Easter Sunday falls tomorrow:

Easter hails triumph of Life and Human Liberation

By Rev. Fr. Leopold Ratnasekera OMI.
Ph.D., Th.D.
OMI Seminary, Ampitiya

Easter, the most significant Christian festival, heralds a message of life and brings with it the good news of human liberation, for in Jesus Christ of Nazareth who is risen from the darkness of the grave of death and burial, we are treated to the wonderful invitation to embrace and defend life as well as be involved in every way possible in bringing true freedom to our fellow human beings while doing our utmost to set them free from all chains of slavery that rob them of their human dignity and fundamental God-given rights. Prosperity in life and an environment of freedom bring to birth a wonderful world-society where people live in safety, security and peace, with solidarity, dialogue, goodwill, sharing, collaboration, trust and confidence in one another reinforcing the sense of humanity and thus enabling nations to be at peace and truly enjoy the bounty of life’s blessings.

Easter ushers in a new era

of civilization

The Risen Lord empowered his disciples to go and teach all nations to observe whatever he has taught them assuring them of his unfailing presence accompanying them till the end of the world. It was a mandate permanently valid, meant to reach people of all cultures, civilizations, ethnicities and tongues. For 20 long centuries of the Christian era, this Good news of life and freedom had been proclaimed in cities, towns and villages, to the rich and the poor alike, to those of higher and lower social status as well to kings and governments, to those in seats of power and those governed, with the sole purpose of transforming the world into an oasis of life and fashioning a civilization of love. In the first five centuries of Christianity in addition to the Christian message taking root in the great middle-eastern world covering the cities of Athens, Corinth, etc., it had also reached imperial Rome and all colonial territories of its mighty empire. It preached a call for a reconciliation of Jews and the non-Jewish gentiles transcending differences of religion, race, language, social class, ethnicity and even gender. The Bible attests that Jesus of Nazareth, crucified and Risen at Easter has been given a Name that is above every other name, one of cosmic significance, before whom all in the heavens, the earth and under the earth have to go on bended knee proclaiming him to be the sovereign “Lord”.

Christianity renewed and

empowered

In the name of this humble but Eternal Galilean teacher, his disciples were ready even to lay down their lives whilst refusing to worship Caesar as a God or the bevy of other pagan gods of the infamous Roman pantheon decreed by the Emperor. The history of the earliest persecutions records the valiant hundreds of the first martyrs who were killed in the amphitheater of the Coliseum. Then came the medieval ages when the Church enjoyed both temporal and spiritual power and at times consorted with the secular power of the kings and emperors including the era of Napoleon the Great. But soon this socio-political setting was to disappear with the Church giving up temporal power and holding on only to authority in spiritual matters. It is in this context we have to see the evolution and growth of the Church in various continents, strikimg first of all strong bases in Europe. Eventually with some countries developing in modern navigation and armory, there was the emergence of the European colonial powers such as England, France, Germany, Holland, Portugal, Belgium and Spain.

With their colonial expansion reinforced earlier by the exploratory voyages of Marco Polo and Vasco di Gama, Christianity too entered non-European, American, Asian and African countries that were colonized. Since the middle of the 19th century, after a period of being incubated in its colonial forms, Christianity embarked on a process of inculturation of its faith-expressions mainly in the field of doctrine and worship and with the oncoming tide of the social trends of liberation and struggles for freedom, got involved even in the work of human liberation stirred up by new theological trends such as Theology of Liberation and its own charter on Human Rights. Today, the Christianity is heavily involved in the work of social justice and environmental issues, that of human rights and rights of workers. It opposed heavily the dehumanizing trends that came with the industrial revolution which canonized the machine over human labor as well as extreme social evils followed by enlightenment and the French revolution.

Christianity: a catalyst for

leavening society

At this historical moment in the history of Christianity, the challenge is to on the one hand, defend in partnership with all people of goodwill, the perennial spiritual values over against the destructive effects of the culture of secularism and consumerism and on the other hand, condemn a capitalism which relentlessly is oriented towards commodities and profit. It means taking head on an economic system that is without a soul where human beings and their labor are exploited to the full by all liberal systems of thought and ideologies. Thus, whilst defending its own proper rights to exist and operate as one of the living religious traditions world-wide, there is need to work in dialogue with other world religions to preserve the sense of the sacred not being either displaced, devalued or weakened by secular trends infiltrating into modern life-styles. It is in this spirit that Christians are engaged today in the work of promoting democratic freedoms and focusing on environmental issues that will make the earth and its resources secure without being abused. This engagement with the world makes it become the voice of the voiceless: the poor, the marginalized, the exploited and the migrants seeking greener pastures displaced from their lands of birth..

This social apostolate is seen more as inspired by religious and spiritual ideals than just simply as humanitarian or philanthropic endeavors. Medical institutions, educational projects, homes for the sick, elderly and the orphans and differently abled are being run globally motivated by this ideal of the religions at the service of the people, thus going beyond the rites and rituals enacted in churches and temples and other religious centers. In imitation of Christ crucified, the Churches share in the human pain of people across the world resulting in natural and man-made disasters, plagues and epidemics that strike them, injustices that occur coming from bribery and corruption in high places and abuse of authority in dictatorships of political rule. Enabling all people, especially the poor and the marginalized to achieve fullness of life remains the undisputable missionary ideal of the Church’s so-called social work. In dialogue with other world-wide organizations, the Pontifical Council for Justice, Peace and integrity of Creation of the Vatican and the World Council of Churches (WCC) are engaged in massive projects for human development in the areas of education, health and human rights.

Conclusion

Celebrating Easter in real life means therefore engaging in the struggle of life against death-dealing forces and of good against evil. The triumph of a culture of life against the culture of death and that of goodness and truth over evil and falsehood, authenticity over hypocrisy, responsibility over callousness, maturity over superficiality, etc., would pave the wonderful paths to a civilization of love and trust, which can only be the unshakable foundations of a new world that we all dream of. The Risen Lord brought the greeting of peace driving out fear, doubt and anxiety in his disciples for the crucifixion was not to be end of the Jesus-story. Even at this time of the global crisis triggered by the corona killer-virus, the Risen Christ is there like at the pool of Siloam in Jerusalem’s temple precincts of his day, to stir the waters of healing for the world struggling to survive this deadly pandemic. By far, the most awesome, incredible and over-powering event of the Resurrection burst forth with new springs of hope and life. Christianity, in which the Risen Lord is still active in history and assisting at the gradual evolving of a new creation, a new heaven and a new earth, holds inspiration for life and love which in the finally analysis, despite its moments of pain and trial, make life worth living. Easter is victory over death. The spirit of Easter will inspire all to do away with death-dealing factors that hurt and empower the search for the springs of life.