“We are Easter Poeple and Alleluia is our song. Alleluia, praise the Lord”
Easter Sunday 1
Easter Sunday 2
Easter Sunday 3
Easter Sunday 4
Easter Sunday 5
Easter Sunday 6
Easter Sunday 7
Easter Sunday 8
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
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
“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
“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