Easter all year round

THE STORY is told about a husband who came home late at night from a round of golf. When asked by his wife what happened, he explained that he and his golf mate Fred were doing okay till the 9th hole and then, Fred collapsed and died. "From then on, it was hit the ball, drag Fred, hit the ball, drag Fred till the 18th hole," was his excuse!

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With the Holy Week behind us, there will be a lot of us going back to our daily lives, dragging the lifeless body of Christ as we go about our usual ways and days once again, as if nothing happened. Something happened that first Easter morning, but for some of us, it was something that happened some 2,000 years ago, and that was that.

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In today's Gospel (Jn. 20, 1-9), the disciples saw an empty tomb, and they believed. Many of us have experienced the miracles and the blessings of the Risen Christ, and still, we do not believe. We continue to live as if there was no Resurrection, and for some, as if there was no God. For the disciples, the Resurrection was a transformation point. Sad to say, for many of us, the Resurrection is just an information or at most, a conformation point.

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Reminds me of a story about a priest who greeted his congregation thus: "I wish you all Happy Easter! Since I won't be seeing some of you here till next Easter, let me take this opportunity to greet you now a Merry Christmas!" Are you a seasonal Christian? Are you one of those so-called occasional Christians? May we all become in-season and out-of-season Christians!

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Easter, like Christmas should be an all year round event. Let us not be complacent. Let every new day be a new beginning, a fresh start. We have to keep saying to ourselves: "Getting better all the time, and the best is yet to come!"

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Here's an interesting piece about true fasting not only during Holy Week but all throughout the year:

How to fast...
Fast from judging others,
feast on Christ dwelling in them.
Fast from apparent darkness,
feast on the reality of light.

Fast from pessimism,
feast on optimism.

Fast from thoughts of illness,
feast on the healing power of God.

Fast from words that pollute,
feast on phrases that purify.

Fast from anger,
feast on patience.

Fast from worry,
feast on divine providence.

Fast from unrelenting pressure,
feast on unceasing prayer.

Fast from negatives,
feast on positives.

Fast from complaining,
feast on appreciation.

Fast from hostility,
feast on non-resistance.

Fast from bitterness,
feast on forgiveness.

Fast from anxiety,
feast on hope.

Fast from yourself,
feast on a silent heart.

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The Resurrection should give us eyes that really see, and hearts that really feel. Like last Palm Sunday for example, when the palaspas became the focus. Did you ever think of the people selling the palaspas? Did you know that as early as Saturday night, the vendors were already on church grounds so as to get a good spot to make a good sale?

A whole family camps out the whole night and braves the summer sun to make 300 to 500 pesos in profit, an amount which for some of us is "chicken feed." Some people around us work so hard for so little, while many of us live comfortable and easy lives.

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Every Holy Thursday every year, for the past 10 years, I do the washing of the feet of the "apostles" on national television. I don't mind washing the dirty and smelly feet of personalities and politicians, but I do mind the hypocrisy of it all. The nerve of some people looking good and feeling good before others, while they go on sinning and hurting people.

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Are you a bone-digger? My dog is. Whenever I give him a bone, he takes off right away, to hide it from the other dogs, and to save it and dig it up again some other day. May we learn not to become a bone-digger, specializing in resurrecting old bones of contention and dissension. May we learn to bury forever and not continue digging up the old bones that bother, hurt, or burden us.

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This Holy Week, somehow we stood still, and so, God was able to untangle us from the mess we have put ourselves into. Maybe because we stopped working, God was finally able to work this week. Maybe, because we stopped pursuing pleasures, we finally found happiness and peace. And maybe, because we focused, not on what is breaking our hearts, but on what is breaking His heart, we finally found new life. Easter is simply accepting that there is something or someone greater than you and I. God's power is real. And it's there, available for us, anytime, all year round.

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!

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A moment with the Lord:

Lord, help me to see Easter as not some event that happened 2,000 years ago but as something that I can re-live every day the whole year round. Amen.