Fr. German’s Message
Alleluia, Christ is risen, he is alive among us.
This week should be one of joy and hope.
We, the baptized, are invited to announce to all of creation that death
will not have the last word, for Christ defeated death, and he lives in our
midst.
Evil will not reign in our world; the darkness of sin will not impose
itself on our humanity, for Christ lives; and God’s light asserted itself in
the early morning of Easter in order to enlighten all hearts of good will.
I invite you, during this Paschal season, to look at the Paschal candle
that will be lit during all the celebrations of the Easter season and during
baptisms, confirmations, funerals, and the great celebrations of our liturgy.
This year, as in years past, our Paschal candle has been decorated by
one of my German friends. Every year, he
decorates the Paschal candle of his
parish; and then, he sends us the same motif for our own. A heart-felt thanks to Ludger, and may God
bless his kindness. The fact that we
have the same Paschal candle here and in a church in the north of Germany,
invites us to live in communion with the parishes of the whole world. There are brothers and sisters in the whole
world that look at he Paschal candle to remind themselves that Christ is the light in our darkness.
The cross on the candle is not straight.
This positioning of the cross
reminds us that our lives are not always straight and that the crosses
that we carry are not straight either.
Life is difficult when suffering arises.
The blue color around the cross makes us think about Heaven and about
water, which gives us life and allows us to enter into God’s family through
baptism. The range of colors the cross
rests upon invites us to think of the joys and sufferings of our humanity. The closer a color is to the flame, the
lighter that color is; and, the farther a color is from the flame, the darker
the color gets. It can even be black.
The closer we are to the light of Christ, the more peace and love our
life radiates.
Christ’s cross, which is the symbol of God’s solidarity with human
suffering, can be found between two golden lines that form the union between
the blue of the water and the colors of the land.
All of creation has been saved by the Cross, and God’s work is invited
to share the Glory of the Creator.
But, the Paschal candle would not be complete without the flame. The light of the Resurrection must attract
our eyes in order to enlighten our life and comfort our heart.
Let’s not be afraid of standing before the Paschal candle for a few
minutes to say a prayer. Let’s remember
that the day of our baptism and confirmation, we received the light of Christ
through a Paschal candle that illuminated a Christian community.
Let us pray to the Lord so that all of us who are baptized can be the
light of the Earth. May our humanity
live in the joy of the Resurrection and under the light of the Gospel. May the feast of Easter remain in the hearts
of all, especially in the hour of suffering and difficulty.
Happy Easter! Christ is
risen! Alleluia!
Fr. Germán April 7th/8th 2012