Catholic Commission for Social Justice
Gospel Jn 20:19-31
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
“Every Christian is sent to be an apostle of unity, of hope and of salvation…There is a danger that many will ask – ‘What can I do’? But if only members of the Church both as individuals and in cooperation with others would stand up for Christian principles, practising and insisting upon justice, practising the self-sacrificing love Christ asked of us, denouncing corruption and partiality, it would be amazing how much would be achieved.” (AEC Bishops – True Freedom and Development in the Caribbean – A Christian perspective – 1982).
After all these years this short 20-page document remains relevant to us Catholics as we seek to read the signs of the times during this Easter season.
“Today I read a story about an anthropologist who proposed a game to the kids in an African tribe. He put a basket full of fruit near a tree and told the kids that who ever got there first won the sweet fruits. When he told them to run they all took each others hands and ran together, then sat together enjoying their treats. When he asked them why they had run like that as one could have had all the fruits for himself they said: UBUNTU, how can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad?
UBUNTU in the Xhosa culture (where my husband is from:) means: “I am because we are””
STORY by Wendy from Raising Natural Kids – she learned it whilst growing up in Africa.
Gospel Mk 16:1-7
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go and anoint him. Very early when the sun had risen, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb. They were saying to one another, “Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back; it was very large. On entering the tomb they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were utterly amazed. He said to them, “Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. But go and tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.'”
“O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? Christ is risen and you are abolished. Christ is risen and the demons are cast down. Christ is risen and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen and life is freed. Christ is risen and the tomb is emptied of the dead: for Christ, being risen from the dead, has become the Leader and Reviver of those who had fallen asleep. To Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.” (taken from an Easter homily by St John Chrysostom).
Happy Easter, my friends! Let’s reflect on the meaning of Easter in our lives. Our renewal of our baptismal promises must lead us to rise in Christ; to commit ourselves to take our belief in the risen Christ out into the world with us; to be His instruments of justice and peace.