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Washing the feet of the prisoners

HONG KONG (SE): “Nourish hope and do not give up,” was the Easter message of Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing, auxiliary bishop of Hong Kong, for the inmates of the correctional institutions in Hong Kong. He was addressing a group of inmates and volunteers at Cape Collinson Correctional Institution, Chai Wan, on Easter Monday, April 22. 
 
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Urbi et Orbi message from Pope Francis (to the city and to the world)

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Happy Easter!
 
Today the Church renews the proclamation made by the first disciples: “Jesus is risen!” And from mouth to mouth, from heart to heart, there resounds a call to praise: “Alleluia, Alleluia!” On this morning of Easter, the perennial youth of the Church and of humanity as a whole, I would like to address each of you in the opening words of my recent apostolic exhortation devoted especially to young people:
 
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When we celebrate Easter

Easter is the time we recall the tragic events of 2,019 years ago when a Jew, a man from Palestine, was spied upon, betrayed, persecuted, falsely charged, vilified, abandoned and arrested. It started with a mock trial that handed down the death penalty for the man from Nazareth, the Son of Man; Son of God, Jesus.
 
We also celebrate the resilience, the determination and the belief and hope of the persecuted and oppressed to rise up and speak out and challenge the forces of oppression.







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Christ is Alive, Alleluia!!

Holy Week and Easter are the heart of the liturgical year. The progression from Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem to the Last Supper, where he washes the feet of his disciples, institutes the Eucharist and gives his disciples the bidding commandment of love, his anguished prayer in Gethsemane, the shocking events of his betrayal, trial and execution, the desolation of his death and, finally, to the dawn of a new world on Easter Sunday.







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Easter triumphs over death, injustice, deprivation and slavery pope proclaims

VATICAN CITY (CNS): Easter morning dawned bright and sunny at the Vatican, highlighting the thousands of flowers, trees and bushes donated by flower growers in the Netherlands.
 
Before delivering his Urbi et Orbi (To the city and the world) blessing on April 1, Pope Francis prayed made special mention of the ongoing carnage in Syria as well as the recent violence which saw 15 Palestinians killed during protests along Gaza’s border with Israel on March 30.
 
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Christ is risen! Now what are you going to do about it?

Tricia Bølle
 
“Christ is Risen!” 
“He is truly risen!”
 
So goes the (hopefully enthusiastic) call and response of the Christian faithful as we celebrate this truly joyous occasion when our salvation was won and new life given to us through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.







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I believe in the Resurrection

Alleluia! The Lord is Risen! Easter proclamation at the climax of the Service of Light during the vigil is perhaps the strangest and most radical message ever given, reminding the faithful of the victory of Christ over the powers of darkness and death: “Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.” We repeat the words too often that we’ve perhaps forgotten how weird and how wonderful they truly are.
 







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Harassment at Easter

HANOI (UCAN): Plainclothes officials in northwest Vietnam broke into the home of a Catholic family and attempted to take a priest into custody as he was preparing to celebrate Easter Mass.
 
More than 20 men and women, who identified themselves as local officials, barged into the house where around 100 people had gathered for Mass in the town of Muong Khuong, Lao Cai province.
 
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There are signs of life amidst suffering pope tells Rome and the world

ROME (SE): “Today, throughout the world, the Church echoes once more the astonishing message of the first disciples, ‘Jesus is risen! He is truly risen, as he said!’” Pope Francis proclaimed in introducing his traditional To the City of Rome and the World (Urbi et Orbi) greeting of Easter Sunday on April 16.
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