INTRODUCTION
Thank you, Dr. Fely Cariño, for your gracious invitation to bring a message on this Easter Sunrise service. I thank the good lord for the rare privilege of being the first chief executive of the land to be ever invited to preach at this annual celebration started back in 1949.

Mga kinakapatid ko sa Diyos:

Ipinagdiriwang natin ngayong umaga ang muling pagkabuhay ng ating Panginoong Hesukristo. At tulad ng mga banaag ng bagong sikat na araw sa silangan, ang kaniyang kaluwalhatia’y muling sumasapit sa ating lahat, matapos ang ilang araw ng pangungulimlim. Malugod nating tanggapin ang kaluwalhatiang ito, ang biyaya ng kaniyang pagmamahal, ang tanda ng kaniyang walang-hanggang pag-unawa, pagpapatawad, at pagkalinga sa ating kaniyang mga nilalang.

My brothers and sisters in Christ:

This morning we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And like the gentle rays of the sun rising in the east, his shining glory comes over us anew, after several days of darkness. Let us rejoice in this glory, this gift of his love, this proof of his boundless understanding, forgiveness, and caring for us his creatures.

Today we witness the deepest mystery and yet the most enduring miracle of our Christian faith. Into life the lord returns, and into our lives he brings the message of his triumph over death, over suffering, darkness and evil, so that we, along with him, may partake of another opportunity at goodness and grace.

The rising from the dead of the good lord is the reason why we are gathered at this hour. We want to remember one who loved little children; who said “unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”. We remember him who taught us god’s love and how we can love him and love each other.

Christians gathering together, remembering and celebrating this occasion is a testimony that no betrayal of Judas, no denial of peter, no condemnation to death by crucifixion from political and religious leaders of his time, and no torture and death inside the tomb for three days could ever keep Jesus Christ dead. He suffered excruciatingly through all of these and emerged victorious. He conquered death, man’s last enemy. He lives and forever reigns!

In these past few days of lent, we have been given the chance to look into ourselves, to recognize and to acknowledge our failings as human beings. We have had much to reflect upon.

For even as we struggle to do our best by ourselves and by others — to achieve a better society free from want, and free from injustice — our spirits have sometimes failed to match the intensity and the urgency of our ambitions.

We wish for better things, and yet would not give enough of ourselves for them. We ask for deliverance, and yet would not prove ourselves worthy it. We desire prosperity, and yet would deny others their rightful claims. We pray for peace, and yet would foster rancor in our unforgiving hearts.

The Lord has seen our shortcomings; such is his power. And he may forgive them, and relieve us of our distresses, for such is his love.

But have we, ourselves, seen and admitted the error of our ways? And would we accord each other the same largeness of heart that we expect of our lord, the same compassion, the same solicitude?

While Easter speaks of joy, it also speaks of sacrifice. In showing the road to a deathless life, Christ has shown only one way, the cross. For the faithful to lay claim to the glory of eternity, he must take up his own cross and follow him.

Carrying the Cross is standing witness to the truth no matter the costs. It is being a prophet for Christ.

It is leaving loved ones behind to do the father’s business. It is turning the other cheek when one side is slapped; handing over the bread when thrown a stone. These crosses we must build into staircases to enable us to climb up the bottomless pit of the tomb.

Easter’s message of hope, joy and sacrifice assumes a deeper meaning for Filipinos. For nowhere in the years that passed are we so near to our goal of prosperity and national dignity.

As we celebrate the rebirth of Jesus into our world, we need to be reminded that the true substance of this celebration can only be our rededication to the Christian life — to love and charity, to service, to the protection of the weak and the poor, and to the cleaning sing of our own spirits.

We need these virtues sorely in these times. We live in a world of great material needs and expectations. The desire for material progress, which may be inherently human, provides us with the challenges that test, fortify, and ennoble our character. Our nation has chosen the path of vigorous economic growth. By our efforts, and with god’s grace, this nation will, in another decade or so, enjoy such prosperity as it has never seen.

But we cannot let our desire for accelerated economic growth obscure the even more fundamental need to share equitably of whatever we may have now and whatever we may gain in the future. The drive for wealth cannot profit just the few, but be a bounty for the many. Only thereby can we preserve the sense of community so basic to our Christian beliefs.

I speak here of the justice that must govern our relations with one another, a justice fostered and tempered by our love for our fellowmen — no matter how different they may be from ourselves.

And if we can secure prosperity and justice for our people on these Christian terms, so can we help secure for them that enduring peace, that fullness and joy of heart and mind, which is god’s gift to those who seek it.

Indeed, even today, we have come upon some of this precious peace. We have sought to end the civil strife that has torn us apart, turning brother against brother, for far too many years. We have opened our hearts and homes to those who wish to break bread, to toil, and to rejoice with us, in our newfound community.

We ask only that they, too, share in our struggles and in our visions, with the patience of the “husbandman who waiteth for the fruit of the earth… Until he receives the early and latter rain.” [James 5:7]

We have much to work for and to wait for. But with God’s providence and our own rectitude, all these can be achieved.

And today we look with special hopes to our children, to whom we dedicate this service. Indeed they will inherit all we have and all we have built — our accomplishments and our mistakes. As a father in the bible says, “Son, thou art with me, and all I have is thine.” [Luke 15:31] may our patrimony be one that our children can enjoy, and make themselves better persons with.

As the Lord gave up his life for us, let us offer ours to those who, in their innocence, deserve only the best of their elders’ legacies. Let us gift them with forests full of trees, lakes full of fish, streets safe from harm, books to light their minds, hands to help and lead them along the path of righteousness and wisdom.

Let us secure for them the gift of their own childhood — a childhood free from abuse and economic exploitation, from ignorance and disease, from hunger and despair. To them must go the purest of our intentions, the firmest of our commitments.

My friends, this Easter Sunday, we thank the lord for his faith in us, which he renews by his resurrection. May we find it in ourselves to be worthy of his sacrifice. May we share his peace with others, may it ennoble all of us, as Christians and as Filipinos.

Pagpalain tayo nawa ng Diyos.

mabuhay ang sambayanang Pilipino!!