Easter hope and joy

I welcome Easter Sunday with a heart full of hope, joy, and spiritual renewal. Having fulfilled my Holy Week promises, chiefly through acts of penance and the Sacrament of Reconciliation, I feel like a prisoner who has been granted an undeserved pardon. Despite the grave mistakes and sins I have committed, God offers me the opportunity to start anew no questions asked, no blame, and no threat of condemnation only pure, unconditional mercy and forgiveness.

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Easter Sunday is a day of blessing for those of us burdened by guilt, shame, and fear. Guilt for yielding to the "sugar-coated" sins we found irresistible; shame for the times we compromised our conscience with the devil's temptations; and fear of the unexpected tragedies that shook our fragile sense of security, like sick-

THROUGH UNTRUE

FR. ROLANDO Y. DELA ROSA, O.P.

ness, accidents, loss of loved ones, and calamities.