Christians, to the Paschal Victim Offer your thankful praises!
A Lamb the sheep redeems; Christ, who only is sinless, Reconciles sinners to the Father ...
The Sequence Victimae Paschali Laudes invites all Christians to "Offer your thankful praises." Thankful praises to Jesus, the Lamb, for giving his life on the Cross. Thankful praises to Jesus, the Lamb, for he has reconciled the world to the Father. Thankful praises to Jesus, the Lamb, for restoring the image and likeness of God in every person. Thankful praises to Jesus, the Lamb, for offering new life and new beginnings.
Easter Season is a time to praise the Lord Jesus in thanksgiving for his work of redemption. Easter is the time to understand what Jesus the Lord has done for us and continues doing in our favor today. We are invited to look back to our places of death and see how they have come back to life. We are invited to look back to our places of darkness and see the light in them. Looking back to those places, we become more aware of the mystery of resurrection.
Easter season is a time for new beginnings. After the passion and death of Jesus, the disciples had an encounter with the Risen Lord. It was a new beginning for them! It was also a new beginning for the entire human history, especially with the birth of the Church after Jesus breathed on them the Holy Spirit. It is also a new beginning for us because the Risen Lord is still breathing his Holy Spirit on us to give us understanding and courage to continue his mission: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15)
-fr. Jorge Rátiva, O.P.
