EASTER PASTORAL

The hope of the Resurrection

Following is the text of the 2005 Easter message issued by Bishop Basil H. Losten of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford, Conn.

To the Priests, Religious and Faithful of the Eparchy of Stamford:

Christ Is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!

I am the resurrection and the life.

He who believes in me will live, even though he die, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die
- John 11:25-26

My Dear Friends,

Fear seems to be ever present in our lives. We are troubled by an all-pervasive visceral insecurity, and justly worry about much - the safety of our troops in harm's way on distant battlefields, threats and alarms of terrorism on our shores, about our children, our relationships, about our health, about our future, about death.

We may think ours is the age of anxiety, but so was there anxiety on Good Friday, when all seemed hopeless. When the sun and the moon were darkened and the dead walked and Christ hung lifeless on the cross. The world for the apostles and disciples collapsed ... and then there was the glory of the Resurrection.

The observation that "no man is an island" was never more true than today: others' tragedies become ours; others' successes cause us to rejoice. The grief left behind with the retreating waters of a tsunami half-a-globe away wrenched our hearts, as did the report on today's morning news of yet another casualty from a roadside bomb. The recent events in the Holy Land give the world renewed cause for hope, as does the election in Iraq. Fourteen years ago Ukraine cast off the yoke of Moscow and gained its independence; today it enjoys a democracy and looks forward to at last be governed by the consent of those governed.

It is darkest before the dawn; there can be no Easter without Good Friday, and no risen Lord without a crucified Christ. The joy of Easter follows the prayers, fasting and almsgiving of our Great Fast. I, along with you, do not fear but, trusting in the Lord, believe that all will be well, for, as we sing at the break of dawn on Easter Sunday, "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling death by death, and to those in the tombs giving life." We have been given life, life eternal. Why should we fear?

I impart to you, my priests, religious and faithful, my paternal episcopal blessing, and ask you to join me in heartfelt prayer for those in the military, and, especially, for all those who have been so severely lashed by the scourge of natural disasters and war.

Sincerely in Christ,
Most Rev. Basil H. Losten
Eparch of Stamford

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, March 27, 2005, No. 13, Vol. LXXIII

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