With Easter fast approaching this coming week, it makes me wonder how many people actually believe in it anymore, the true meaning of Easter that is and all it stands for. We see Easter eggs in shops before the Christmas holidays are even over and it’s the same with Christmas where we see Christmas goodies starting to be sold during the summer season.

England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales are meant to be Christian countries, but are they anymore? The selling of goods connected to Christian celebrations has made it all about money and greed. People wanting to buy all of it despite it often meaning nothing to them and definitely having nothing to do with the death or birth of Christ.

Easter is the holiest, most important time of the Christian year – or is meant to be. How many take the time to sit and reflect on why we are commemorating such an eventful time? How many parents these days bother to teach their children why they’re having Easter eggs or celebrating Christmas? In fact, how many parents actually think about this themselves? Not many it would seem looking at how empty churches are these days and seeing comments made by people mocking those who believe in God.

The churches most full these days are the ones that have gone far away from God to more to man’s wants. Religions that have allowed their leaders and followers to make everything more about people’s demands which are not about God’s laws. God is often ignored in favour of making everything about what pleases people instead. Places more concerned with getting bums on seats to make money rather than having true quality of worshippers.

Easter is both a very sad time and a happy one. It is sad due to it being a time of great suffering followed by an horrendous death by a Man who went through all He did in order to save us. A time that then turned to happiness, as after that death, He was raised again in glory, thereby showing what will happen to us after our deaths if we have led good lives or repented our sins.

Easter is a time to sit quietly and reflect. A time where we think of Gethsemane and how Jesus suffered, His torture at the hands of mankind, his cruel death and we must think hard about why it all happened when He was guilty of nothing. His only crimes loving everyone, helping them, guiding, teaching and even curing many of their ills. Cleaning up religions and places of worship that had gone astray – just as we too often see now. Think about how even those who professed to love Him turned on Him, denied Him.

How much of that sounds like our own lives and today’s world? How many of the strangers, friends or even family we’ve ever loved, helped, guided and even taught have turned on us, denied us, lied about us just as those at the time did to Jesus? His life in the many earthly ways was no different to ours. He didn’t deserve to suffer, be lied about, abused and tortured as He was. All He’d ever done was good, helped others, tried to teach them how to be the best human they could be, yet they turned on Him – why?

People are mocking God as they pander to man instead and greed takes over. Cathedrals and churches built for prayer and worship now turned into places of entertainment with exhibitions, markets and more. Money making and keeping people happy is more important to such places and the faiths who allow this when the ONLY one they should be listening to and keeping happy is God.

If money needs to be raised to keep such buildings open, then they should do as all the others do and have donation boxes, fund raise or have commercial events in church halls, not in the place of worship itself which has been consecrated, the dedication in that consecration setting it apart for sacred use only.

Religious leaders are not leading. Followers are dictating their own terms that often go against God’s laws, yet weak leaders in various faiths are doing their bidding rather than God’s. Why? Where is God, where is Jesus and where is the Holy Spirit in any of what we see today?

Very few in the Christian faiths are upholding God’s laws. Very few leaders teach or guide as they’re meant to and far too many followers make up their own agenda and idea of God, twisting Him to suit their own lifestyles.

Religion has lost its way. Followers of God yet not within religions are no different. Some are trying hard to stay true to as much of God’s ways and teachings as possible, but they’re mocked by others for doing so. Even those within their fold are rebelling and demanding much is changed to suit them and what they see as modern times.

God is not modern, God is not ever changing, He is the one constant since time began and will be till time ends. He is the Alpha and Omega. Accept Him as He is and accept what He asks us to be, or walk away. It is better to walk away than be a hypocrite. Going against God is to be as those who shouted to crucify Christ.

Those of you who go against God’s laws, who demand they are changed within or without religions to serve you instead of Him, are no different than those in the crowd who shouted, “Crucify Him”.

It would be interesting to do a survey and ask everyone buying Easter products why they are buying them and if they believe in the true meaning of Easter; ask what the significance is of an egg. What does Easter make them think about and do they believe in Christ or is it just something they do because everyone else is without thought of the meaning behind it? I think we already know what the answers would be in most cases.

The egg is actually meant to represent the stone that was moved from the tomb as well as re-birth, new beginnings. It is why many used to roll their eggs at Easter. They’d hard boil eggs, then paint them. Some countries still do this. Then they’d go to a hill and roll the eggs down the hill, thereby representing the stone being rolled from Jesus’ tomb. How many today still know this? Not many I’ll bet as most I hear seem to think it is only meant to be just about new life, but the rolling of the stone showing Christ has risen is most important.

If you are celebrating Easter in any way, then I ask you to sit and reflect why you are. Think about Jesus, His life, what He did to serve others and all of us. Think about those lessons He was asked to teach us, reflect on His guidance, goodness, kindness, the miracles, healings. Remember His words teaching us how His Father wants us all to be in order to nourish and save our souls and lives on leaving this world.

His unjustified arrest, torture, treatment and cruel death is something those professing to follow and believe in Jesus, in God need to reflect on. Then compare it to how most people, be it leaders or followers, are behaving today. Are those cathedrals used only for worship, for prayer, or have they been turned into houses of fun, places to entertain or make money at open markets?

The Church today needs cleaning up just as much as it did in Jesus’ day. Hypocrites need to be called out and exposed, leaders need to lead and followers need to remember just Who it is they’re meant to be following.

Easter is a time for new beginnings, for reflection, contemplation, for looking deep within and asking ourselves, are we living as God asks of us or are we being just as those who called out to crucify His only Son? Are we too rebelling against God’s laws, because if we are, we are no different than those who killed Jesus. It would mean His death means nothing to us, no lessons have been learnt and this is why the world today is still filled with badness, darkness, cruelty and people demanding everything and everyone changes to suit them.

On Maundy Thursday, while Jesus’ was suffering so badly in Gethsemane, His Apostles were asked to keep watch and pray with Him, but they all fell asleep. What will you do this Easter? Will you take one hour to sit with Him and reflect on His suffering, torture, death then resurrection? Reflect and contemplate what those things meant for mankind, for you, or will you be as His Apostles and fall asleep?

His Apostles left Him to suffer alone, to pray alone with none seeming to care about all He was suffering for theirs and our sakes. One was to betray Him, while another was to deny Him three times. Will you betray Him, ignore Him and deny Him, or will you take up your cross in life too, carry it and offer your sufferings up with His?

We are here to learn, Jesus gave us a chance at everlasting life by losing His life. He taught us much while here with His legacy living on two thousand years later. Will you let His short life as man, His teachings and guidance, suffering, torture and death be in vain, or will you be one of the few who truly cares, listens and tries to live as He asked us to live, ever thankful for what He suffered for our sakes, for YOUR sake?

Whatever you choose to believe in or do, I wish you all a very Blessed and Happy Easter

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Matthew 40- 46: When He returned to his Apostles, He found them asleep. He said to Peter, “So you could not keep watch with me for one hour?

41 Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

42 Withdrawing a second time, He prayed again, “My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!”

43 Then He returned once more and found them asleep, for they could not keep their eyes open.

44 He left them and withdrew again and prayed a third time, saying the same thing again.

45 Then he returned to his Apostles and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand when the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners.

46 Get up, let us go. Look, my betrayer is at hand.”

Source USCCB