Jesus Christ has risen! Alleluia (cf. Mt. 28: 6; Mk. 16:6; Lk. 24: 6 and Jh. 20:10)
Easter celebrates Jesus Christ’s victory over sin, death and the devil.
For us, Christians, Easter means overcoming our sins: pride, greed, lust, slot, etc. It means resisting evil with God’s grace.
Easter is, for us believers, hope in our own resurrection by God.
Christ’s resurrection impels us to a more vigorous prophetic ministry.
Like the prophet Jeremiah we are sent “to root up and to tear down, to destroy and to demolish, to build and to plant” (1:10).
What to uproot? Primarily corruption. Corruption is the principal cause of poverty, incompetence in government and environmental destruction.
What to tear down? Unjust, oppressive and dehumanizing structures: ideologies like secularism, materialism, and neo-colonialism. Economic policies that favor global corporations. Anti-life laws such as Mining Act of 1995 and HB 4244 or “The Reproductive Health Bill”.
What to plant? The Good News. St. Paul writes: “ I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God made things grow” (1 Cor. 3:6).
Prophets are also sent to build. Benedict XVI in his address to the Bishops of the Philippines during their “Ad Limina” visit said: “…the proclamation of the Gospel brings about its life changing fruits” (cf. Mk. 16: 15-18). He continued: “The Church contributes most toward the building of a just and charitable social order when by preaching the truths of the Gospel and bringing to bear on all fields of human endeavor the light of her doctrine and of a Christian witness, she respects and fosters the political freedom and responsibility of citizens” (Gaudium et Spes¸76). (Boletin Ecclesiastico de Filipinos, March-April 2011, p. 170).
What to build? God’s Kingdom on Earth, Jesus sent the apostles to “proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal” (Lk. 9:2). St. Paulsays: “This Kingdom of Godmeans righteousness and peace and joy brought by the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14: 16-18).
What, then, is our plan? To build a more humane, just and free Philippines where people live “in harmony with one another, in harmony with creation, and in harmony with God. Ours shall be a civilization of life and love” (PCP II, n. 255).
Happy Easter! Happy New Life in the Risen Christ!”
