- Jean Zaru
Easter Message 2021
Easter Message 2021
Dear Friends,
In the Middle East, and in Palestine, We are crying out of the depths of Gethsemane, the telling of our experience as Palestinians and as women we are sharing the anxiety, despair and hurt that may represent a modern day version of psalms of lamentation. But they also expressed out courage to overcome the darkness of Gethsemane and to affirm life through the resurrection.
Many are experiencing the cross. Mary, the mother of Jesus is a strong identity figure of women. Mothers of today too must let their sons and daughters go. We are not only standing by the cross, but we are crucified daily by the powers of injustice.
As women, we know that many cultural practices, patterns, and restriction impose an extra burden. They hinder us from living out our commitments and priorities, and concerns with our communities. Many of us feel a sense of urgency to transform cultures of patriarchy and domination. It is time to move, to take actions that increase love and justice in the world.
St. Augustine calls Mary Magdalene the apostle. She is mentioned in all the narratives about the empty tomb. She and other women seem to have had a remarkable courage. They went to the place of execution. They saw Jesus suffer and die on the cross. They saw where he was laid in the tomb. The male disciples were frightened. They all ran away when the armed crowd came to capture Jesus. They are not mentioned among those present at the cross. But the women are!
Sometimes, the Christian churches have forgotten that there will be no church without women. Women were the storytellers, the carriers of tradition, and the messengers of life in the midst of death, suffering and affliction.
As women and as Palestinians, we have many worries, we have many threats, we are denied life in its fullness that God promised us, and we do not know from where our help will come. Easter prepares us for life in expectancy. Do not give up. Take steps and actions toward solidarity,
justice and compassion. Let us encourage one another in any way possible to become a renewed community by celebrating the resurrection, by sharing God’s love with others.
To honor Jesus and the spirit that empowers us is to reject wars and all the structures of violence, and try to transform them in non-violent ways, by caring for our sisters and brothers.
Easter is a time of hope, and if we hope for something, we should work for it. To hope for peace, we have to work and pray for it. To work for justice, we do so also. Who would dare to say that the love and imagination of God were exhausted?
To hope is a duty, not a luxury. To hope is not a dream, but to turn dreams into reality.
“Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.”
Cardinal Suenens
May this Easter season bring you hope, renewal, and commitment to work and pray for the reign of God on Earth as it is in heaven.
Queries
When have you been “fed with the bread of tears”?
What have been the times in your life that encouraged you to deepen and broaden your commitment to peace?
