"1 On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb and we don’t know where they put him." 3 So Peter and the other disciples went out and came to the tomb. 4 They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; 5 he bent down and saw the burial cloth there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
6 Then the other disciple also went in, the one who arrived in the tomb first, and he saw and believed. 9 For they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead."
A few years ago, a book entitled, "Da Vinci Code" written by author Dan Brown, threatened this very important scripture passage. Last year, because of the popularity of this book, a movie of the same title was released and it no doubt stirred a hornet’s nest and shattered even the faiths of those who really had no strong foundation in Christian doctrine.
It’s funny that many Christians believed Dan Brown, but shun written Scripture, which is no doubt inspired by God himself! What in effect Dan Brown has done was tell all Christians that the authors of the Bible, namely the four evangelists conspired and lied, so they could supposedly hide the truth that Jesus Christ did not really die on the cross, but was brought down alive and spent the rest of his life in marital bliss, wedded and bedded by Mary Magdalene.
This is a story peddled by the Jews who were scared that a fellow Jew Jesus Christ had come to change their religion. In the end, even Mr. Dan Brown couldn’t give any direct evidence to support the theories he wrote in his book. But does he care? He already amassed tons and tons of money!
Thankfully, we live in the modern age, where heretics and blasphemers are not tortured like in the horrible days of the Spanish Inquisition before they are excommunicated. Today, blasphemers make tons of money by discrediting Holy Scripture. No doubt, these authors must have sold their souls to the devil as they have become extremely rich beyond their wild imaginations... at the expense of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But for those of us whose faith was never shattered by those lies, we take comfort from the very words of our Lord Jesus Christ who said in Matthew 16:18, "And so I tell you, Peter: you are a rock, and on this rock foundation I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld will never prevail upon her." Throughout the ages, the Catholic Church has stood the ravages of time. It is the oldest known institution in the world, led by popes whose lineage goes all the way to St. Peter, the first of the popes.
But there is no denying that Christianity has broken into different sects... starting with the Orthodox Christian, the Maronites and later it further splintered into thousands of small churches or denominations during the Reformation. Yet, despite the emergence of many other Christian churches, the Catholic Church has remained steadfast. In fact, it is the fastest growing religion in the United States, thanks largely to protestant ministers like Scott Hahn, Marcus Grodi or Steve Ray whose conversion stories have been read by so many Christians, it has strengthened the faith of many Catholics and caused many Presbyterians and Baptists to return to the fold of the Catholic faith. I have personally seen this when I was in the United States, where Catholic Churches induct their new Catholics during Sunday mass.
Today, the Catholic Church celebrates once more another important Easter Sunday celebration and hopefully, we have risen with Christ as a new person... one who has thrown away our bitterness and hatred amongst our brethren and offered all these to the Lord. Allow me also to take this opportunity to remind our faithful readers that last Holy Friday was the beginning of the novena of the Divine Mercy and next Sunday is Mercy Sunday as ordained by the late Great Pope John Paul II. It’s quite fitting that Mercy Sunday follows Easter Sunday as it give the faithful flock an opportunity to expurgate all their sins and receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in Holy Communion and truly be saved! Happy Easter once again!