The custom of the Easter egg originated amongst the early Christians of Mesopotamia, who stained eggs red in memory of the blood of Chris...
Bat naman father naisipan nyo magsimula sa itlog para sa iyong homily o reflection? Kasi mga kapatid, kagabi, if you were here during the easter vigil, my homily was about apoy at tubig. Then last night I was telling my brother Claretian that namoroblema ako coz I still have to prepare another homily for today’s mass since I cannot repeat I have preached already last night. Sa puyat baka walang magandang idea na lumabas. Then my clever brother told me, e diba pads nabangit mo na din lang ang apoy, nabangit mo na din ang tubig, o di start your homily with the Easter Egg, that after you find it sa easter egg hunt, you boil it in water by using the fire.
May punto si brother sa kanyang idea na binigay nya saakin. Though an egg appears to be like the stone of a tomb, a bird hatches from it with life. The egg is widely used as a symbol of the start of new life, just as new life emerges from an egg. Easter egg for Christians, is a reminder that Jesus rose from the grave, and that those who believe will also experience eternal life.
Take note: Those who believe will also experience eternal life. The time of the resurrection is the time of the witnesses, the time of the Holy Spirit, the time of the Church. And it is only through all these that it is possible for us to find and see the risen Christ. Easter season teach us that those who are baptized in Christ are invited to delve into the mysteries on which they were initiated during baptismal catechetic. Delving into the mysteries is itself submitting to the fire of love of God, submitting oneself to the water of Christ for us to be purified. TAYO YUNG NAGING EASTER EGGS. Mukhang walang laman, pero kung isasabuhay natin ang ating pagiging tunay na Kristiano, we become not just empty tombs but witnesses of Christ!
But how to become witnesses? To be witnesses of the Risen Lord is to imbibe the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ into one’s life in a vital manner, existential and not just in theory. St. Paul taught us last night in the Easter Vigil that when we were baptized we have participated in the death of Christ, and in his resurrection, we have been raised in him and we find new life. Today we have heard in his letter to the Corinthians that if we have been raised in Christ, we have to aim for the things that are above and live up to it. To look for the new yeast and not the old yeast. We cannot live in the old world where in as if nothing had happened when Jesus passed through our lives. We cannot just be believing mentally and chasing as before our small and petty personal interests, dealing only ourselves.
To be witnesses is to aim, to seek for the things that are above. Parang easter egg hunt but this time it’s to seek for the things that are above. To aim or seek for the things that are above does not mean to stop worrying about the things of this world, but rather it is actually to worry about the good of those who live in this world, in this world doing as Christ did, who went about doing good and liberating the oppressed of the devil. Aim for the things that are above does not mean closing our eyes to the evils here below, but rather to address them in a new way, as the novelty of the first day of the week, day of the new creation through forgiveness that overcomes evil in us, and forgive those who have wronged us.
We cannot "prove" the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we cannot provide "evidence" of it, except, perhaps, the indirect evidence of the empty tomb. We don’t need to look for what is not there inside the empty tomb. All we have to do is that through our faith, the signs of death becomes signs of life: responding to evil with good, the offenses with forgiveness, blessings for curses, hatred and selfishness with love and generosity. We cannot provide evidence, but we can become witnesses to the things that are above, witnesses that God raised Jesus from Nazareth, and appointed him judge of the living and the dead.
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