It is 21st April 2019. We celebrate the Easter Sunday. On this Easter morning, wishing you all blessing-filled Easter moments of peace, protection and progress in the Risen Lord Jesus. Redeemed by the Lamb, the Paschal Victim, the Prince of Life, the Christ of our salvation is indeed risen gloriously from death, the forces of darkness and the slavery of sins. May the Risen Lord Jesus reign in our hearts strengthening each one of us in daily encounter with the challenging realities of our lives and to be the witnesses of Him through our faith, fellowship and friendship with those who still struggle to grasp the meaning of new life that seals us our justification and salvation through the participation in the Easter grace. We are encouraged to be the proclaimer and the witnesses of the Risen Lord in everyday of life. Womb of our faith is filled with grace and blessings by the emptiness of the tomb of Christ. There is no more darkness in our souls as long as the light of the Risen Christ continues to shine in our hearts and lives. The readings are from Acts 10:34, 37-43; the second reading is from Colossians 3:1-4; and the Gospel from John 20:1-9. In the first reading St. Peter confesses his personal faith in the risen Lord. The celebration of the Easter is our personal proclamation of our faith that Jesus is alive among us through the life-giving Sacraments and our personal sanctification. We are truly assured that we are all forgiven by the Risen Lord unconditionally. Jesus holds nothing against us as He is the victim, the victor and the victory. The resurrection of Jesus offers a full package of forgiveness to all of us. “Everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins through His name.” (Acts.10:43). The responsorial Psalm praises, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.” (Ps.118:24). Since we are forgiven and offered a new life in the Risen Lord, St. Paul invites us to look up to the Risen Lord through our baptismal promises we renewed in the Church. No one can hide the new life we have obtained from the Risen Christ. “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Col.3:3). Souls are empty of sins enjoys the grace of the Risen Lord Jesus as the empty tomb of our Lord becomes the proof of the promise made in the Scripture. Eye-witnesses could be compromised by many things in the world when the living witness of the Risen Lord firmly believe and begin spreading the Good News tirelessly that Jesus is alive and He is risen. Alleluia. Empty tomb of Jesus has cemented our faith and deepened the horizons of new life in the Risen Lord. “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed, alleluia; therefore, let us keep the feast with the unleavened bread of purity and truth, alleluia, alleluia. The resurrection of Jesus is the core and cradle of our faith in the Lord who lives among us today. Triumph of Jesus over sin and death culminates in the resurrection of Jesus. Saint Paul could say: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile” (1 Cor 15:7). In his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christus Vivit 129, Holy Father Pope Francis encourages us in the following lines. “If in your heart you can learn to appreciate the beauty of this message, if you are willing to encounter the Lord, if you are willing to let him love you and save you, if you can make friends with him and start to talk to him, the living Christ, about the realities of your life, then you will have a profound experience capable of sustaining your entire Christian life. You will also be able to share that experience with other young people. For “being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction”. May the Risen Lord Jesus continue to guide us and inspire other through our faith, charity and humility. Happy Easter to all of you. Have a good day.