Power, now

THE STORY is told about a father who brought his son to church to attend Mass. The little boy had many questions about the rituals and the movements of the priest, and the father patiently explained everything to him. During the homily which kept on and on, the little boy saw the priest look at his watch and asked his father what that meant. His exasperated reply was "It means nothing at all, son, nothing at all," even as the priest rambled on and on.

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The Holy Week has come and gone and, sad to say, for some it meant nothing at all. In Today's Gospel (Jn. 20, 1-9), the disciples saw an empty tomb, and their whole lives took on a new meaning from then on. The Resurrection was the pivotal event that changed their lives forever. The resurrection gave them power and strength, and transformed them from timid and fearful cowards to dedicated and committed disciples. Does the Resurrection mean anything at all in your life? Does the Resurrection move you and empower you?

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Death is defined as "turning off the light because the dawn has come." (L. Jaworski) Sir Walter Scott calls it "not the last sleep, but the final awakening." For us Christians, death is not the graduation but a commencement. Just the thought that death is not a closure but an opening is a tremendous source of hope. In effect, what a Christian is saying is: Because of the Resurrection, I can forego the junk food now; after all, there is a healthy meal that awaits me at home. I can sacrifice the NOW because I know there is a LATER.

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"They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they put Him." This best describes what happens to many of us: after we spent some holy moments with the Lord during the Holy Week, we don't know where to put Him when we go back to our ordinary weeks. In the Holy Week, we put Him in the center of our hearts, but after that He is nowhere in our sight.

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Easter gives us hope. Easter should also make us agents of hope and joy. We often forget this mission to witness to the Risen Lord because we are so entombed in our own problems and concerns. A joyful person empowered by the Risen Lord is one who says: "Hey, look! I have big problems, but my God is bigger than my problems! I have sins and failures, but my God is a God who loves me and forgives!" More than ever, we need joyful people who continue to point to the Risen Lord.

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On a personal note, the Resurrection gives meaning to what I do in life. I chose the life of a priest to serve God's people. Part of the choice is giving up things and people I could have and hold in this world. Part of the choice, too, is going beyond my personal needs and agenda to respond to people's needs and to do God's agenda; and all these I do joyfully, humbly and gratefully, because the Resurrection is not some event that happened 2,000 years ago, but a power, a force in my life now.

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We all prayed for Manny Pacquiao, we all cheered for him, and we all felt his pain with his ordeal in the ring and his subsequent defeat. But there was one person who felt it all more than anyone of us, and that was his mother Dionisia, who collapsed upon seeing her son all bloody and hurt. There was also one person who felt every single pain that her Son went through, and that was Mama Mary who absorbed it all in her heart. If there was anyone who loved Jesus, it was His mother, and I still don't understand why people who claim to love Christ disdain and even hate His mother. She was there from His birth till death. How can people just remove her from the picture, all in the name of Christ?

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Rainier Carlos is a five-year-old boy who needs a liver transplant after being diagnosed with biliary artesia. His mother is looking for good samaritans who may want to help save the life of this little boy. For more details, please call +63 2 9338495 or +63918 3929927. Let us all help this little boy. May the power of the Resurrection move you to pray for him and help him live.

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Inviting you to join a pilgrimage to Bohol from April 13-15. Yes, let's see our beautiful country, and let us encounter the Lord with fellow pilgrims in local pilgrimage sites. For particulars please call +63 2 7217457 or +63 2 5238581 to 88.

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Let me end with this story I got from Vanessa. She is right now going through a healing from a broken relationship. What gives her hope is the story about a little girl who would not part with her fake pearl. No amount of persuasion could make her give it up. But the father kept on asking her, until finally, one night, in tears, she handed the fake pearl to her father. Whereupon, her father placed in her hand a precious, genuine pearl.

For Vanessa, she gave up someone she treasures so much because the Father asked of it, and that, she says, has made all the difference in her life. If the Father asks of it, give it and you'll never forget it. Alleluia! New life! Happy Easter!

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A moment with the Lord:
Lord, help me to experience your power in the life I am living now. Amen.