Search
-
Easter 2026
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
“We were indeed buried with him through baptism into his death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.” (Romans 6: 4) These words of St. Paul are heard at the Easter Vigil Mass. With them the Church joyfully proclaims to the world that newness of life which is the gift of the Risen Christ!
At that same Mass a new spark is struck to light a new paschal candle. Fresh water is blessed and made holy. White cloths are spread on our altars. The Tabernacle is filled with newly consecrated hosts. All these signs testify to the continuing and living presence of the Risen Lord. We are beginning all over again. Precisely through his Easter triumph, Christ overpowers our slavery to sin and the apparent finality of death. At Easter we are made new!
It is always spring for Christians. Though some think the Church’s days are numbered and our teaching outdated and our rituals mere sentiment, through the living Christ, raised up at Easter, ours is an invitation to new life in Christ. As we grow in our love for Jesus, the vitality of the Church is measured anew by fresh shoots of devotion and charity, put forth continually, from age to age. The very sound of our joyful song, “Christ is risen,” reassures us that all is made new.
That solemn proclamation, “Christ is risen,” neither loses its force with age nor becomes stale by repetition. Life for the fervent Christian disciple is an opportunity to grow in holiness with every worthy celebration of the Sacraments, every moment of forgiveness, every gesture of peacemaking, and every act of charity.
Through lives of genuine faith, undaunted hope and courageous love, let us reflect to the world our belief in the Risen Christ and be made ever new.
May you all have a Blessed Easter!
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Robert J. McManus
Bishop of Worcester