The Burial Cloths were lying there...

04-20-2025Pastor's LetterVery Rev. Richard C. Wilson, VF, Pastor

Dear Friends in Christ,

We have already heard the good news—or rather, the best news: “Christ is alive! He has risen and has appeared to His disciples.” Happy Easter to all! The sadness that filled our hearts at Christ's passion and death gives way to the uncontainable joy brought about by His resurrection.

It is not easy to believe in Jesus' resurrection. The disciples had to experience the dark night of the soul after Good Friday. Along with the trauma of Jesus' violent death, they had to suffer the silence of many unknowns. And now, what would happen?

Jesus appears, risen, to Peter, Mary Magdalene, and Thomas—precisely to them because they doubted. They were more dead than alive. And He appears to the disciples at Emmaus because they had already lost hope. To all of them, He brings new reasons to believe and live.

Christ's resurrection changed the world. Death was conquered when Christ accepted death; pain was overcome when Christ freely accepted suffering; sin was destroyed when Christ took it upon His shoulders. All this is true even though death, suffering, and sin continue to accompany us in our lives. But they are no longer insurmountable.

We must be a people of hope. We cannot go through the world expecting calamities; we must persevere in an incorruptible optimism, tested by love and death, very realistic but full of faith. There is a new beatitude destined for us: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Every Sunday is a small Easter made present in the Eucharist. It's an invitation for us to live “as those who have been resurrected.” Saint Paul invites us to “seek things that are above, not things that are on earth.”

Make a practical resolution: Spend some time reading the Gospel account of everything that happened after the resurrection. It will fill you with joy and peace. How much we need that joy after hearing of catastrophes, deaths, and difficult times from our smartphones or TV! May we live constantly in the good news of Christ’s resurrection and victory over sin and death. Let us be people of hope!

Happy Easter!

All the best…in Christ,

Father Wilson