Mary Magdalene lamented, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him” (Jn 20:13). Their collective worries were dispelled by the almighty presence of Christ himself, who appeared to the women. Jesus later appeared to the disciples as they remained in hiding. Our Lord showed them, and all who believe thousands of years later, that the pure source of life incarnate had conquered death, and that he promises each of us newness of life. 

The Lord admonishes us many times throughout the Gospels, “Do not be afraid.” As he said earlier at the Last Supper, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6). And again to the disciples, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). 

Through the suffering, death and resurrection of our triumphant Jesus, we, too, are given an opportunity to experience life in God’s grace and mercy. As we celebrate the octave of Easter and move toward Pentecost, let us always give thanks together for the great gift of life that he has given each one of us. In a special way on Divine Mercy Sunday, I ask that you make a special effort to show forgiveness to others and pray for those who have not yet been told that they are loved perfectly by their Father in heaven. Make the “invisible God visible” through your witness as a believer in the resurrected Christ. 

I wish you and your families a blessed Easter season. He is risen! Truly, he is risen! 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pt 1:3).

In Christ’s love,

Most Rev. Jacques Fabre-Jeune, CS

Bishop of Charleston