Jesus clearly points out in John 11:25 that "I am the Resurrection and the Life, whoever believes in me will live, even after death". Taking the words of Jesus himself, we must make this our life motto. You see, we live in a world that is filled with so much desires of the flesh that we, as humans, have lost our passion and zeal for what matters the most and that is Jesus Christ.
As I have mentioned in my past Lenten reflections, the season of Lent is about renewal. In this season, we are given a second chance to recommit our covenant with Jesus Christ. Now that we have are almost towards the end of our Lenten Journey and the start of our Easter celebrations, we must do one thing - we must die to our former selves in order to rise to new life with Christ Jesus, as St. Paul states in the letter to the Romans.
The Easter Triduum must be a journey for each one us. On Holy Thursday, we are called to 'eat' with Jesus, Good Friday we are called to 'die' with him and on Gloria Saturday night, we are called to 'rise' out of the tomb with him and start our new life with him.
What does 'dying of ourselves' mean? It simply means to leave behind our old habits and start anew and the Easter season is a perfect opportunity for us to do just that. These bad habits may include addictions, ignorance and lack of forgiveness to name a few. As Jesus gave Lazarus a second chance to life by resurrecting him, he is also giving us that same opportunity. We just have to cease the moment!
Neglecting ourselves from this new life means to not progress with Jesus. Sure we live in a carnal world, but that does not mean we must give in to the sins of our society. When we rise to new life with Jesus, he equips us with his Holy Spirit to be a light in the midst of all darkness that is around us.
While it will be a difficult to fight the temptations of falling back into our former bad habits, we are urged to call on the Holy Spirit of Jesus because he promises us that 'He is with us'. Once we have acknowledged Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life, we will all be saved even after death.
So as we journey towards our the Easter Celebrations, may we be open to entering into the tomb with him and rising out with him. Glory to God!
--B. Durham, 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment