Thomas has, unfortunately, been given the epithet of the “Doubter.” But Thomas the Apostle stands for all of us, who at some point or the other have to make that leap of faith, to go beyond human understanding to believe in the resurrection of our Lord and all that we are promised as Easter people.
Amidst the wave of violence and discrimination faced by the Christian community, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goodwill gesture during Easter at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Delhi has been seen as a positive step towards promoting unity and harmony in a country plagued by communal tensions. Whether Modi’s Easter visit will bring a turnabout in events, remains to be seen.
In our digital age, social media should serve the common good by providing true and honest information. The search for beauty is also a moral duty, as it is intertwined with truth and goodness. The eighth commandment not only requires that we live by truth, but also with charity. Why? Because charity is the greatest of the commandments.
To strengthen our faith in Jesus’ Resurrection, we have most credible witnesses: the apostles. How the Resurrection experience impacted them! The book titled ‘The Lord’ by philosopher and theologian Fr. Romano Guardini discusses two key differences between Jesus before and after the Resurrection: Jesus no longer comes and goes, but ‘appears’ and ‘vanishes’ without barriers of time and space, and the evangelists emphasize that Jesus after the Resurrection is the same Jesus of Nazareth with visible wounds, not a mere spirit.
The representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the People’s Republic of China, Vanno Noupech, visited Macau in late March to restore dialogue with the local authorities. Mr Noupech’s visit was the first by an official of the United Nations Refugee Agency in more than three years.
Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong, Cardinal John Hon Tong, presided over a Solemn Eucharist at Saint Joseph’s Church in Macau, as part of the 23rd anniversary celebration of the Saint Joseph’s Seminary Alumni Association. The ceremony was con-celebrated by three other priests, and the Church of Saint Joseph was filled with former students of the seminary from Macau and abroad.
Almost two hundred catechumens received the Sacraments of Christian initiation during the Easter Vigil ceremonies that took place all over Macau, Father João Lau told O Clarim. In his parish – the Saint Lazarus Parish – two dozen adults entered full communion with the Catholic Church, after they received the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and First Holy Communion.
In his Easter message this year, Bishop Stephen Lee Bun Sang has declared that from 30th April 2023 (Good Shepherd/Vocations Sunday) to 8th December 2024 (Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception), the Diocese of Macau will celebrate the “Diocesan Year of Vocations”.
In this reflection, Fr Paolo Consonni considers the Resurrection as a birth into new life passing through the pangs of death. While affirming that Jesus rose from the dead by virtue of His divine power, he highlights the human experience of Jesus on the Cross and how His cry for the Father’s love and mercy was answered through the Resurrection.
In this reflection, Fr Jijo Kandamkulathy writes that Jesus’ resurrection is a sign of hope for us and urges us to throw off the shackles of the fear of death. Death, which is the result of sin, is defeated, and life, represented in Christ Himself, emerges victorious.