Alleluia on the Monday of Easter octave! He is risen and He is Lord! Apparently we can’t just rejoice but we must proclaim too! Read that in CWG’s reflection today haha. See excerpt below:
“To confess that Jesus is Lord means that He will from now on be the centre of our life, our devotion, all that we live for and die for. In other words, “We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.” (Rom 14:7-9) Jesus as Lord means that we will obey Him and take directions from Him because He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Whatever we say or think, it will be rooted in the Lord and not from the wisdom of the world.
We will from now on measure all things by Christ’s standards, not that of the world. With the psalmist, we pray, “I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel who even at night directs my heart. I keep the Lord ever in my sight. Since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.” We will no longer fear suffering and death. Even when we walk in the valley of death, we can trust that the Lord will rescue us and preserve us as He did for the Son. With the psalmist, we pray, “Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you. I say to the Lord: ‘You are my God. O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup.’ It is you yourself who are my prize.”
Finally, it means to announce to our brothers and sisters that Jesus is Lord. Jesus said to the women, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers that they must leave for Galilee; they will see me there.” We are called to give hope to others and explain to them the reason for our hope. By our lives, our words, actions and testimony, we are called to witness to His resurrection. We are called to live adventurously and courageously. Be not afraid, is what the Lord told His disciples. We are called to live as freed men and women. Death has been overcome and life is certain, here and now and in the next life. We can surrender our lives and future to Him because God is faithful to us. Just as the Father showed His fidelity to His Son by raising Him from the dead, He too will be faithful to us. As the psalmist says, He will preserve us from death and rescue us from our enemies. “And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad. Even my body shall rest in safety for you will not leave my soul among the dead, nor let your beloved know decay.””
Such a blissful, joy-filled Easter this 2023 with this happy lightness feeling of peace in my heart this year!
Felt it in the last minute transformative effect during the Triduum with the yearning to keep watch in adoration, Taize and morning prayer which ended in church hopping between St Mary’s and St Ig’s!!
My heart was really for Jesus, and all he could do heal and help me to conform – helping me to reach St Ig’s for morning prayer at 7.30am on Holy Sat by MRT!
And the fact that Alvin could make it for the long Easter Vigil duty! Thank you Jesus for prompting me to make the immunity elixir of tumeric, ginger, honey, garlic and EVOO!
Alleluia! Rejoice! Rejoice in the hope of His resurrection!!