Christ is risen!  “Alleluia!"

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, At the Last Supper which we commemorated on Holy Thursday, Jesus took bread and wine and instituted the Eucharist, instructing the Apostles to “Do This in Memory of Me.” (1 Cor. 11:24)

When we come together for the celebration of Mass, we not only experience our unity as living members of the Body of Christ, but we also receive Him — body and blood, soul and divinity — in the Holy Eucharist. This is so, precisely because He is not to be found among the dead, but among the living, and that is our Easter joy.

During this Easter season, we are called to recognize the greatness of His sacrifice and the incredible gift of life and salvation that He has won for us. The death and resurrection of Christ are the turning point of history and the foundation of our faith. Through His death, He bore the weight of our sins, offering Himself as the perfect sacrifice to reconcile us with God. His resurrection is the victory of life over death, of light over darkness, of good over evil. In His resurrection, we find hope for our own lives, knowing that through, with and in Him we too can find newness of life and the promise of eternity.

Just as the Apostles, seeing the Risen Christ, were moved from despair to rejoicing, we too are called to let God’s love transform our minds and hearts. My prayer this Easter Season is for all of the members of our Archdiocese to experience the redemptive love of Christ through participation at Sunday Mass. From there we are sent forth to be loving, merciful and charitable toward others, to share the good news of Jesus Christ by joining our voices with those of His first disciples in acclaiming, “The Lord is risen! He is truly risen!” May the peace of the Risen Christ truly be with you, and may the great joy of Easter fill your hearts and lives in this season and throughout the year. “Alleluia!”

Sincerely yours in Christ,