“Even though we Christians celebrate the Holy Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, we could not, at any point in time, forget the great suffering He endured on behalf of humankind. As Christians, we cannot forget the Cross He bore, and nor can we live while forgetting the fact that He died for us. This remembrance gives all Christians renewed life. Every time we remember His suffering and the great cross He carried for us, our hearts elevate to new heights of love and adoration towards Him. This is how it should be. All true Christians, who lives according to Lord Jesus Christ’s teachings, should feel this.”
These words were spoken by His Holiness the Apostle Rohan Lalith Aponso on the 9th of April 2023, Easter Sunday, in the Apparition Church of Our Lady of Katunayake’s Shrine.
During the Holy Mass celebrating the Lord Jesus Christ’s Holy Resurrection from Death, His Holiness the Apostle Rohan Lalith Aponso then posed the following question to the devotees gathered at the Apparition Church.
“My dear Children. The Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected from Death. He was killed. His body was put to the ground, buried. He preached in public that this would be so, and that He would sacrifice His earthly body and leave us. If that is so, then where did He go? What happened to Him after He said ‘Father, into thy hands I commend by spirit’? Today we celebrate Lord Jesus Christ’s Resurrection. You have been celebrating this event for decades past. So His Soul, which was separated from His Body at the time of Death; when it rejoined the Body upon Resurrection, where did His Soul come back from?”
“He was in Paradise”, said several of the devotees who were listening to His Holiness the Apostle Rohan Lalith Aponso’s sermon at the Apparition Church at that time.
In response, His Holiness the Apostle posed another question to the devotees present.
“If He was in Paradise, did Lord Jesus Christ make that journey to Paradise on His own? When He left His earthly body and went to Paradise, and when He Returned for His Resurrection, did He do it alone? Which Holy Apostle was with Him? Can anyone tell me?”
Several devotees’ answer to this question was that Lord Jesus Christ went to Paradise with the criminal who was crucified to His right.
The Apostolic Father accepted all answers with a pleasant smile, visibly happy to see His congregation’s enthusiastic participation in this round of questions.
His Holiness the Apostle Rohan Lalith Aponso then stated as follows.
“The criminal had but one request to make to Lord Jesus Christ. ‘Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom’ to which Lord Jesus Christ replies ‘Verily I say unto thee, to day shalt thou be with me in paradise’. Lord Jesus Christ had not mentioned anything about Paradise up until then, during His lifetime. If you go through your Bibles, you will not find any mention of Paradise, up until that point. That was the first instance Lord Jesus Christ spoke of it. At that point He commanded the criminal crucified to his right “You shall be in paradise with me today”. This was the only instance in which Lord Jesus Christ granted permission for someone to inhabit a part of Heaven, while He was living in this mortal world, mere moments before He was to depart from it in death. This blessing given to the prisoner, the criminal crucified next to Him was not granted to anybody else before that moment.”
His Holiness the Apostle Rohan Lalith Aponso then went onto explain in great detail about Paradise, the Kingdom of Heaven, and Hell, and how time functions in them, revealing them such a way that the devotees present had not heard prior to this.
The Holy Apostle then stated thus to the devotees who listened to and contemplated on the revelations laid bare by Him.
“My dear Children, this knowledge is only available to Holy Apostles. The reason for this was mentioned by Lord Jesus Christ when He lived as a mortal man in this world. ‘Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him’. And so who can teach you about Heaven, our Lord, God, where they await? This can only be done by someone chosen by the Son. Since there was no such person so chosen in this world for quite some time, there was nobody that could answer these questions. Lord Jesus Christ spoke about this when He lived as a mortal man. The 13th Chapter of the Gospel of Saint Matthew states ‘It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given” As such, how can you know about the Kingdom of Heaven, about Paradise, and how to enter therein? The Lord Jesus Christ has granted the ability to answer these questions only to the Holy Apostles.”
Pictures enclosed show various parts of the Holy Mass that took place on Our Lady of Katunayake’s Shrine on Sunday the 09th of April 2023, conducted by His Holiness the Apostle Rohan Lalith Aponso, celebrating the Victory of Resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ
