Death is a natural process in life. But the fear of death, even seeing a loved one suffer in pain before his timely hour paralyzes us; for we know that we are to lose something we definitely can never get it back.
This is no different during the time of Jesus. He suffered greatly on the cross. Worse, his disciples left him for fear of their lives. But let us always remember that there is this great power beyond the normal recount of his suffering: Jesus died and rose from the dead to fulfil his mission--to free us from (the slavery of) sin. His death paved the way for us towards the kingdom of heaven. Without the suffering, we will be forever hopeless for the destiny of man will only lead to one end: death.
Mama Mary and his disciples were witnesses to his suffering and resurrection; and with this, it gave them the courage to believe and proclaim the gospel to the whole world. They, too, experienced suffering (even death) like of Christ, but that didn’t stop them proclaiming their mission.
There is nothing more important to us than this. This celebration of life after death during Easter gives us hope--that as Christians, we are with Christ in his suffering, death, and resurrection. We renew our baptism vows to remind us that we are with Christ, and Christ is with us.
While we reflect on a life without resurrection, it reminds us of the negative power of sin and its horrible consequence; the worse of which is being deprived to be with God in eternity. This is the root of our fear of death, something that we need to change and open our hearts and minds to the fullness of the promise of Jesus’ resurrection.
Pain, suffering, and death come naturally. But we should always keep in mind that suffering is never the endpoint of a situation; instead, it is always the opportunity for something greater--a greater trust in God’s love, an opportunity to intercede for others’ salvation; the options are numerous.
For every ‘Good Friday’, there is always and ‘Easter Sunday’.
Happy Easter!!! (Paul)
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