Significance
Festival of Enlightenment
No one was more surprised than the disciples of Jesus when they heard that the man they had seen die on Friday was walking around on Sunday! But when Jesus appeared to them again and again, they could not deny it any longer. Thomas only believed after he had put his hands in the nail marks on the body of Jesus (John 20:24 -24). The resurrection had in fact transformed the tragedy of the crucifixion into a triumph for all humanity.
Spiritual glory of Easter
Easter is a prayer of Light. We pray to the risen Christ to lead us from the unreal to the real, from darkness to the Light and from death to Immortality.
On the path of spiritual emancipation, everyone has his cross to carry. It is the cross of karmic debt and worldly tendencies that lie deep at different levels of our conscious, subconscious and unconscious states.
Jesus tells us the best way to do this: “Take up your cross and follow the Master”. Then only you can be sure of winning the battle of life. Beloved Swami gives us the same recipe: “Follow the Master, Face the devil, Fight to the end, Finish the game!”
When the ego disappears then God resurrects. This is the meaning of the Cross: the cutting of the “I” right across. It is the essence of Christianity.
The Christian cross is a symbol for the elimination of the ego. When we choose to follow Jesus on the way of the cross, the spiritual path of the death of the ego, we must be ready to crucify the old little self that lives on anger, jealousy, greed, hate and body attachment and rise to our glorious immortal Self of Truth, Love, Peace and Right Conduct.
God takes upon Himself the pain and sorrow of the world in order to prepare the hearts of men for love! But, when you look at the truth squarely in the face, you will know that in God there is no “suffering” and that you too have no reason to suffer! The entire world is the play of love! You suffer on account of love. It is love, love, right through– there is no reason for sorrow or pain or suffering!
[Source:-Sathya Sai Baba-25 December 1970]
For Catholics, Easter Sunday comes at the end of 40 days of prayer, fasting and almsgiving known as Lent. Through spiritual struggle and self-denial, we have prepared ourselves to die spiritually with Christ on Good Friday, the day of His Crucifixion, so that we can rise again with Him in new life on Easter.
