Easter message:

Catholic Bishops’ Conference

Once again, we celebrate the greatest of all Christian events, the Feast of Easter. We have completed 40 days of spiritual preparation and the Church researches the Climax of the liturgical year in the celebration of the Easter Triduum. Therein we commemorate with great devotion the Passion, Death and the Glorious Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. It is the Passover of the Lord from Death the New Life of the Resurrection.

Therefore, we believe that the Lord Jesus who is our hope is not merely a person who lived and died at a given period of history as all human beings. But today he is risen and he continues to live among us. This fact is at the core of Christianity. It forms the very basis of Christian Faith. St. Paul underlines the unique importance of the Resurrection of the Lord when he says, if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. (1Cor 15:17)

Hence, as Baptised Christians we are Easter people. We need to live our Christian lives conscious of the fact that Jesus continues to live among us and that he companies us on our journey.

We need to believe that amidst life’s manifold trials and dangers, and that he desires to guide and lead us along the right path giving us the strength and hope to be engaged on our Christian pilgrimage moving to the Home of the Father.

Easter calls each of us first to receive the new life, the Risen Jesus brings and then we Christians are duty bound to share the new life of Easter with others. It invites us to move from death to life, from different forms of slavery of sin to the new life of grace. St. John states towards the end of his gospel: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written, so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name”. (John 20:30-31)

Therefore, as we celebrate Easter, we need to be conscious of our responsibility as Christians to help our nation to pass from a state of instability and difficulties caused by the past conflicts, different natural disasters and the difficulties of the poor who are afflicted by the high cost of living, to Passover to better conditions in life.

We call upon our faithful to not only to pray and celebrate Easter but also to be more committed to rebuilding this nation on the basis of Justice inter racial and religious harmony.