My dear brothers and sisters, people of Fiji; Peace of Christ be with you.
This week, we journey together through the most sacred days of the Christian faith, Holy Week and the Easter Triduum. From Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to the quiet of the Garden at Gethsemane, the sacrifice of the Cross, and the glorious light of the Resurrection, we enter the “Week of Weeks.”
Easter is not merely a date on a calendar; it is the heart and pinnacle of our Christian life. It is the “feast of feasts” that defines every other moment of our year. For Christians, Easter is far more than a historical memory of a distant past. It is our living and breathing participation in the passage of Jesus from death to life.
Catholics call this the “Paschal Mystery”— that is, the profound truth that God who overcomes every shadow of sin and every sting of death. This mystery flows from the altar into our streets, our homes, and our very hearts, offering a light of hope that fills our entire lives.
From passover to the paschal mystery
To truly grasp the power of Easter, we must look to its roots. The first disciples were devout Jews whose faith was centered on the Passover (Hebrew – Pesach). In that ancient celebration, they remembered how God, through Moses, delivered Israel from the slavery of Egypt and King Pharoah—a miraculous passage from oppression and slavery into the dawn of freedom.
For Christians today, Jesus is the New Moses and our eternal Savior who frees us from the slavery of sin and death. He is the Lamb of God, whose sacrifice was offered for all humanity. His Last Supper was a Passover meal that foreshadowed His ultimate gift on the Cross. When He rose on the first day of the week—Sunday—He brought about a New Passover. He did not just cross a sea like Moses; He passed over from death to new life, breaking the chains of slavery that separates us from God and one another.
The power of easter remembrance
The Easter Triduum—Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Saturday Easter Vigil—is the summit of the Christian worship. We celebrate these days by “remembering” Jesus’ saving action. When Jesus said, “Do this in memory of me,” He was calling us to something deeper than a mental thought.
The Greek word for remembering is Anamnesis. It means to make the past present. During Easter, we are not merely “acting out” a drama from two thousand years ago. Through Anamnesis, we make the saving works of Jesus—His passion, death, and resurrection—a reality in our life today.
When we wash feet on Holy Thursday, we are not just mimicking a gesture; we are entering into Christ’s call to serve. When we reverence the Cross on Good Friday, we are bringing our own sorrows to Jesus’ victory.
When we light the Paschal candle in the darkness of the Saturday Easter Vigil, we are witnessing Christ making Himself present in our current reality, shattering the darkness of 2026.
A Fijian Passover: Salvation today
As we celebrate Easter, we must ask: What does the Easter Triduum mean for Fiji today? The Paschal Mystery is a passage from death to life, therefore we must have the courage to identify and face the “death cultures” and “slaveries” that cast shadows over our people.
We see signs of looming darkness in the drug crisis enslaving our youth and robbing their dignity. We feel the weight of “slavery” in the cycles of domestic violence that traumatize women, girls and children and fracture our families. We see the rising rates of HIV and worse still babies born with HIV. We still see corruption and political instability. Climate change casts a dark shadow into our very existence.
What does “Salvation” look like for us today?
Salvation is the courage and compassion to stand with the victims of these social ills. It is the prophetic courage to speak against injustices; to be the voice of truth and freedom. To make Jesus’ work of salvation present, we must speak against the structures that keep our people enslaved. Our Easter faith calls us to be mediators of hope: bringing light to those struggling with addiction, protection to those facing violence, and a prophetic voice to protect our environment.
Thi is our “Fijian Passover”—the moment we help free people from slavery and evil.
The unstoppable light of the resurrection
Easter is the center of the Christian life. It is the ultimate proof that darkness never has the final word. No matter how deep the “slavery” of our social issues may seem, the Resurrection of Christ is the divine guarantee that transformation is not only possible—it is happening.
In Fiji, we are a people of the Resurrection! We see it in our resilience, our community spirit, and our capacity to love across all boundaries. This Easter, let us pass from fear to hope, from division to unity, and from the shadows of our challenges into the radiant light of a new day.
Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed!
Wishing you all a blessed, courageous, and transformative Holy Week and Easter.
Archbishop Peter Loy Chong is the Head of the Catholic Church in Fiji. The views expressed in this article are his and do not reflect the views of this newspaper.
