Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines: Essence of Easter no April Fool’s joke

MANILA, Philippines — With this year’s Easter Sunday falling on April Fool’s Day, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has reminded the faithful to respect the essence of Easter.

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said Easter is not an April Fool’s joke, and April Fool’s Day is not even an official holiday recognized by the government. 

“Easter is a basis of our faith and we know that. It just so happened that it fell on April 1. This might be the only time that this happened,” he added.

He also noted that it is traditional for Filipino Catholics to give greetings of “Happy Easter” but it is not customary to give greetings of “Happy April Fool’s Day.”

Easter is considered the most important feast in the Catholic Church’s life of prayer and worship as it marks the resurrection of Christ and the Lord’s promise of eternal life and happiness, the CBCP explained.

“In this April Fool’s Day, Christ did not fool us. He saved us and brought great blessing upon us,” said Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the CBCP’s Public Affairs Committee.

“Christ doesn’t lie. If He does, then He is not God. His promise of glory is fulfilled in His rising. He told us the truth and now He fulfilled it,” he added.

Secillano also urged the people not to give up hope because “even though it seems that we are powerless in the midst of life’s trials, hope tells us not to put a limit to what God can do.”

“He already died for us and now He will bring us out of our miseries to enjoy His promise of glory,” he said.

“Life doesn’t end on the cross. There is an empty tomb, the symbol of glory and eternal life. It means for us that there is hope even when life seems to be difficult and hard. Even when streams of problems seem not to end, when burdens are overflowing,” he added. 

Easter message

CBCP president and Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles hopes that the Filipino faithful will be stronger to deal with the trials they encounter in life by remembering the suffering of Christ to save men from sin. 

“May it be that our Lenten observances have made us ready to go through the many ‘darknesses’ of our present life, when often we are desperate and have lost hope, and still we walk with Jesus deeply believing that with Him, we will see light and life,” Valles in his Easter message.

“Our resurrection is possible, and our resurrection is ours because of Jesus. How deeply He loved us, painfully embracing death in order to conquer and defeat it, so that we might live, and live life eternally,” he added.

World Evangelical Alliance secretary general Bishop Efraim Tendero also observed that many of those who are supposed to be believers decline God’s offer to help.

“Every time we act as if our problems are bigger than God, every time we rely on ourselves to solve our problems and every time we fail to pray diligently before making an important decision, we are in effect declining to receive God’s immeasurable power for our lives,” he said.

“At a time when the world is facing many problems ranging from family strife to international conflict, the only lasting response is to appropriate the power of Christ’s resurrection for our personal and family lives, our community, our country and our world,” he added. – With Eva Visperas