Wrap your life in joy Easter people

Echoes Within

Renato Gandia

But Easter is much more than that.

It goes beyond the glitz and the joy of the celebration on the table. Easter is about who Jesus is and, in turn, who we are in relation to him.

He was the one who conquered death and such victory altered everything. His victory changed the direction and meaning of our journey as a human family.

Sad as it is, not everyone wants to move toward the direction set by the profound moment of Christ's rising. Some people prefer to stay under the cloud and gloom of uncertainty, threat and insecurity of Good Friday.

I find that it is easier for people to wallow in the passion story, to feel sympathy for the suffering Jesus, than to deeply feel the joy of Easter.

But we have to remember, all the Gospel stories are about life, life today, just as much as they are stories about Jesus. Jesus is always a model of how to live life.

It is easier for us to relate to the passion and suffering because that's part of the human experience. We experience suffering in different intensities and different ways. We know the physical, psychological and even spiritual facets of what it is like to suffer.

But to be raised from the dead is an experience that we can only imagine and hope for. Though that's the case, Christ's resurrection should impact the way we live and treat each other.

Because of Easter, the way we view many things around us should be transformed and such transformation should have practical and actual manifestations.

To illustrate this, the stories of Christ's death and resurrection should help us look at the violence and injustice towards people in our world, especially the poor and innocent.

All that we hear about starvation in the world, the people dying of AIDS, the abuse of children, domestic violence, the treatment of refugees, and many others, are stories about the crucifixion of people today.

As Easter people, we are called to hear the Gospel stories differently. We are challenged to ask questions about where we stand with regard to the violence, the exploitation, the persecution, the crucifixion in the world. Do we stand with Pilate who washes his hands of it all?

Are we like the "high priests" who urged others to be violent towards the weak and the poor? Are we one of the crowd who cheer for people one day, and are apathetic most of the time, just bystanders, lookers-on, fence-sitters? Are we concerned about the wrongs inflicted upon the poorer people in our world?

As Easter people we are not just to celebrate the joy of Christ's rising but we are called to live the joy of the resurrection.

We have to live Christ's resurrection and in living it the Gospel invites us to see the wrongs so prevalent in our world. We are called to have compassion for the people who are unjustly treated, so that they too will know what it's like to come alive from the dead. People who are concerned will speak out against injustice and violence. They will work to have wrongs righted.

The fruits of Christ's rising from the dead are both present in our midst and in the future life beyond this earth.

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