Easter Sunday<\/p>\n\n\n\n
April 12, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John 20:1-9<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today is the day of resurrection. Today is the day Jesus has conquered\nsin and death. Today is the day of our victory. No wonder among the liturgical\ncelebration of the Church, Easter is the grandest, the longest and the most\nspectacular. It is the time that the churches are flooded with the faithful. It\nis the time that parishioners got involved in many activities, practices, and\nservices. It is the time when families gather and celebrate. It is the time the\npriests receive more blessings!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, something strange this year. Our Easter celebration is silent\nand simple. It is like an empty tomb, quiet and dark. And like the empty tomb,\nour churches are also empty, the pews are without people, and our buildings are\ndarker. This Easter, we do not hold burning candles in our hands. This Easter,\nwe do not sing together the Exultet. This Easter, we still do not receive the\nholy communion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We may be like Mary Magdalene or Peter who discovered the empty tomb.\nMary Magdalene was confused and at a loss when she saw the empty tomb. She was\nweeping before the tomb because she thought the body of Jesus has been stolen.\nShe loved Jesus so much, but she had to see His Lord tortured, crucified and\nburied. It was a painful and crushing experience to see someone she loved dying\nlike an animal. As if not enough with all the pain, this time, the body was\nmissing. Peter did not fare better. After he had told his Master that he would\ngive his life for Him, less than a few hours, he denied Jesus, not once, not\ntwice, but thrice. He realized that he was a coward, and this brought pain and\nterrible humiliation. To make things worse, he discovered the tomb empty and he\nfailed to understand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year is different because God has invited us to go deeper into the\ntomb. In previous years, we may be dazzled by the shining angel. We focus\nourselves on various preparations, on the beautiful songs, on the floral\ndecorations, on a joyous atmosphere, or perhaps on the priests! But this year,\nGod calls our attention to the empty tomb, to endure the silence, to bear the\ndarkness, and to reflect deeper on how Jesus resurrected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus did not put a spectacular show on how He conquered death. Jesus\ndid not take any selfies when He returned from the dead! Rather, Jesus rose in\nthe secret of the cave. Jesus won over death in the silence of the tomb. Jesus\nsaved us in the hidden and mysterious way. Yet, this is the resurrection, and\nthis is the most beautiful moment in human history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year Easter gives us a powerful lesson. God has risen even in the\nempty tombs of our lives. God is alive even we are far from the church we love\nand serve. God is alive even when we feel the most powerless inside our homes.\nGod is alive even when we are struggling with many difficulties caused by this\npandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps, it is the time we reflect more on how God works gently in our\nlives. Perhaps, it is the time to rethink our priorities in life and to place\nGod in the center. Perhaps, it is the time to appreciate the people who love,\nto reconcile with people who are close to us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Easter Sunday
\nApril 12, 2020
\nJohn 20:1-9<\/p>\n
Today is the day of resurrection. Today is the day Jesus has conquered sin and death. Today is the day of our victory. No wonder among the liturgical celebration of the Church, Easter is the grandest, the longest and the most spectacular. It is the time that the churches are flooded with the faithful. It is the time that parishioners got involved in many activities, practices, and services. It is the time when families gather and celebrate. It is the time the priests receive more blessings!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[57,58],"class_list":["post-9421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-renungan","tag-english","tag-sunday-reflection"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9421"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9422,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9421\/revisions\/9422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}