Ray of hope after Christ’s resurrection

Early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, Mary Magdalene, Salome and Mary the mother of James came to the tomb, bearing spices to put on Jesus’ body. However, there was a surprise waiting for them. Jesus, the Nazarene, was no longer there. “He has been raised from the dead,” announced the angel of the Lord, dispatching them to spread the good news.

As in Biblical times when God delivered this joyous message through women, so may it be that the women in this land should be the first to find hope and deliverance in Christ’s resurrection. The challenges are still many; women remain prime targets for kidnap and murder; female refugees are being sexually exploited and violence against women prevails but we remain hopeful that the new leadership in our security agencies will be the Messiah to restore sanity in our neighbourhoods gone mad.

Already, as we drew to a close of the Lenten period of fasting and repentance, small signs of hope had started to emerge. A judge who had pocketed allowances meant for her staff recently refunded the cash and a student who had been prevented by her school from sitting final examinations on account of poor performance was awarded general damages of Shs10m. These two cases are encouraging in that it is a sign that the less privileged in society are finally finding their voice to lawfully fight injustice meted out to them by the powerful.

As we celebrate Christ’s resurrection, let us not forget the lessons learnt and the good practices cultivated during Lent. May we continue to watch our actions in fulfilment of Jesus’ message in the gospel to “do unto others as we would have them do unto us”.
That powerful message contained in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount should be our guiding principle in everyday life. If we would commit to the golden rule to do to others only what we wish done to us, we would have less corruption, fewer murders and other crimes. Also, if we spent more time in church and in the service of others instead of flocking places of worship only on Easter Day, we would have a better society and less time and opportunity to plan how to hurt fellow men.
Most importantly, in the journey to our salvation, let us lift up the women in our midst, protect them and prioritise them as God himself did.