“He is not here; for He is risen, as He said Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”
(Matthew 28:6)
Very Reverend and Reverend Fathers, Parish Council Presidents and Beloved Faithful,
May the grace and peace of our Risen Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
As we celebrate today the glorious feast of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we rejoice in the victory of life over death, love over fear, peace over uncertainty, reconciliation over enmity, and hope over despair.
While the disciples were assembled, and the doors were shut, for fear of the Jews, “Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’ […] then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord” (John 20:19-20). Today, we may not have been able to celebrate together, as we usually do, this glorious feast, assembled around the altar, the table of life, from which life is distributed to all. Yet, wherever we are, even if our doors are shut, we can still experience the peace and the presence of our Risen Lord Jesus in our midst. Even though we may be facing days of uncertainty and hardship; unlike the disciples, we do not fear, for we are not still on those three days between crucifixion and resurrection. Instead, we live, each and every day, the joys of the resurrection.
As we wish you all a blessed and joyful Easter, we pray that you remain steadfast in faith, hope, and love, for God, “according to His abundant mercy, has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). May the Risen Lord fill your hearts with the joys of this Holy Feast, grant healing to the sick, comfort to the distressed all over the world, and rest to the souls of your departed ones.
Christ is Risen… Indeed He is!
Dionysius John Kawak
