This Sunday's reading, taken from the Gospel of Luke, follows immediately after the report of Jesus' appearance to his disciples on the road to Emmaus.
Pope Francis in his Apostolic Exhortation, ‘The Joy of the Gospel’, states, “There are Christians whose lives seems like Lent without Easter”. Are we that?
The story of the Lord's appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus is probably one of the best developed and deeply insightful of the appearance stories in the Gospels.
“Peace be with you.” This was the greeting of Jesus to his apostles on his first appearance after he rose from the dead. After that, his disciples were first astonished at seeing him, then he greeted them again, “Peace be with you”.
Pope Francis in his Apostolic Exhortation, ‘The Joy of the Gospel’, states, “There are Christians whose lives seems like Lent without Easter”. Are we that?
This coming Sunday’s Gospel is full of drama. It tells the story of Jesus’ friend, Lazarus, who died, was buried, then raised from the dead. There are dialogues between Jesus & his disciples, and Jesus & Lazarus’ sisters, Mary & Martha, culminating in his instruction to take away the stone which closed the tomb, and then his command to the dead Lazarus to come back to life.
There’s no doubt that people have many kinds of questions about heaven or resurrection and what it will be like. The Gospel this Sunday confronts us with the theme of resurrection and life after death.
Dear Friends,
Happy Easter! Christ is risen, he is risen indeed. Alleluia.
After our last two Easters where the communal celebration of this pinnacle of our faith life was severely limited due to COVID-19, what a joy it was to gather in numbers again to welcome the Risen Lord.
To borrow a story from my friend, Fr Bel San Luis, there was a man who was visiting a seminary. He saw a poster with a phrase in big letters, “Christ is the answer”. Puzzled he wrote at the bottom of the poster, “What is the question?”
We just celebrated Easter last month. Each Easter season presents a deep meaning of salvation. As we celebrate each season of Easter, it moves us toward a deep meaning of the mystery of death and resurrection of Christ, writes Fr Phuong Vu SVD.
The death of Christ on the cross is reflected in many salvation aspects of Christian life. The cross becomes an icon for salvation, and it has no end, and it represents this for all nations on earth. It becomes a personal attachment as well. It empowers us into life.