to see, and a song of thanks giving for your dying and rising. Amen.

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Easter Vigil – A

Key Verse : Matthew 28 : 1 – 10

Meditation : “ Do not be afraid ! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here. For he has been raised just as he said”.

Alleluia ! Christ is risen ! Alleluia !

           Our long Lenten journey has led us, at last, to the joy of the resurrection. In Matthew’s account, we find two women, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, going to the tomb of Jesus. Matthew notes that the first day of the week was dawning. The new creation has begun. The language of this Gospel passage also points out that Jesus’s resurrection is an earth – shattering event. The mention of the earth quake, the glorious angel, and the appearance of Jesus, risen and glorified, all serve to underline that the new creation has dawned.

                   Both the angel and Jesus tell the two Marys to go and bring the good news to the disciples. Mary Magdalene has been called “ The apostle to the apostles,” because she saw the risen Jesus before they did and ran to tell them about it. The women were so overjoyed that they could not help but burst out and tell the good news.

                   That same task awaits us today. Many people have still not heard the Good News of Jesus Christ. Faith is a gift that grows when it is shared. You never know what will happen when you speak to others about Jesus.

 Prayer :

          Jesus, thank you for ding on the cross for us and bringing us new life through your resurrection. Show us the power of the resurrection in our lives today. When we meet troubles along the way, help us to see beyond them and trust that you are with us. Show us your power and help is to live always in the joy of Easter. Give us the courage to speak to others about the good news. May our lives beat witness to you and light the way for others. Amen

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