Easter Sunday

If I’m telling the truth, Easter is my favorite holiday of the whole year.  There is no tree, or presents, no parties, no cards to send, and pretty much no stress — at least for me.  All we have to worry about is celebrating the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the glorious resurrection, and the perfect plan of our Heavenly Father.  The Bulgarians call it “Великден” (Velik Den), or The Great Day.  I love that, because it really is the greatest of all days.

Today as I was doing my Come Follow Me study, I read Doctrine & Covenants 138, which is Joseph F. Smith’s great vision of the Christ organizing the spirit world for the preaching of the gospel. Verse 50 was particularly meaningful to me this time, it reads, “For the dead had looked upon the long absence of their spirits from their bodies as a bondage.”  As I wrote in my Good Friday post, we were ransomed by Jesus Christ — our bodies will be freed from the earth and elements to be reunited with our spirits.  The scriptures teach us this will bring us joy. Continue reading

Good Friday

Today is Good Friday, the day when the Christian world remembers the death of Jesus Christ. I remember as a small child watching the news one Good Friday and seeing throngs of people pushing their way thru the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem.  There were even people who had lashed themselves to crosses and who were hanging as a sign of devotion to their faith.  Understandably, it left me feeling very confused.   I asked my mother why did we call it “Good Friday” if Jesus was killed this day.  She said simply, “Because of all the “good” Jesus did for us today.”  As I’ve grown older I’ve been able to learn for myself of the “Good Jesus did for us today.”

Two words I came across this week in my Come Follow Me study that helped me think of the “Good” Jesus has done were ransom and remission.  In Matthew 26, we read about the Last Supper — it’s during this last night together, that Christ finished teaching the disciples about his work on the earth — that he is the Messiah. Christ institutes the ordinance of the sacrament. Continue reading

Maundy Thursday

As we approach Easter, I always become a bit more contemplative on Thursday before Easter. Most of the Christian world refers to this day as “Maundy Thursday“. We don’t in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But the term has deep meaning, all the same. Maundy comes from the Latin word “mandatum” which means “to command”. On this night of the Holy Week, the Savior and his disciples met for one last time, to share the Passover meal and for one last lesson from the Master.

That lesson is the most significant and meaningful lesson, of all of Jesus’ lessons — that is, the sacrament, and the new covenant. “A new commandment I give you, that ye love one another; as I loved you, that ye love one another.” (John 13:34).  Christ loves us with “an everlasting love, and with lovingkindness he hath drawn us to him.” (see Jeremiah 31: 3).  When we love one another it needs to be with that same love, which is charity, the pure love of Christ.  Moroni teaches us what charity is: Continue reading