Happy Easter 2019

“‘Mary!’ Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, ‘Rabboni!’ (Which is Hebrew for ‘Teacher’).”

[This] verse records a moment in history when one woman heard her name. Oh, I’m sure she’d heard her name leave the lips of many people in her lifetime. But in the darkness of this morning, many centuries ago, I expect it sounded different than she’d ever heard it before.

This special morning, some women approached an empty tomb. The rolled-back stone surprised them. They mourned, afraid someone had taken their Lord to a place they didn’t know. “But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb.”

As the story unfolds, the tomb Mary once thought empty becomes suddenly consumed with the brilliance of two angels. She explained to them her sorrow, then turned to meet Jesus face to face, yet she did not even know it.

“Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’”

I imagine her hysterical. Shoulders sobbing. Eyes clouded with sorrow. Words pouring from her broken heart. Pleading, begging, anything to find her Lord.

In a moment so raw, Jesus could have done anything. He could have opened up the heavens and called on a chorus of angels. He could have announced His triumphant victory over death in a booming voice. He could have made the earth beneath her feet shake.

But in the very first revelation of Himself—following the greatest victory in the history of the world—Jesus chose to speak to one woman, personally: “Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned and said to him in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’”

Sometimes, it’s easy to wonder what Easter has to do with our everyday reality. It can feel so big. Like God so loved the whole world kind of big. And God does love the whole world! So much that He sent Jesus to be our salvation.

But today I pray you hear Jesus calling your name. I pray you see Jesus looking into your eyes. And that you can recognize His voice, in the midst of a noisy world, just like this personal, intimate moment shared between the God of the Universe and His daughter. Sometimes, God loves the whole world by loving one life at a time.—Katy McCown

Easter Prayer

I read this heart touching Italian poem about Easter time. I would like to post for you with the hope you can translate this prayer with a good computer program.

Perdonami, mio ​​Signore!

Possa questo essere per me un momento di nuova vita,

di cambiamento, sfida e crescita.

Posso venire alla Tua Santa Pasqua con un cuore aperto a morire con Te

e risorgere con Te alla tua nuova vita, giorno per giorno.

Aiutami a pentirmi dei miei peccati ora e a riparare in tutto in

questa stagione quaresimale e ogni giorno da ora in poi.

Unito a Tuo Figlio,

che fa la sua strada verso il Calvario,

Easter 2017

Happy Easter 2017 to all of you dear Joyful Little Garden's followers!

Because He rose, I too shall rise,
Shall rise and walk and dance and sing;
And there shall be no grief, no pain,
Nor any tears, remembering!
—Martha Snell Nicholson

The Easter season is a wonderful opportunity for Christians everywhere to unite as we praise our living, risen Savior! I think that Pope John Paul II expressed the Christian perspective on the resurrection so well when he said, “We are the Easter people and ‘hallelujah’ is our song!”

To You! - With love!

                                          

Dear One,

    You are My child and I love you. It’s just that simple. No matter what you've done or what you haven’t done, I love you!

You have an eternal spirit living within you, and I know your spirit intimately, and I love you.

    You are in this Earth, living your life, making your decisions, trying to find out what’s the best thing to do and how to do it-how to live how to survive-and is a struggle. I Know this and I understand, for this is the struggle of life. But all of this can be made easier if you just connect-spiritually connect-to Me.

   For though your life carries on and your age and then die, your spirit never ages. It never dies. The real you, the you that now dwells within the confines of your body, will live forever. This is why the thinks of the body, the material things of this world, are not the things to strive, because one day you must live them behind. The things that truly matter are those of the spirit: love, kindness, mercy, understanding, giving. These are the things that make you reach-rich in spirit. This are the things that make you strong-strong in spirit.                             

    When the day comes that you shed the garment of your flesh, the strength of your spirit will be all that counts. So do good. Show love. Give love. Love your family. Love your friends. 

    Love your neighbors. Love those you meet. Show mercy, kindness and compassion. For by sharing this things-by showing love-you show Me to others. For I, God, am love, and I love you. 

     I want to spend Eternity with you. When you come to the door at the end of the road, at the end of your life, you will need the key to open the door, to enter into My Home where everything is love. But you don’t have to work for that key-just hold out your hand right now and I will place it there. The Key is My Son, Jesus, I hold out this Key to you now and say. ‘‘It can be yours because I love you.’’ It is as though I am offering you the key to my Treasure vault, saying. ‘’This is yours, just because I love you.’’ With this key you can open the vault and find it is full of treasure.

     So receive My Key-the Key to living with Me forever. Just say, ‘‘Yes, God, I want the Key to life. I want Your Son, Jesus. The Key to your vault. I receive it. I accept it.’’ Then this Key will be yours forever. I love you. You are My child, and I give you the Key to My inheritance, the Key to My vault, the Key to Eternity! He is yours, if you will just receive Him.

    With love everlasting ,

                                                             Your Heavenly Father