“O God Who on this day…”

Easter message 2022 Official PDF

These words are the first words of the Opening Prayer for Mass on Easter Sunday morning. We recognize that on this day of Easter, God, through His Son Jesus, has conquered sin and death for us and has given us a pathway to eternal life. We rejoice in this good news and we give thanks to God for the gift of His Son Jesus
Christ. This Easter will be a day of even greater joy, now that we are making our way through this pandemic and returning to more normal times in our homes and lives. Easter is the most important feast of our Church year. It is the culmination of the work of Jesus for our redemption. We know that it is more than just chocolate bunnies and delicious meals, it is a celebration of our faith in the Risen Lord and the sharing of that faith with our sisters and brothers in our parish communities and throughout the world.

Needless to say, we have experienced some very weary and troubling times over the past two years with the Covid-Omicron pandemic and even now we know that our world is not at rest with the war in Ukraine and the uncertainty of our economy. Easter is a feast that helps to reassure us that trusting in God, and working together, we can continue our faith journey and be supportive of one another both spiritually and materially in many ways. Our unity of faith and our cooperative generosity does make a difference in our world.

The Lenten season we have just shared, gave us an opportunity to deepen our relationship with the Lord through prayer, fasting and outreach to the poor. Easter is the celebration of that intimate relationship we have with Jesus, and the challenge to carry on this bond of love in our everyday lives. Now, we are busy people, and some might say this is not easy to do since our lives were so changed by the pandemic. But our link to Jesus is sustained in the simplest of ways. The ideal way is in Mass and Holy Communion, but a simple prayer each morning seeking the Lord’s grace and guidance is enough. Can our Easter message be a message that brings us closer to the Lord on Easter Sunday and into the whole year?

May the Risen Lord bless all our parishes in a special way this year. May He give grace to all our priests and ministers, as they work in His name. May our hearts
always recognize our obligation to help those in need, and may the joy of Easter bless our families, our children and our friends with an inner happiness and a hope that will last us the entire year long. “O God, Who on this day, we make this our prayer to You”.

A Happy and Holy Easter to all!

Bishop Fred J. Colli
Bishop of Thunder Bay