A BLESSED AND HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!
The fact that each year the spring brings Easter tidings may be a coincidence; but no coincidence is the reverse: that Easter brings spring-time news.
Easter is an explosion of joy that speaks of life, of light, of freedom, of victory, of resurrection. This is what we celebrated at the Easter Vigil: the passage from death to life; from darkness to light; from slavery to freedom.
The resurrection of Jesus proves that He was right after all. Things happened in the way He declared they would happen: Resurrexit sicut dixit. The Scriptures spoke of him and in him they found fulfillment, as the risen Lord explained to the disciples along the way to Emmaus. Jesus was not disappointed in what he believed, said and did.
Neither can we be disappointed for having made the God of Jesus the object of our faith, the path in which we walk and the recipient of our obedience. What great liberation is the Easter news for us, as Christians and as religious! True, our daily lives have to prove, as in Jesus’ case, that our faith is not a vain illusion, that our words do not hide deception and that our actions are not mere appearances.
“I know very well whom I trusted,†St Paul said at the end of his life. What about us, can we say the same at the present stage of our journey? I am sure we can. But that being the case, should it not be at least a bit surprising that at times some of our options lack the religious, community-oriented quality which should characterize them?
“Do not seek among the dead the one who is alive!” When will the joyful proclamation of Jesus’ resurrection eventually convince us that sin is not human (on the contrary, it dehumanizes us) and that the living Lord may not be found among the dead and selfish?
“Go to Galilee, there you will see me!” Our going to Galilee in search of Jesus means to start walking… But often we are prey to a sluggishness that we never envisioned when we made our profession; to a comfort that rejects anything that draws us from our plans; to the fear of recovering the missionary spirit that lies atrophied in us; to lack of interest in new vocations which make us feel uncomfortable because of the change they demand; to the conviction that what we are doing is more important than what we are asked to do; to an unavailability we hurry to justify with a lot of empty excuses… No wonder then, to cite some examples, that superiors can hardly find available brethren; that the internet is becoming for some a real alienation; or that apostolic zeal is truly absent from many lives.
I wish to thank and to encourage all the brethren with this message. May the Easter celebration of this year 2011 bring a new springtime to our lives; that the Alleluia be also our song; and that it produce copious fruits of conversion in every one of us.
We have a God that is a blessing, said St Augustine: Where He enters, death leaves and life in abundance springs.
To all the brethren, A BLESSED AND HAPPY EASTER!
Fr. Javier Gonzalez Izquierdo, OP
Holy Rosary Province Provincial
Hong Kong April 23, 2011
CHRIST IS RISEN. Â ALLELUIA!
The story of Easter combines two events: a cruel death, followed by incredible hope for a new life. The story of the suffering and death of Jesus on Good Friday is the story of the very worst that life can throw to an innocent and helpless person: misunderstanding, lies, desertion, Â betrayal, false accusations, humiliation, violence, hunger and thirst, pain, darkness and death. It is the story of triumph of falsity over truth, of injustice over justice, of evil over goodness.
Imagine the disciples wondering what to believe as they walk along the road to Emmaus. This end was not what they expected, what they looked for. Sadly to say these are also some of the emotions for many of us at the moment in our daily living; feelings of fear and uncertainty. Worries and concerns within us also arise when we look to the unfolding events in Egypt, Libya, Afghanistan and other places around the world. The same feelings of desolation, emptiness and hopelessness that the women and the disciples had when they went to the tomb on that Easter morning are the feelings that many of us are experiencing now. We are desperately looking for hope as people struggle to cope with the continuing natural disasters around the world, with the loss of a loved one, concern over finances or employment…a deep sense of loss, of emptiness overshadow us.
So what has Easter to say to the world, to our society, to our family to our community? What is the good news we are called to offer? My message for this Easter is this: “Easter does not work magic,” and the human journey will still be marked by grief and anguish, However the Easter proclamation CHRIST IS RISEN is a call to hope in our lives now as well as joy and hope for the future. Our meeting with the RISEN CHRIST tells us that our destiny is not founded in the success of our institutions, or the preservation of our traditions, or the survival of our communities, but in our ability to see hope even from the artificial tombs in which we often put ourselves. The RISEN CHRIST is telling us that we need to realize that there is more than the fear of the recession, the fear of terrorism, or the fear of losing somebody very dear to us. The RISEN CHRIST is telling us that this life is just the preparation for the life to come.
‘Do not be afraid’ or ‘Peace be with you’ were Jesus’ first words as He meets and greets people that first Easter. These words changed the disciples, not just in their willingness to go and preach the Gospel, but it changed them as people. The stories in the gospels also tell us that those who encountered the living Christ could not keep it to themselves and could not wait to tell others. Likewise, Easter is a time for us to renew our faith and trust in the unseen power and love of God and a call to hope in the challenge to accommodate ourselves to imperfect reality, changing things we can change, accepting things we cannot change, and discovering that the things we cannot change are things which we can live with because the RISEN CHRIST dwells among us. The celebration of Easter is not only an ending but a beginning. Our task, as risen people who have met the risen Christ, is to help people jump from their endings into new beginnings; it is a call to transform this world into a kingdom of justice, peace and love.
