Easter message from Bishop John C. Wester

Intermountain Catholic

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Christ is risen! Alleluia!

To all in the Diocese of Salt Lake City I wish the fullness of Christ’s Easter peace, praying that our risen Lord will deepen within each of us the profound and abiding joy that belongs to those who, through baptism, have died with Christ and are one with him in his resurrection.

In a particular way, I welcome with great joy our elect and candidates into full communion with us as we celebrate Christ’s victory over sin and death. After 40 days of fasting, almsgiving and prayer we enter 50 days of rejoicing and celebration, thanking God our Father for drawing us to himself through his Son, Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit. Without a doubt, we are truly God’s people and "Alleluia" is our song!

One of the striking features of Christ’s resurrection appearances is that his wounds are clearly visible. In fact, the risen Christ invites his followers to "Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have." (Luke 24:39)

In a way, it seems strange that Christ’s glorified body would bear the marks of his cruel passion and death. We would like to think that all that pain and suffering was a thing of the past and pretend that it never happened. But the Paschal Mystery, i.e., the suffering death and resurrection of Christ, cannot be compartmentalized. It is one mystery, one life-giving event that contains within it the unspeakable pain of Christ’s passion and at the same time, the seeds of new life.

This is the great, central mystery of our faith: that Jesus Christ, our Savior, is constantly turning night into day, darkness into light, sin into grace and death into life.

Every aspect of our lives, all that we are, is caught up in Christ’s boundless love and bears the promise of new beginnings at every turn. Ours is not a faith that says, "Don’t worry, nothing bad will ever happen to you." Rather, our faith says, "Don’t worry, bad things may happen to you but they are nothing to worry about."

It is only through faith that we can see the empty tomb as a sign that Christ is risen from the dead. It is only through faith that we can hold fast to hope even in the midst of our pain and suffering. Faith teaches us that Christ is always with us, particularly in our darkest moments. In Mark’s narrative of the passion, it is the centurion who finally proclaims what we had been straining to hear throughout the first 14 chapters of Mark’s Gospel: "Truly this man was the Son of God!" (Mark 15: 39) He came to believe in the midst of the darkness: "at noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon." (Mark 15: 33)

Paradoxically, it is in the darkness that God dwells (see 1 Kings 8: 12 and 2 Chronicles 6:1). The same is true for us. In our darkest moments, Christ is with us, leading us to new life. Only with the eyes of faith can we see a way out from our suffering. Only then can we believe that the risen Christ will save us once again. We may not understand it at the time, but we believe that Christ will not abandon us.

I believe that one very palpable sign of Christ’s presence took place just a few short weeks ago, when Pope Francis was elected to the Chair of Peter by the College of Cardinals. His entrance onto the balcony of St. Peter Basilica and into our lives has been nothing short of dramatic. Within days it was as if we all knew him, so effectively does he communicate through signs and gestures, symbols and words. His request for prayers on the evening of his election, his simple manner, his obvious and genuine concern for the poor, his kindness and simplicity all point to the presence of Christ, whose vicar he is. He stands in stark contrast to those who would point the limelight on themselves as he points all of us to a loving God who sent us his only Son so that we might be saved. He seems uniquely poised to remind all of us, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, that our Redeemer lives and that we are all caught up in his unfathomable love. He is a breath of fresh air, a light in the darkness, a vivid reflection of what Easter is all about.

I am praying that all of us in the Diocese of Salt Lake City will follow our Holy Father’s example and do our part to bring hope to the world. We are all called to give witness to Christ’s resurrection and to remind people that the risen Christ continues to breathe life into his church through the working of the Holy Spirit. In other words, death does not have the final word. We believe that our daily trials and difficulties are subsumed into the greater drama of divine Providence, which is always leading to the empty tomb and new life.

During these holy days of Easter, may we all be a source of life for each other, wounds and all, as we continue to follow Christ, recognizing him in the breaking of the bread. It is worth repeating: Death never has the last word – Jesus Christ does! Indeed, He is the Word uttered by God the Father, in the Holy Spirit, calling us out of darkness and into his own, wonderful light.

Yours in the Risen Christ,

+ The Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City