Christ’s Resurrection – true hope for the world

THE EDITOR: Tomorrow Christians around the world will celebrate Jesus’ Resurrection. My deceased Hindu father who, in his early years, ran his own school in Sangre Grande taught the life and teachings of Christ. He often quoted Gandhi, who said:

“A man who was completely innocent offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.”

It is this “perfect act” that gives us hope.

The blogger Phil Newton wrote that there were nine “ways Christ’s Resurrection gives us hope for today.” Number 9 reads:

“The bodily resurrection affirms that our toil and labour in this life are not in vain. Why grow weary in serving Christ in the present when it’s just good preparation for the future of eternal service? ‘Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord’ (1 Cor 15:58).”

No matter how our lives twist and turn, we must never get weary of serving the Lord. As some of you may have heard, I had a stroke recently, but God was merciful; my speech is fine and although my left side is weak, I can move “gingerly” with a Zimmer frame. I changed my lifestyle instantly. I can still use my brain, hence this article is possible.

As a follower of Christ, I have great hope, based on my faith. And it is my hope in the risen Christ that will strengthen/heal me. And if he calls me now, I am ready because Christ’s Resurrection means that I will also be raised to live with him forever. I thank everyone for their love and prayers.

I thank God that two of my sisters, Kamala and Kamini, are here in TT to assist me. They were supposed to be in England, but God placed them here at this time for a purpose. Their presence reminded me of Pope Francis’ words in his Easter Sunday homily last year:

“Christ is risen, and with him, he makes our hope and creativity rise so that we can face our present problems in the knowledge that we are not alone. To celebrate Easter is to believe once more that God constantly breaks into our personal histories, challenging our ‘conventions,’ those fixed ways of thinking and acting that end up paralysing us. To celebrate Easter is to allow Jesus to triumph over the craven fear that so often assails us and tries to bury every kind of hope.

“The stone before the tomb shared in this, the women of the gospel shared in this, and now the invitation is addressed once more to you and to me. An invitation to break out of our routines and to renew our lives, our decisions, and our existence. An invitation that must be directed to where we stand, what we are doing and what we are, with the ‘power ratio’ that is ours. Do we want to share in this message of life or do we prefer simply to continue standing speechless before events as they happen?”

I prefer to share in the message of life, and to call on his name, as Carol King sang in her 1971 song: You’ve Got a Friend: “If the sky above you grows dark and full of clouds/ And that old north wind begins to blow/ Keep your head together and call my name out loud/ Soon you’ll hear me knocking at your door.”

May the risen Christ keep knocking at our door, even when we fail to walk through his open door. Christ is alive; he lives among us and wants us to walk in his grace as we seek to build a better TT/world.

Happy Easter, my brothers and sisters.

LEELA RAMDEEN

chair, CCSJ

director, CREDI

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