"The Lord Is Risen Indeed"

Jesus is risen! This is the eternal message of Easter, as true in 2022 as it ever has been. The Good News that not death but life has the last word has been boldly proclaimed now for nearly two thousand years, and this Gospel message continues to be preached today by the Church throughout the world. This is the message that undergirds the faith of all Christians. The teaching of the Church and the lives of Christians everywhere are founded upon it.

The fact that Jesus was raised from the dead and is alive has shaped the thinking of generations of Christians, and all Christians today continue to celebrate this Good News from Sunday to Sunday. The main goal of our proclamation is that from the Good News of the Resurrection faith and hope might rise up in each person, much as the sun rises each morning over the earth. The life-giving warmth of this Good News radiates into human hearts everywhere, creates a peace that penetrates all our lives, and gives meaning and purpose to the calling of each of us and to life itself.

We wish this year, too, that all God’s people might experience an Easter festival when they can joyfully proclaim: Jesus lives! But the Gospel message has special weight and significance these days when we not only hear accounts of war and human suffering but are deeply touched by them, not least because many of those fleeing the conflict and battles are here in our midst.

Let us ask our Risen Lord to make us the instruments of God’s love and of the peace that surpasses all understanding, both in areas stricken by war, among refugees seeking solace and relief, and everywhere. We believe that our final liberation is found in Jesus Christ who was raised from the dead to bring peace and joy to all people.

As the Apostle Paul says: “And the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:7, RSV)