“PEACE BE WITH YOU ALL”

CHRIST IS RISEN; INDEED HE IS RISEN

Fr. George Pulikkottil, D. Th.

The Feast of Resurrection came even little early this year and the spring season has just started. The earth comes back to Life after a long cold winter; and it is in the spring when the first flowers begin to bloom and the green world begins to return after its winter slumber. The power of spring and its regenerative effects are evidenced by the fact that every major religion and culture marks spring with a celebration of renewal and new life; ancient cultures were overjoyed by the power of spring and the beauty of new life.

Yes, it is at the threshold of spring our Lord has risen and cast out all negative forces and founded Peace on the earth. Thus the Feast of Resurrection is itself the spring of our life, the eternal Peace established; it is the spring of Holy Sprit, the Life and Hope of every thing. St. Paul says to the Romans:

“Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.” Ch. 5: 1 – 5.

Hope is one of the most powerful and energizing words in the English language. It is something that gives power to keep going in the toughest of times. There is a famous story about Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who led Britain during the dark moments of the Second World War which explains the meaning of real Hope. A reporter asked Churchill, what was the greatest weapon his country possessed against the Nazi regime of Hitler? With out pausing for even a moment, Churchill said, “It was what England’s greatest weapon has always been – hope.”

Hope is the result of Peace that we received through our Lord Jesus Christ; thus we rejoice in it and share the glory of God through it in Christ. As we have seen from the Word of God, in Paul, real hope comes only out of godly character developed in endurance produced by suffering. Jesus Christ has established this real hope in the entire universe with His redemptive act of Incarnation. Since God’s love and Peace have been poured out into our hearts by Christ through the Holy Sprit which has been give to us, we have hope in Him and the hope does not disappoint us. This is one of the basic teachings of Paul about Resurrection. Wherever Truth, the God, prevails, there will be Peace, the Christ and the out come will be Hope the Power of Resurrection in the Holy Sprit.

It’s been said that a person can live forty days without food, four days without water, four minutes without air, but not even four seconds with out hope. Hope is the power energizes us with excitement and anticipation as we look toward the future.

So let us wish and pray for each other to have real Hope in this great Season of the Feast of Resurrection, the season of Spring; so that let all our hope and dreams be bloom and flourish in Him. When we see beautiful flowers and all bounty of the season, let us thank God and identify with them in celebration of the glory of God in the highest.

Wish you all a blessed Spring Season, a season of great Hope, Love and Peace. May God bless you all.

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