Bohol Sunday Post | April 12, 2009

We are in a difficult situation but let us not stay down but instead rise to the occasion.

This was the meat of the Easter Sunday message to Boholanos of Vice Gov. Julius Caesar Herrera.

The vice-governor acknowledged that these are difficult times, a crisis that is happening all over the world.

“We cannot escape the fact that times are hard and that we have to work harder than ever,” he noted.

Herrera however pointed out that challenges are part of human life and that it is up to the people to respond to those challenges.

“It is a choice between staying down or rising up,” he noted.

The vice-governor said people who remain where they are do so because they gave up on life.

“Rising up demands sacrifices, hard work and persistence, but those who are willing to take them are rewarded with success in life,” he added.

Herrera said a very important lesson about Easter Sunday is that there is no such thing as a hopeless situation.

“It only becomes hopeless when the people decide that they have become hopeless,” he added.

The vice-governor said there is nothing more hopeless than a king dying a shameful death.

Jesus Christ however proved that even death can be defeated by rising on the third day.

The message of hope was such that even the disciples who were so afraid when Jesus was arrested became fearless messengers of the gospel.

From the defeat at the grave, Easter gave birth to the biggest religion in the world in just over 2,000 years, the vice-governor noted.

Herrera said that this should inspire Boholanos particularly the Christians who worship Jesus Christ to overcome the challenges that they face at present.

“Just as Jesus rose from the grave to inspire His disciples to found the biggest church in history, we can rise from the difficulties and crisis of the present to a better life,” the vice-governor pointed out.

He said that those who believe in Easter and the resurrection should also embrace the message of hope that comes with it.

Herrera acknowledged that it is not easy, but the task can be done.

The vice-governor pointed out the there is nothing else to do if people want to escape their poverty and difficulty.

“The important thing for all of us to bear in mind is that we have no choice but to rise to the occasion,” he concluded.