As we rejoice in the Resurrection of Christ this Easter, let us not merely say Christ is risen, but “I shall rise.
May the hope of Jesus Resurrection brings you peace and happiness during this Easter season and everyday of your life
Fr. Alejandro Salcedo, OP
Prior, St Dominic’s Priory
Macau April 23, 2011
GOOD FRIDAY: THE LORD’S PASSION
“This is the wood of the Cross, on which  hung the Savior of the world”
GOOD FRIDAY 1
GOOD FRIDAY 2
GOOD FRIDAY 3
GOOD FRIDAY 4
GOOD FRIDAY 5
GOOD FRIDAY 6
HOLY THURSDAY: THE LORD’S SUPPER
“The cup of blessing that we bless is the  sharing in the Blood of Christ”
HOLY THURSDAY:THE LORD'S SUPPER 1
HOLY THURSDAY: THE LORD'S SUPPER 2
HOLY THURSDAY: THE LORD'S SUPPER 3
HOLY THURSDAY: THE LORD'S SUPPER 4
HOLY THURSDAY: THE LORD'S SUPPER 5
HOLY THURSDAY: THE LORD'S SUPPER 6
THE CHRISM MASS AT MACAU CATHEDRAL
“Tu est sacerdos in aeternumâ€
On Holy Wednesday, April 20, 2011, the Diocese of Macau, headed by its Bishop Joseph Lai, celebrated the Chrism Mass at 6: PM at the Cathedral of Macau. About 65 secular and religious priests concelebrated with the Bishop, accompanied by lay faithful that filled up the church. During the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, the bishop and priests renewed their priestly promises, and Bishop Lai blessed and consecrated the Holy Oils of Catechumens and of the Sick, and the Chrism. After the solemn Mass prayed and sung in Portuguese, Chinese and Latin, and animated beautifully by the choir of the Cathedral, all the priests were invited by the bishop and the canons of the Cathedral to a delicious fraternal agape.
THE CHRISM MASS AT MACAU CATHEDRAL 1
THE CHRISM MASS AT MACAU CATHEDRAL 2
THE CHRISM MASS AT MACAU CATHEDRAL 3
THE CHRISM MASS AT MACAU CATHEDRAL 4
THOUSANDS JOINING CHURCH
AT EASTER IN US
WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 15, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Tens of thousands of new Catholics are expected to join the Church at Easter, including a former Planned Parenthood director and seven members of the same family. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) released the statistics of those expected to join the Church based on participation in the Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion, a step in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults that takes place at the beginning of Lent.
Among those preparing to enter the Church is Abby Johnson, former Planned Parenthood clinic director and author of “Unplanned.”
In an interview with ZENIT last month, Johnson explained, “The day I left Planned Parenthood, I was embraced by the loving arms of the people who had prayed for me for years, most of whom are Catholic.”
She continued: “After attending some various Catholic parishes, I fell in love with the liturgy and found myself wanting to learn more and more each day.
“I found myself in awe of the devotion that my Catholic friends had that I didn’t, and I knew I wanted that same devotion myself. Doug and I decided we want to be a part of what the Catholic Church stands for and we have found such purpose through the Church.”
Johnson and her family will join the Church with 911 others in the Diocese of Austin, Texas.
James and Michelle House, formerly Episcopalian, will enter full communion with the Catholic Church in the San Francisco Archdiocese. The following week, five of their children will also be received into the Church.
Thousands of new Catholics are expected in the archdioceses nationwide: 1,600 in New York; 811 in Philadelphia; 1,100 in Washington; more than 1,000 in Seattle; 875 in Portland, Oregon; 1,100 in Cincinnati, Ohio; 2,490 in Galveston-Houston, Texas; 1,912 in Atlanta; 504 in Louisville, Kentucky; 613 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and 643 in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The numbers in smaller dioceses reflect “the vitality” of the Church in the Midwest, South and Southeast regions of the country, the USCCB reported.
On Monday, the bishops’ conference will begin featuring conversion stories from around the country on its media blog page.
Others preparing to enter the Church include an African woman who was raised Muslim, a marine set for deployment in June, and a secretary at the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire who has been sharing her conversion story online.
Cheryl Sickle, who works in the Office of Worship and Sacraments in Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, observed, “Each year, some of the most touching moments at the Rite of Election include the emotions expressed.”
“We see faces full of joy as catechumens and candidates alike realize the bigger picture of their decision to join the Church,” she said.
Sickle continued: “We see the smiles of proud grandparents as their young grandchildren painstakingly sign the Book of the Elect, and the overwhelming emotions of wives or husbands, brought to tears, whose spouses are converting to the Roman Catholic faith after years of marriage.
“We see physically challenged people with a look of determination as they slowly and resolutely process forward, and the bond of belonging on the faces of a family who welcome into their midst and into their faith a newly-adopted son or daughter of a different ethnicity. It is a one-time rite, but the RCIA formation behind it lasts — and changes — a lifetime.”
(USCCB Media Blog: http://usccbmedia.blogspot.com/)
