THE GREAT WEEK OF THE EASTER OCTAVE by Joan Foo Mahony in Kuala Lumpur with Reflections by Fr. Marco Cho LC in Hong Kong
Smitten By Faith Issue # 00061 15th April 2023; Saturday of the Easter Octave
For Christians, Eastertide is the season of fifty days after Easter Sunday - each day of which is another little Easter. Easter is not just one day of celebration but a season of fifty days of rejoicing which begins on Easter Sunday and concludes on Pentecost Sunday. Each day of Eastertide is another sequence of Alleluias!
Within this Eastertide is the unique period known as the EASTER OCTAVE which refers to the first eight days of joyous celebration immediately after Easter Sunday when Easter is celebrated at its highest pitch each day of the eight joyous days of the Octave; when the joy and exultation of the Resurrection of Christ cannot be celebrated in just one day but continuously prolonged over eight full days of solemnities. This is why the Easter Octave is also sometimes referred to as THE GREAT WEEK. And, today April 15th marks the seventh day within the EASTER OCTAVE, with the coming Octave Sunday tomorrow being appropriately named ‘Divine Mercy Sunday’ - highlighting God’s love and mercy. We are reminded of how in spite of our sins, we are forgiven by God and saved by the death and resurrection of His son Jesus Christ; and we remember and give thanks intensely for the gift of the Paschal Mystery – the death, burial and Resurrection of Christ
Left : The Resurrection of Christ 1570. Oil on canvas by Paolo Veronese; GemaeldeGalerie, Dresden.
Right : The Resurrection of Christ also called The Kinnaird Resurrection is by the Renaissance Master artist, Raphael ; oil on wood painted around 1499 and 1502; Museum of Art of Sao Paulo, Brazil
St. Paul the Evangelist writes that the death and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is critical; the anchor and very basis of the Christian faith.
We have the empty tomb ; Christ is risen !
“For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”
Paul in his Letter to the Corinthians 15: 15-18
The Empty Tomb : All the rare and beautiful photographs above were taken by © Fr. Thomas Montanaro LC on his many visits to the historic Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem which was built on the site of Christ’s Empty Tomb.
Top Left : Detail of the Empty Tomb of Jesus Christ in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem
Top right : Inside the Edicule - the interior dome of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre
Bottom far left : Inside the Edicule antechamber - looking into the Empty Tomb
Bottom left centre : wide view of the Empty Tomb at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre
Bottom right centre : a reflective photo composition as Fr. Thomas looks into the Empty Tomb
Bottom far right : amazing natural light illuminating the interior dome
Above : The Women at the Empty Tomb of Christ - painted around 1611 ; oil on panel by Peter Paul Rubens
( Editor’s note: These 3 women who had so loved and cared for Jesus were the first to learn of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ ! When the 3 Mary’s ( Mary Magdalene, Mary of Clops and Mary Salome ) returned to the tomb after Passover to complete the annointing of Christ’s body, they found an empty tomb and two angels who told them that Christ was risen. It was God’s will that the women would be the first to see the empty tomb. )
Just before Easter, my husband Terry and I attended a very special 3-day Sacred Triduum Retreat in Hong Kong from Maundy Thursday to Holy Saturday ( April 6th to 8th ) organized by Regnum Christi Hong Kong. It was called ‘Centering My Life On The Pascal Mystery Of Christ’. We were guided by priests from Rome - Fr. Marco Cho LC who led the retreat with great insight, thought and prayerfulness and Fr. Rafael Ducci LC visiting Hong Kong for the first time. On the last day, Fr. Joseph Tham LC who had started the annual retreats 12 years ago joined us for the sharing
Above : Away from the buzz of Hong Kong, various views of the peaceful grounds of St. Paul Retreat Centre in the New Territories in Hong Kong
Above : Father Marco Cho LC. In the picture on the right, Fr. Marco is standing next to a beautiful calligraphy done by Fr. Joseph Tham and the words say it all : ‘To fly high towards Heaven.’
Above Left : Fr. Rafael Ducci LC
Above Right : At the retreat, I am standing between the 2 priests from Rome, Fr. Rafael and Fr. Joseph Tham LC.
So, to celebrate The Great Week, I would like to share with my readers some of the inspiring reflections of Fr. Marco Cho LC at the Sacred Triduum Retreat when this kind and gentle priest carefully guided us to experience the Pascal Mystery and how to keep Christ closely and intimately in our lives.
At the retreat, Fr. Marco taught us to look at our Christian faith as an organic whole and not segment various aspects of our faith in accordance with the liturgical calendar of the Church. Instead, independent of the calendar we should bring the Paschal Mystery – the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ right smack into the center of our lives. The Passion and Resurrection - Lent and Easter - symbolize the crucial spiritual reality of the Pascal Mystery – to follow Christ intimately; keep him in our lives and let the light of Christ shine in our hearts. This will enable us to live our everyday lives in the Christian way sharing the good news and this inner understanding with others. Fr. Marco spoke about the key ingredients to understanding the Paschal Mystery of Christ. These are Christ himself – his identity and his mission; his passion, suffering and pain; his death on the cross; his burial and Resurrection and his deep love for us. We need to absorb and savour the precious significance of this and then understand; see so clearly that Christ suffered and died – FOR ME! Even though when Fr. Marco said these words quietly, I looked up startled as though the words were thunderbolts from above. I could feel the incredible energy of his voice. I looked around the room and my big smile was one of the many happy responsive faces that greeted Fr. Marco’s words.
And so, just as Paul wrote in his letters to the Romans, Fr. Marco told us to hold fast to our faith in Christ as the source of our salvation. We are all children of God through faith. If we put God in the center of our lives, if we let God be God in us; we can have the inner freedom to be like Christ and others will see what God wants them to see in me; through me.
As Fr. Marco says, “ Follow Christ - intimately. With him, in him, through him. Keep him in your life.”
INNER FREEDOM - I AM WHO I AM.
I accept the consequences. We accept life as it comes to me; as God willed.
According to Fr. Marco, inner freedom is when we do things because of who we are.
I am who I am. With inner freedom, we can accept our lot in life; we can accept our external situation. Inner freedom comes with love. God is love and we are created in his image and likeness and made out of love. This great love gives our lives meaning. So, Fr. Marco asked us to discern what we need to do to be worthy of this infinite love. This : ‘I am who I am’ - can only be found through God’s heart.
The image of the cross and the suffering Christ lifted up on the cross never fails to bring tears to my eyes each time I gaze at it. Particularly during Lent and on Good Friday when the redemptive power of Christ’s suffering and death on the cross is raised high up for all to see. According to Fr. Marco, our feelings and inner attitude; our past, our present - all the pieces of our lives laid bare in front of the cross - and our response to the cross is an essential ingredient of the Paschal Mystery. Today, we all have crosses to bear. Bearing our own cross enables us to see the crosses present in other people’s. This is the redemptive meaning of Christian suffering.
“According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you… “
Peter 1:3-4
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11:25-26
So, as we continue with the remaining days of Eastertide, let us continue to celebrate and prolong the eternal joy of Easter, reflect and praise the Lord for his triumph over death.
This is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it !
ALLELUIA ! ALLELUIA !
Psalm 118:24
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