REJOICE IN THE SPIRIT OF EASTER

Easter has begun on 16 April and it will end with Pentecost Sunday on 4 June. These 50 days of the Easter season between Easter Sunday and Pentecost is a time to rejoice and a time to experience what it means when we say Christ is Risen. He is very much alive in us, among us and through us. In these seven weeks, we are also called to celebrate and ponder the birth of the Church (Acts 2) and gifts of the Holy Spirit and how we are to live as faithful disciples of the Risen Christ.

This sacred period of fifty days makes it the longest liturgical season in the liturgical year, longer than both Christmas and Lent. It is a time to celebrate new life in Christ. Coming to Church throughout this time is very important. The Risen Christ will change us and transform us always. We need not be afraid of change. He gives us hope and encouragement through faith. Eastertide reminds us even as we fail, that God will never fail us and His love is always new and never fails.

As we celebrate new life in Christ and the gift of peace in this season of Easter, let us remember the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi to be “instruments of Christ’s peace”. Peace of Christ grows when we live as reconcilers and in harmony with all of God’s creatures. I am very much inspired with his prayers, which goes: “Where there is hatred let us bring Your love. Where there is injury, let us bring Your pardon. Where there is doubt, let us bring faith. Where there is despair, let us bring Your hope. Where there is darkness, let us bring Your light. Where there is sadness, let us bring Your joy.” It is a very fitting prayer for peace after the celebration of Easter Sunday.

Now, we are in the midst of celebrating our Novena to St Joseph, the Worker that starts on 22nd April and will end on 1st May with our feast-day celebration. We, as “Easter People”, shall carry the joys of Easter with us in every aspect of our lives especially during our Novena and feast of our Patron Saint. I pray that during this nine-day novena period, every parishioner and pilgrim to our Parish may obtain special graces for all your petitions. May our celebrations during these days bolster the faith of the individual and our community as well. I hope this Easter season, our novena period and feast day celebration will bring new life, new strength and freshness in your faith.

During the Easter Vigil, our parish community welcomed 10 new Catholics (6 from the Tamil-Speaking community and 4 from the English-Speaking community) through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). They have gone through a period of enquiry, searching and contemplating since June last year and also through a Lenten time of enlightenment and purification towards the Easter Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. They have just begun their life-long journey of a faith as Catholics. They have also come to the final period of the RCIA journey. It is called mystgogy, a Pentecost experience of mystery. It will last for 50 days until the Pentecost feast. It is a time for deepening your spiritual experiences in order to enter more fully in the life of the Church. Stand firm in your faith and be courageous!

            

LET US JOURNEY AS AN EASTER PEOPLE

During Lent and Holy Week we might have found it a little tough to see ourselves as truly changed persons. We might have tried our best to keep the season a fruitful and meaningful one. Probably we have failed repeatedly in our attempt to keep the Lenten observance. In all our failures, we need to remember that Jesus was a failure in the eyes of the world but He was a success in the eyes of God the Father. The important thing is not to give up in discouragement. God knows your heart and your contrition.

Lent and Holy Week journey have ended and no doubt we were constantly challenged and demanded during these period. All our experiences, practices, involvements, understandings and knowledge, which we have obtained during the Lent and Holy Week has brought us to celebrate Jesus in Easter today.

Today we celebrate Easter Sunday and the Easter season begins. It is a season where we celebrate our NEW lives once again. The Lord has risen in our midst. His resurrection marks the triumph of good over evil, sin and death. Because He is risen “the old life has gone, the new life has begun!” (2 Cor 5:17). We have come to a knowledge who Jesus is for us and what He has done in our lives. Easter is not a one-time celebration but we are reminded daily that through our faith in Jesus we experience the NEW every day. The Risen Lord makes our lives NEW by forgiving all the wickedness of our past.

Our whole journey of Lent has been pointing us towards the baptismal font. It is a very important part of the liturgy and this is the whole point of our Lenten journey. Here, at this part we do a renewal of our baptismal promises at Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday. It is the one time of the year we recall our baptism and Jesus gives a NEW hope once again in our lives. We as individuals and as a community give birth to the Church. It is what Lent and Holy Week was building up to our faith lives.

Every Sunday when we recite our community prayer there is one part that goes, “We are blessed here at the Church of St Joseph with many opportunities to serve and grow in our faith journey.” On Easter, we are given a NEW birth and NEW hope in faith. As individuals or as a community let’s take very opportunity to seek, to serve, to love, to obey, to grow and to trust in the Risen Lord. This will be our Easter celebration. As St Paul advises us to “celebrate the feast, not the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth,” (1 Cor 5:8). In this the importance of our Lenten observance comes to the forefront of our lives.

BE CHEERFUL! CHRIST HAS RISEN FOR YOU AND FOR YOUR LOVELY FAMILY. HAPPY EASTER! CELEBRATE WITH A LOT OF HAPPINESS AND THANKSGIVING.

PEACE BE WITH YOU!

The disciples sat in that upper room grumbling, praying, arguing, discussing, pondering, and recalling the words of Jesus. Jesus came to the disciples in the midst of their confusion and chaos of their lives and said, “Peace be with you.”

