World celebrates Easter Sunday
BY BRENDA PIQUERO TUAZON

Cathedral bells, in unison with thousands of hand bells shaken by altar boys, will gloriously resonate around the world today, Easter Sunday, to announce the Good News of Salvation with the Risen Christ.
The Resurrection, being the bedrock of Christianity, will be celebrated by tens of millions of faithful transcending racial barriers to hail the triumphant joy of the Son of God rising from the dead three days after His Crucifixion.
Priests in bright vestments will lead Easter Sunday rites and services in churches around the globe filled with the sweet scent of incense.
At the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI will light the giant Paschal Candle, a symbol of the Risen Christ, that will be kept lighted until the Feast of the Ascension when Jesus rises to Heaven to sit at the Right Hand of His Heavenly Father.
Following the procession at St. Peter’s Basilica after the lighting of the Paschal candle, the Pontiff will deliver his Easter Message "Orbi et Urbi" (to the City of Rome and to the world) that will be beamed live to the world by satellite.
There will be universal merrymaking in a triumphant observance of Jesus coming back to life to conquer death wrought by human frailties and transgressions, and in fulfillment of His divine mission on earth so that "those who believe in Him will not perish."
Jesus has said: "There is a price to be paid for sin, and the cost is death."
The Gospel of John for today mentions the promise Jesus made to His disciples when He said: "I am the Resurrection and Life. He who believes in me shall live."
The Risen Christ marks the beginning of the end of man’s fear of death, as Jesus’s coming back to life brought those who believe in Him to the threshold of salvation and everlasting life.
Jesus’ rising from the dead was first made known after four holy women brought spices to anoint the body of Jesus as He lay in His borrowed tomb, only to discover that it was empty.
Instead, the holy women, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James the Apostle, and Salome found an angel who told them: "Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazarene who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here! See the place where they laid Him. Go and tell the rest of the apostles."
After the Resurrection, Jesus revealed Himself to the remaining unbelieving apostles, disciples and "doubting Thomases" gathered in the "Upper Room" of the house of Nicodemus, where the "Last Supper" was held.
Thomas, the "doubting apostle," was then asked by Jesus to place his fingers into the holes of His nailed hands.
Easter Sunday services began at midnight last night in churches and open spaces around the country.
Sunrise services are held in open areas as a symbol of the empty tomb of Christ following the Resurrection.
Across the Philippines, the traditional "salubong" rites are held in church plazas at dawn today where large statues of Jesus and the Blessed Mother are brought together to meet for the first time since His death on Mount Calvary.

Catholic Church celebrates Sunday of Resurrection
BY CHRISTINA I. HERMOSO

The Catholic Church celebrates today the Sunday of the Resurrection of Christ, the principal feast of the ecclesiastical year officially ending the observance of the 40-day Lenten season.
Known as "Pasko ng Pagkabuhay," the Resurrection of Christ which occurred on the third day after His crucifixion is considered by Catholics as the most important day of the year, the heart and soul of Catholicism, the cornerstone upon which faith is built.
Pope Leo I called it "the greatest feast when Christ showed the world that He is the Savior when He conquered death."
Eucharistic celebrations, special services, religious presentations, offerings and novenas will be held today in celebration of the oldest feast of the Christian Church. The faithful are encouraged to offer special devotion and say the Divine Mercy Novena to ask for God’s mercy as Jesus opened the gates of heaven for mankind.
In the Roman Catholic Church, Easter is an eightday feast called the Octave of Easter when families are encouraged to pray together the Easter novena.
Church officials said, Christ’s resurrection "completed the mystery of man’s salvation and redemption. By His death, Christ freed us from sin and by His resurrection, He restored to us the most important privilege lost by our sin — our own resurrection" (Roman 4:25).
Jesus said, "I am the Resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall never die" (John 11:25-26).
The main sources that directly attest to Christ’s resurrection which was believed to have been witnessed by more than 500 people are the four Gospels in the Holy Bible and the Epistles of St. Paul. The Risen Christ, before His Ascension to heaven, appeared before holy women, to Mary Magdalene, His disciples and to more than 500 brethren, many of whom were still alive at the time of the apostles’ writing, by James and Paul himself.