Archbishop Fisher's Powerful Easter Message "Sometimes it’s hard to be a Catholic, to hear Jesus’ words to us today..." FULL Text

The high points of my day are my Mass, Divine Office and Rosary, when I spend time with Our Lord, opening my heart and mind to Him, listening, asking, thanking, adoring. This relationship with God is, I hope, the foundation of my every word and deed.

Yet I won’t pretend prayer is always easy. Or the rest of the Christian life. Sometimes it’s hard to be a Catholic, to hear Jesus’ words to us today, to walk with Him on His road to Gethsemane, to join Him as He is tested by suffering and humbled in the fire of humiliation.

Easter is confronting. The Cross tells the story of suffering humanity. The Tomb the story of all we have loved and lost.

Still, we hope. From cross and tomb we dream of heaven. After a long Lent we cry out for Easter. After interminable darkness we crave the light.

And light there is! Every day, millions of Australians encounter Christ and the Church in the worship and pastoral care of our parishes; in the teaching and learning in Catholic schools and universities; in the care delivered in Catholic hospitals, aged-care homes and hospices; in our campaigns on behalf of indigenous, refugees, and the victims of modern slavery; in the work of CatholicCare and St Vincent de Paul helping the needy; in our support for the homeless in communities such as David’s Place…

All these are works of Easter, of raising people up out of their tomb and gloom. All are professions of faith, in the human person made for greatness, and in the God who saves them. All are professions of hope, that ours can be a community of reverence and care. All are declarations of love, especially for the weak and powerless.

Easter is for them all, and for each of us, as Christ raises us from our graves with Himself.

By these works of mercy, more than our words, will people judge whether we are serious, whether we really believe in the resurrection, whether Easter is for us and for them.

God bless you at Easter.
Archbishop Anthony Fisher, OP
FULL TEXT Easter Message of Archbishop of Sydney, Australia - Source: sydneycatholic.org