Accra, Ghana, April 21, 2019//-Easter is a Christian celebration that falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the equinox. It is the day on which the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead took place.
Easter marks a Sunday on which life, good deeds, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is observed. This day brings an end to the Three Days or Easter Triduum which starts on Thursday evening and ends on Resurrection Sunday or Easter Sunday.
The week before Easter is termed as the Holy Week, the Thursday of which marks the beginning of Easter Triduum and the Friday is Good Friday. The Easter Triduum starts from Thursday evening ending on Sunday evening, the day Easter is celebrated.
In other words Easter is a Christian holiday that celebrates the belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The event occurred three days after Jesus was crucified by the Romans and died.
The holiday concludes the “Passion of Christ,” a series of events and holidays that begins with Lent—a 40-day period of fasting, prayer and sacrifice—and ends with Holy Week, which includes Holy Thursday (the celebration of Jesus’ Last Supper with his 12 Apostles), Good Friday (on which Jesus’ crucifixion is observed), and Easter Sunday.
Again, Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb on the third day after his crucifixion. Easter is the fulfilled prophecy of the Messiah who would be persecuted, die for the sins of the world, and rise on the third day. (Isaiah 53). Remembering the resurrection of Jesus and writing down what he preached in a Christian Planner is a way to renew daily hope that faithful Christians have victory over sin.
Also, Easter is a very significant date within Christianity and is the foundation of the Christian faith. Jesus, the Son of God, fulfilled prophecy and through His death, has given the gift of eternal life in heaven to those who believe in His death and resurrection.
In a message to wish the people of Ghana a happy Easter, President Akufo-Addo said among others on Thursday that, “We are looking past commodities to position our country in the global market. We have determined to flee our people from the mindset of dependence on aid, charity and handouts”
“We are building a Ghana beyond aid. Let us celebrate Easter as a real source of hope that there is a brighter future ahead of us. Let us use this Easter celebration to renew and strengthen our faith in God and be confident that with God’s guidance we can transform our nation and use all the blessings that the Almighty has bestowed on us to bring progress and prosperity to all our people.”
“This year, our country is projected to have the fastest economy in the world and we are the largest recipient of foreign direct investments in West Africa. All our young children are now guaranteed a minimum of Senior high school education, we have an abundance of food, and for the first time in a long while, we are exporting food to our neighbours.”
“Import duties and utility tariffs have been significantly reduced to bring relief to businesses and individuals and thousands and thousands of graduate teachers and nurses who prior to my coming into office were sitting at home twiddling their thumbs are employed.”
“We have put 100,000 to work under NABCO and hundreds of thousands of young men and women are gainfully employed under the various modules of the Youth Employment Agency.”
“The tech giant, Google has established its first African Artificial Intelligence laboratory in Ghana, as the global industrial giants are getting ready to make important investments in our country, we are making steady progress in the implementation of our One District-One Factory policy.”
“With the mobilisation of our collective energies and prayers, we will move this nation to where it has to be…a Ghana Beyond Aid, a modern self-reliant nation capable of generating prosperity for the mass of her people and governed according to the rule of law and respect for human rights and the principles of democratic accountability.”
“There are many more hurdles ahead to overcome, if we are to fulfil the dreams and aspirations of our forebears who envisaged our nation to be that shining star of Africa, where the personal security of each citizen is guaranteed.”
The President concluded that, “On behalf of my wife Rebecca, family and members of Government, I wish you all a happy Easter. May the celebration of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ give birth to a new season of faith, hope, growth and prosperity for us all. May God bless each one of us and our homeland Ghana and make her great and strong.”
In Facebook and Twitter posts to Ghanaians, Vice Pesident Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia said,
“My family and I wish our Christian brothers and sisters a happy Easter. As you commemorate this special festivity which marks the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we encourage all to continue to pray for the country, live in harmony with one another and do our best to help make Ghana the cherished land we all wish to live in. We wish everyone happy holidays. May God bless our homeland Ghana.”
On his part Rt Rev Prof Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, said there were several lessons that could be learnt from the Easter event including the problems of greed and envy.
He noted that, “Greed has been the greatest problem throughout all generations. People always want more money than the beloved community. In as much as money can do good things, greed is a spiritual killer disease.
It can make you betray your good friends; greed will destroy any good community. In our Christian growth let us eschew any form of greed. Let us exorcise greed anywhere we find it, whether in the church or in government or at the work place or in the palace. Greed is a spiritual and moral killer disease.”
On envy he remarked that, “It is sad but unfortunately there are several people in churches, church leadership and in the society who are still killing Jesus because of envy.
They can really see the hand of God in another person but because of envy they wish that person were not alive. There are people who just do not know how to celebrate other good people. Their modus operandi is either they are the center of attraction or every conversation must halt. So they bring everybody down in their conversation.
If they are in one political party, everything that the other political party does must be wrong, even if it is excellent. Once a good idea does not come from them, it must be branded as wrong. This pull him down spirit is an evil spirit that must be exorcised wherever it is”.
By Oppong Baah, African Eye Report
