EASTER PASTORAL LETTER: "Let the earth be glad..." (04/07/96)

EASTER PASTORAL LETTER

"Let the earth be glad..."

Very reverend and reverend fathers, members of our religious communities, reverend deacons and dear faithful of our eparchy:

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!

Let, therefore, the heavens worthily rejoice, and the earth be glad, the whole creation visible and invisible celebrate, for Christ is risen, Eternal Joy. (Troparion - Resurrection Matins)

Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Lord, conquered death by death; and by His glorious resurrection He gave us the gift of everlasting life. We then begin our eternal life here on earth with Him, the risen Lord. This is an exciting truth, and that is the reason Easter is so exciting and that we are so wonderfully happy on Easter. If we forget, or are unaware, or ignore or never pay attention to this truth, then Easter is but an empty traditional ritual without the Risen Lord.

Christ's gift of eternal life is found in His Church, a community of true believers who have a covenant with the Risen Lord and with each other that must not be broken. To be true believers we must be faithful to Christ, to His ways and the revealed truths that He had entrusted to His Church. The Church founded by Christ for our salvation is the people of God, that is, you and me. This, too, is great news and it, too, fills us with joy. By baptism and chrismation we all share in Christ's priestly, prophetic and royal ministry, which sanctifies, teaches and serves the faithful. Through the ordained priesthood and the Christian service of the laity, the Church, that is, we all together, build up the Kingdom of God on earth and proclaim the good news that Christ has died, is risen, and will come again to judge the living and the dead, and in His kingdom there will be no end! We are that kingdom, the pilgrim Church on earth. Our goal is to be the triumphant Church in heaven, and that is our Lord's promise.

At the Last Supper Jesus said: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in Me. In My Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to Myself, so that where I am you also may be." (Jn.14:1-3)

God has willed to make us holy and save us, not as individuals without any bond or link between us, but rather to form us into a community of believers who acknowledge and serve Him in holiness. That is why we are brothers and sisters in Christ, united in His one and only Church.

A parish, then, is a definite community in Christ's Church that is entrusted to an ordained priest as a representative of the bishop who is a successor of the apostles that Christ Himself had chosen. It is the parish priest who carries out the duties of teaching, sanctifying and governing in the name of the bishop and Christ. The faithful help their parish priest in this task and by doing so build up the Body of Christ, His Church, His parish, the pilgrim Church, the Kingdom of God on earth. This, too, brings us great joy.

This year we are celebrating the 400th anniversary of the Union of Brest, an event that should remind us how earnestly Jesus prayed for the gift of unity in His Church: "I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, so that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, that the world may believe that you sent Me." (Jn. 17:20-21)

Our Ukrainian Catholic Church in Ukraine has resurrected from the modern-day catacombs. Thanks be to God for that great miracle! Let us pray for our own miracle here in the United States - unity among all Christian Churches! Let us set an example by putting into practice the exhortation that we sing on Easter morning: "O day of Resurrection! Let us beam with celebration, and, embracing one another, let us say: 'Brothers!' " And to those who hate us, let us forgive everything because of the Resurrection, and then let us sing thus: "Christ is risen from the dead, by death He conquered death, and to those in the graves He granted life!" (Paschal Stichera)

May the Resurrected Lord bless each and every one of you and grant you His peace and Joy.

ÝMichael Wiwchar, CSsR
Eparch of St. Nicholas, Chicago

ÝInnocent Lotocky, OSBM
Bishop Emeritus

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