We the Catholics and Christians of Sri Lanka celebrate Easter Sunday today, April 12 to honour the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It is a great day of religious significance that we celebrate today in isolation without attending the festive service in churches for the first time. It is undoubtedly a unique Easter for the Catholics and Christians, during COVID- 19, this year.
There were no Church Services held in congregation for the Holy (Maundy) Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil (Holy Saturday Midnight) services and Easter Sunday Mass. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic and at a time when the world is struggling to overcome the effects of the virus, and many are confined to their homes or in voluntary self-isolation, we celebrate Jesus Christ’s victory over death, the Feast of Resurrection.
We, in Sri Lanka stayed away from congregating in our respective churches due to the island-wide curfew in view of the catastrophic COVID- 19 that has eaten into the very fabric of our society.
We are not alone in facing this calamity, almost all the countries are facing it with patience and trust in God the Creator and Protector of the human race and the Universe.
Even the Vatican Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of Pope Francis had to reorganize the liturgies this year.
The coronavirus pandemic challenges the Vatican Office for Liturgical celebrations to find new ways to accompany the faithful during this year’s Easter liturgies, Vatican news reported.
“This year believers will celebrate the victory of life hoping to fight death. The COVID 19 pandemic is ravaging the world causing mourning and suffering among all peoples. More than ever, the current events remind us how much hope is a dimension of faith”.
A joint Message issued by the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) and the Conference of European Churches (CEC) said:
“Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the culmination of the Passion (Latin Patior, passus sum means to suffer, bear, endure) of Jesus, preceded by Great Lent, a 40-day period of fasting, prayer and penance.
His Resurrection is the triumph of good over evil, sin and death. It is the principal feast of the ecclesiastical year, the singular event that proves that, those who trust in God and accept Christ will be raised from the dead on the last day.
This day, the last day of the Easter Triduum, marks the end of Holy Week. It sounds the beginning of the Easter Season, of the Liturgical Year. The true followers of Jesus will receive, “a new birth into a living hope through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”.
For Sri Lankans this Easter reminds us of what occurred on April 21, Easter Sunday 2019 where nearly 500 innocent devotees participating in the Most Sacred and Solemn Feast of Resurrection of Jesus Christ, were brutally killed by suicide bombers in two Catholic churches, St.Anthony’s Shrine in Kochchikade, Colombo and Katuwapitiya St. Sebastian Church, Negombo and Zion Christian Church in Batticaloa.
Perusing the pages of history, we recall how Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) was targeted during World War II. The Southwest of the country was heavily damaged by the Japanese air attack that occurred on Easter Sunday, April 5,,1942.
This attack referred to as the “Easter Sunday Reid” or the “Battle of Ceylon”, was aimed at the British heavy cruisers HMS Dorsetshire and Cornwall by the aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy. This was during the South-East Asian theatre of World War II.
A few days after the “Indian Ocean Reid” a similar attack was launched on Trincomalee, targeting British warships and harbour installations. The object of the Japanese attack was to disrupt the war efforts of British Commonwealth Nations and force the British Eastern Fleet to leave the Asian waters.
The word ‘Easter’ has reference to Eostara, the goddess of rebirth. It is claimed that in early times the feast of Eostara was celebrated to mark the resurrection and rebirth of the Earth.
The Christian celebration is called ‘Pascha’ in Latin and Greek, and the word derived from the Aramaic language, has reference to a Jewish festival, known as Passover in English. It recalls the great exodus of the Jewish community from slavery in Egypt.
Although the King of England, Charles I, in the year 1647, declared Resurrection, as a feast to be celebrated on a Sunday, contradicting him, Parliament abolished celebrating the feast along with other festivals of the Church.
It is very much fitting to quote Pope Francis while celebrating this Easter Festival, where we are assured of God’s care and protection and that He has not abandoned us.
Pope Francis addressing the faithful during the General Audience last week, said : During these weeks filled with anxiety and suffering because of the CORONA VIRUS pandemic we may be asking ourselves ‘What does God do in the face of our pain? Where is He when everything is going wrong? Why doesn’t He solve the problems immediately?’
The Pope while inviting the faithful to live the ‘Holy Week’ and the Triduum as “one great domestic liturgy” admonished them to find courage, strength and hope in God’s infinite love. The Pope said: “In these days of quarantine when we are secluded at home, let’s take these two things in our hands: the Crucified One – let’s look at Him – and the Gospel. It will be for us like a great domestic liturgy because we cannot go to church.”
Explaining further Pope Francis said: In the same way, Easter tells us that God can turn everything to good, and that with Him we can truly trust that all will be well. “That is why on Easter morning we are told: Do not be afraid!’. We are not alone, God does not forget us...” the Pope added.
Pope Francis concluded saying that Jesus changed history “by being close to us.” Through His death, He conquered death. So we too can change our lives by being close to Him, in the certainty that we are not alone because the Lord loves us, He does not abandon us and He never forgets us”.