My dear friends in Christ,
Christ, The Lord, is risen today, Alleluia!
St. John Chrysostom said: “Come you all: enter into the joy of your Lord. You the first and you the last, receive alike your reward; you rich and you poor, dance together; you sober and you weaklings, celebrate the day; you who have kept the fast and you who have not, rejoice today. The table is richly loaded: enjoy its royal banquet. The calf is a fatted one: let no one go away hungry. All of you enjoy the banquet of faith; all of you receive the riches of His goodness. Let no one grieve over his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed; let no one weep over his sins, for pardon has shone from the grave; let no one fear death, for the death of our Savior has set us free: He has destroyed it by enduring it, He has despoiled Hades by going down into its kingdom, He has angered it by allowing it to taste of His flesh. Christ is risen and the demons are cast down. Christ is risen and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen and life is freed. Christ is risen and the tomb is emptied of the dead. To Him be glory and power for ever and ever.” Amen.
In these turbulent times of violence, war and hatred around the world, we echo the prayer of Pope Francis: “We ask the Risen Jesus, who turns death into life, to change hatred into love, vengeance into forgiveness, war into peace.”
On behalf of the Clergy and Staff here at Corpus Christi, may you all have a joyous, blessed, and Happy Easter!
May God bless you all!
Father John