EASTER MESSAGE of Father Paulus Budi Kleden, SVD
Easter Message of Father Paulus Budi Kleden, SVD |SVD General Superior.
Dear Conferers, Sisters, Lay Mission Partners, friends, benefactors and relatives. We are celebrating in these days the fundamentals of our faith. The life, suffering, death and ressurection of Jesus Christ, Our Brother and Lord. Saint Paul writes in his first letter to Corinthians, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is pointless" (Cor 15:17).
Easter demonstrates that God loves us so much that by becoming Human, He really participates in our experiences of the darkness of suffering and the agony of death and opens for us the perspective for a new transformed life.
This message of solidary and hope we need to proclaim and celebrate also this year as for the second time we celebrate Easter constrained by the special regulation in the weight of the Covid - 19 pandemic.
Easter is the Feast of Passing Over. Jesus passes over from suffering and death into the Glory of Ressurection. As baptized, all of us participate in this Paschal Mystery of Jesus. We are brought from the darkness of desperation into the light of salvation.
As missionaries, lay people and religious alike, we are called and empowered to be signs of Passing Over in our world, to give fitness with our deeds and words that transformation to a new life is possible.
I would like to recall what the 13 General Chapter of the SVD in 1988 spoke about Passing Over. The chapter and mission that threefold Passing Over as a new mission paradigm which characterizes our missionary life and ministry.
The first is Passing Over to other cultures. The resurrected Lord inspires the Disciples to cross the borders of their own cultures and to go to all nations to proclaim this hope and kindly message. The proclamation of this message gathers us as brothers and sisters from different culture backgrounds. It inspires us to build communities where cultural differences are not reason for suspicion and separation, but a lasting invitation to enjoy the richness with which your moanday has been blessed.
That chapter document says "we live out the Paschal Mistery when we do not cling to our own culture, language, or way of thinking and pass over to a culture different from our own. We empty ourselves of prejudice and exaggerated nationalism or regionalism and are filled with the joy of glimpsing the presence of God in the other, in the unknown, in the unfamiliar.
The second is Passing Over to the poor. Easter manifests to us that God truly takes the side of the poor, the marginalized and the victims. The resurrected Lord is the crucified Jesus. There is no salvation when the victims are denied, not listen to and care for. In time of crisis like this of Covid - 19 pandemic, Easter sells inspire and strengthness to be close to the poorest of our society such as, daily workers in many parts of the world.
The chapter reminds us that "To be able to sustain this passing over to the poor, the following experiences and attitudes are essential: a profound experience of God as the source of all compassion, the realization of one's own inner poverty and powerlessness, the need for continual conversion of heart, and the belief that the poor possess the power to shape their own destiny. Basic to this whole human interplay is a deep respect for the dignity of every human being."
The third is Passing Over in Dialogue. Easter is an encounter. The reason Lord breaks the wall the Disciples have built in fear of others. He encounters them and encourages them to go out and encounter others.
Fear and slaves lead us to thinking of all others as enemies who want to harm us. Living in fear is living surrounded by phantoms.
Dialogue encounter helps us to see, understand and respond to the reality. Dialogue creates collaboration to address the common issues of human family.
In the chapter document we read, "We live out the Paschal Mistery in dialogue with believers of other religious traditions and followers of contemporary ideologies when we pass over from mutual suspicion to mutual trust. Our trust is rooted in the conviction that the Word is already present wherever people sincerely seek the Truth. Our attitude in all phases of dialogue must be one of openness, hospitality and patience.
Dear Conferers, Sisters, Lay Mission Partners, friends, benefactors and relatives. When we sing Hallelujah and light the candle of joy at home, let us remember all those who have lost their lives during this period of pandemic especially our 21 conferers, our sisters, relatives, friends, benefactors and collaborators. We keep praying for them and for all those who are mourning for them. We are also united with more than 300 of our conferers and all others who were or are still positive with the virus.
Our prayers are for conferers and all those who are going to the darkness and bitterness for certain reasons. May they and all of us experience the Passing Over with The Risen Lord.
Happy Easter to all of you. Thank you very much.
(Transcripter: Agustina Fransiska Tupen Masan ).
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