Miscellaneous - Religion   

Victory over death

There is intense drama in the words spoken by the two angels who were at the tomb of Christ, and by Mary Magdalene who, as mentioned in the Gospel according to St. John, went to Christ's tomb, very early in the morning on the Sunday after Christ's crucifixion. The angels said to her, "Why are you weeping?" She answered, "They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have laid him."

With these words she turned round and saw Jesus standing there but did not recognise him. Jesus said to her, "Why are you weeping? Who is it that you are looking for?" Thinking that it was the gardener, she said, "If it is you, Sir, who have removed him, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said, "Mary." She turned to him and said, "My Master."

This was the beginning of a drama of salvation which was going to be enacted every year during all these centuries for the celebration of the victory of life over death, the drama of the Resurrection of Christ who was crucified on Golgotha along with two robbers, and was written off as a condemned criminal about whom his opponents had nothing to worry any more. And for the past two thousand years, hymns and songs in practically all the languages of the human race have given testimony of that glorious event which gave a new hope to humanity. Easter is an occasion to rise above the limitations of our human existence. Without realising it quite consciously, we are all yearning for that never ending life for which we are destined, and of which sure reality, great ascetics and men and women given to a routine of intense prayer are keenly aware of. Once we are determined to obey the fundamental laws of trying to love God with all our heart and all our soul, and of loving our neighbours as ourselves, our life becomes a straightforward path. St. Paul puts across emphatically in his Epistle to the Galatians the duty of loving one's neighbour (Ch.5, 4). The central message of Easter is one of peace. It is the resounding greeting of peace which the risen Christ gave to his apostles and disciples, whenever he appeared to them.

Mar George Theckedath

in Ottawa

in Ottawa

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