~~~ALLELUIA~~EASTER~~ALLELUIA~~~

"It's kind of fitting that it all happened in a garden. It's like a new beginning. The Bible begins with the story of Adam and Eve in the garden. And then, when they choose to go their own way, to seek life without God, they lose the garden. Where was this garden? Somewhere in Iraq, I think, or was it Iran? God has loved the Middle East for a long time. And God, the gardener, has longed to share the fruits of creation with human beings. But we continually choose to wander away ... forgetting the garden, and the gardener, choosing a different path. In the garden all God's creatures lived together in peace, and Adam and Eve shared with God in tending the garden. Now the garden is a scene of barrenness and separation ... how many innocent people die in that garden every day, caught in the crossfire?
And here was yet another body ... they took it down from the cross and placed it in a garden tomb. And here, in the garden, new life was planted ... it was as though creation came alive again ... death was not the last word ... the one who had loved was alive! But the cameramen and journalists didn't rush out for the story. It wasn't on CNN ... instead, the authorities leaked a story about the body being stolen ... don't let the masses know the truth ... don't even try to believe it yourself ... don't even think that it might be true! How can we keep things as they are if God has entered the equation?
But the story did leak out. The disciples became witnesses. They told everyone they met. 'He is risen', they said. 'The one who was dead is alive. The powers did not have the last word'.
'The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ puts the issue beyond doubt', writes Desmond Tutu, 'ultimately goodness and laughter and peace and compassion and gentleness and forgiveness and reconciliation will have the last word'.
Now that's something worth telling our children! Just imagine ... we tell them that the only things that matter are love and goodness and compassion and forgiveness. We tell them about the secret in the garden. The body was gone ... the stone was rolled away. We tell them about God's dream ... that one day all swords will be turned into ploughshares, and the lion will lie down with the lamb. And we baptise little ones, introducing them to this new world. 'The stone has been rolled away', we tell them. 'It's okay to believe in God ... it's okay to believe in goodness ... don't be afraid of those who tell you otherwise. Be courageous. Trust in the gardener, who sees gardens where others see tombs, who creates fruitfulness where others see only barrenness.
This is the message of Easter Day. 'Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!' "

'Why do you seek the living among the dead ?'

Completing this Holy Week, we need one more excerpt from the little book on Mother Teresa:

"Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own home. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, a next-door neighbor.

'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind.' This is the commandment of the great God, and He cannot command the impossible. Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach at every hand. Anyone may gather it and no limit is set. Everyone can reach this love through meditation, spirit of prayer and sacrifice, by an intense inner life.

There is no limit, because God is love and love is God, and so you are really in love with God.
And then, God's love is infinite. But part is to love and to give until it hurts. And that's why it's not how much you do, but how much love you put into the action. How much love we put in our presents. That's why people - maybe they are very rich people - who have not got a capacity to give and to receive love are the poorest of the poor. And I think this is what our Sisters have got - the spreading of joy that you see in many religious who have given themselves without reserve to God. "

Please enjoy some tidbits I found to make you smile on this wonderful day:



Even if there is nothing to laugh about, laugh on credit. ~Author Unknown


Mirth is God's medicine. Everybody ought to bathe in it. ~Henry Ward Beecher



Laughter is the shortest distance between two people. ~Victor Borge



What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul. ~Yiddish Proverb



When people are laughing, they're generally not killing each other. ~Alan Alda



The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up. ~Mark Twain


Jumping for joy is good exercise. ~Author Unknown


Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. ~Marcel Proust



For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness. ~Author Unknown




To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness. ~Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness






There is so much joy to share today and sometimes it's the smallest of things that are so special. I remember when I was a little bitty girl and my mother made a special thing for Easter. She saved up lots of empty jello boxes, covered them with colored construction paper, making an engine boxcar and a caboose, made wheels from parts of the boxes and stuck them on with thumb tacks. Then she filled the boxes with Easter straw and eggs (the conductor and the people) with faces and mustaches. Years later I told her how I always treasured and enjoyed that home-made train. She was so surprised and said that she thought I wasn't that pleased with it. It just goes to prove how important it is to share good, positive feelings with each other!

Whenever I see a butterfly I am reminded of Christ's death and rising from the dead and how we should also be constantly transforming ourselves into a beautiful butterfly for God. May God's loving blessings be on all of you!! Happy, happy Easter!!!!

~~~~Thank you gracious God for this priceless Blessing You have given to us all.