The Archbishop, the Pope and Fr. James Martin…
Once more, Archbishop Carlson sends his Easter message to us, inviting us to remember the heart of this great feast.
“Christ has overcome sin and death. Because of that we know, in the words of Pope Francis, that when everything is said and done, we are infinitely loved by God.
Let us pray that the light of Christ will shine in our hearts this Easter, and reach out to others through us. We know that our Savior lives. Let us share with others the joy of knowing that they are loved by God!”
And, on a more practical side, he also reminds us that the second collection today is to support the retired priests of our Archdiocese at Regina Cleri.
Fr. James Martin, in his book Jesus: a Pilgrimage, writes this about the impact of the Resurrection: “Nothing is impossible for God. That’s the message that I return to most of-ten. On the first day of the week, the Gospel of John tells us that most of the disciples were cowering behind closed doors, out of fear. After Good Friday, the disciples were terrified. Earlier, on Holy Thursday, we are told by Matthew and Mark that all of them fled from the Garden, in fear. That evening Peter denied knowing Jesus. If they were afraid before Jesus was sentenced to death, imagine their reaction after seeing Him marched through the streets of Jerusalem, nailed to a cross and hung there until dead. Locked behind closed doors after the death of the person in whom they had placed all their hope, is there a more vivid image of fear?
…How many of us believe parts of our lives are dead? How many believe that parts of our family, our country, our world, our church cannot come to life? How many of us feel bereft of the hope of change? That is when I turn to the resurrection. Often I return to the image of the terrified disciples cowering behind closed doors. We are not called to live in that room! We are called to emerge from our hiding places and to accompany Mary, weeping sometimes, searching always, and ultimately blinded by the dawn of Jesus’ new life – surprised – delighted and moved to joy. We are called to believe what she has seen: He is Risen.”
On this Easter morn, may you know that great truth at the heart of all we are and hope to be – if the tomb cannot hold the Risen One, than neither will it hold us who are baptized into His dying and rising…