Christ is risen; he is here and now

Facebooktwittermail
 

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Christ is Risen!

Notice we never say that Christ “was” risen as if the Resurrection was something that happened a long time ago in a distant country.  No. We say: “Christ IS Risen!” Here and now, in our time and place, Christ IS Risen.

Risen, Christ is present to us just as he was to those disciples on the road to Emmaus, as he was to Mary Magdalene and the other women at the tomb, as he was to the disciples in the upper room. True, not in the same manner. As Pope St. Leo the Great once said, “What was visible in our Savior has passed over into his mysteries” or sacraments. As a sacramental people, a eucharistic community, it is especially there that we meet the Risen Christ. As I have mentioned at our planning meetings:

epay

Everything we are and everything we do flows from the celebration of the Eucharist. Joining in Christ’s self-offering, we are changed. Gifted, we are sent. We return the gift by living eucharistic lives, lives marked by evangelization and hospitality, by charity and justice.

We know Christ IS risen because we encounter him in the community gathered, the word proclaimed and the sacrament shared. Changed by that encounter, we are sent to give our own witness to the power of the Resurrection and live in the sure and certain hope that one day we will share fully in that resurrection life.

My prayer as we celebrate this great feast, the high point of our liturgical year, is that we truly be a eucharistic people living resurrection lives here and now and in the fullness promised by God in the age to come.

Christ is risen, indeed!

Sincerely in Christ,

Most Rev. Martin Amos

Bishop of Davenport


Support The Catholic Messenger’s mission to inform, educate and inspire the faithful of the Diocese of Davenport – and beyond! Subscribe to the print and/or e-edition, or make a one-time donation, today!

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Facebooktwittermail
Posted on