Fraternity-Testvériség, 2006 (84. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2006-01-01 / 1. szám
Page 9 Fraternity- Testvériség Calvin Synod Easter Greetings Mark 16: 6 "He has risen!" We are coming to the greatest holiday of Christianity, the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus the Christ. This is truly the most important day in Christianity, for without the resurrection, all the rest of our celebrations and commemorations of Christianity would be irrelevant. We would have no Christmas - who would have remembered the birth of a little child in Bethlehem if it were not for the fact that He later came to be one of the greatest persons in history? Christianity is a faith that holds the resurrection at its very center. Our church year is based on the "Sundays of Easter" for the rest of the year. Even our day of worship is Sunday, not the Sabbath, because we celebrate the day of our Lord's resurrection. Easter has become the pivotal, defining event in both our calendar and in many ways our society. Celebrations of "mardis grais" prior to Easter, the Lenten self-denial observances of various Christian denominations, are because of the Easter event. So perhaps, the question is for each of us, "If this is such a defining event in society, in history, in the world in general, what should it mean to me?" And that is, of course, the most important question for the Christian. What does Christ's sacrifice, his death and resurrection mean to you? An event that changed the world should also have a personal meaning to each of us. It should change the way we live our lives. Jesus' continuing message during his ministry was that we are all the children of God. He was open and accepting to all: those of his culture, but also to strangers, those accepted in society but also those shunned by His society, even by His own religion. He taught that we are, in fact, "our brother's keeper," and he defined our brother as every other person that God has created; all are his children. He taught us that if we have difficulty with another, we should pray for them: in the Lord's prayer He taught us that we will be dealt with by our maker in the same way we deal with others around us. And in His sacrifice on the cross, he sealed that relationship, promising eternal life to those who accept His Lordship and live as God's children with each other. My best wishes to each of you this Easter, following the Lord's example in your personal life and in your fraternal work. Rt. Rev. Koloman K. Ludwig Bishop, Calvin Synod