Jesus was alive, risen from the dead, and standing among them. They experienced joy, tears, happiness, excitement, and a burden of despair had been lifted from their hearts. Jesus gave them; a peace that relived their grief, a peace that calmed their fears, a peace that was filled with joy and the fulfillment of the resurrection promise. They were now at peace with themselves.

Eight days later He came and gave that peace to Thomas. Thomas could now be at peace as he exclaimed that Jesus was his "Lord and God." Peace with one’s self can only be achieved with one has peace with God through Jesus Christ.

We need to be like Thomas. We can have peace in our lives, an inner peace if we surrender our will to Christ. Certainly! Jesus says, “Peace be with you.”

THANK YOU JESUS!

Jesus was beaten. He was bruised and He was crucified on the cross.

The cross is an interesting thing. It was invented as a means of torture, execution and death sentence. It was designed to express a painful, disgraceful, shameful, death. It was a symbol of hopelessness and punishment.

Today the cross is a symbol of hope, forgiveness and new life.  Today, on this Good Friday, as we look at the cross we ask ourselves: Why we use a cross on our neck, at the doorway, etc.? And what was accomplished on the cross?

Look at Jesus who was rejected and condemned by his own people; betrayed and denied by his own disciples and friends; and led to the death of a criminal. No one can go through a greater suffering like Jesus.

Today, look at Jesus on the cross and say to Him, “Thank you Jesus, you did it for me. I will never forget it”.

HOLY WEEK AND EASTER

Holy Week is the most important week in our Church liturgical calendar. It is the last week of Lent. It will be proceeding to Easter Sunday and Easter season. Holy Week is observed in our Church as a time to commemorate in a special way the life, death and resurrection of Jesus through various observances and services of worship.

Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday, the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem -  Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday. On Palm Sunday, we celebrate Jesus’ procession into Jerusalem. The gospels speak that the people of Jerusalem spread palm branches on the road to welcome Jesus as he rode a donkey into the city. Because of this, we use palm branches as we enter the church on Palm Sunday.

TRIDUUM

For us Catholics, the Triduum is the three-day period that concludes Lent and introduces us the joy of Easter season. It starts with the Mass of the Lord's Supper on the evening of Holy Thursday, continuing through the Good Friday service and Holy Saturday, and concluding with vespers (evening prayer) on Easter Sunday, the Easter Triduum marks the most significant events of Holy Week. 

Holy Thursday (also called Maundy Thursday), is the day on which Catholics commemorate the institution of the three pillars of the Catholic Faith: the sacrament of Holy Communion, Priesthood and the Mass. On Holy Thursday, the priests of each diocese gather with their bishops to consecrate holy oils, which are used throughout the year for the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders, and the Anointing of the Sick. In our Archdiocese we did it on 5 April at Church of St Thomas, Kuantan.

Good Friday - We observe Good Friday, “Great and Holy Friday”, as the day Jesus was arrested, crucified, died, and buried. On Good Friday, we should abstain from meat or refrain from food altogether. Since there is no Mass, therefore no Hosts are consecrated. Hosts that were reserved from the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday are distributed to the faithful instead.

Holy Saturday - This is the seventh day of the week, the day Jesus rested in the tomb. In the first three Gospel accounts this was the Jewish Sabbath, which provided appropriate symbolism of the seventh day rest. It is traditionally a day of quiet meditation as we contemplate the darkness of a world without a future and without hope apart from God and his grace. It is also a time to remember family and the faithful who have died as we await the resurrection, or to honor the martyrs who have given their lives for the cause of Christ in the world. 

Easter Sunday - Easter is the most important Christian holiday, surpassing even Christmas. As a celebration of the day Jesus rose from the dead, Easter symbolises forgiveness, rebirth, and God’s saving power. Christians view the day as a victory over sin, death, and all destructive forces in people’s lives.

As we get closer and closer to Easter we need to recall about our discipleship to teach, build faith, grow spiritually and evangelise. Many of you have attended many formations these past three months in our parish. Our Novenas and feast of St Joseph will be starting from 22^nd April to 1^st May. I hope that all of you will be touched by the sub-themes and preaching during the Novena and inspire your individual faith life. May these novenas and feast day celebration make us become more alive in the Catholic faith.

MAY EACH ONE OF YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLY WEEK

LENT - IT'S NOT OVER YET!

The Lord’s Passion 2017

Lent is a challenge. Lent is really a difficult liturgical season to keep. It invites us to a deliberate act of will. Many of us have not kept the Lenten observance – Prayer, Penance and Alms Giving.

It is not over yet and it is not too late for you to observe them in Holy Week. If you have not started anything yet, start now. You can do it in this Holy Week and that can help bring Lent to you. Do make it a point to participate in the Paschal Triduum at your Church. The important thing is not to give up in discouragement.

Our preparation for this day is very important because we are so familiar that we might easily watered down its details and the significance of Holy Week. Today is a time we prepare for the holy day of Good Friday. It will be a time we reflect on forgiveness. We must forgive in order for us to move on and grow spiritually. We must set aside hostilities and anger. We must put away the jealousy and hatred.

As we prepare for Easter and as we begin our journey on this Holy Week I wish each of you have a wonderful Holy Week.