“Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!”
Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,
Christ is Risen!
We continue to bask in the radiant light of the glorious Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The joy of Pascha is not confined to a single day, but unfolds over time—as if Heaven itself cannot contain the triumph and the mercy revealed in the empty tomb.
On this Easter Monday, we return again to the Gospel, which shows us the first encounters of the Risen Christ with His followers. In particular, we remember the women at the tomb, the myrrh-bearing women, and the disciples to whom the Lord appeared.
What is striking is how gently, how personally the Risen Lord reveals Himself. There is no thunderclap, no imperial announcement. Instead, He calls Mary by name. He walks with the disciples on the road to Emmaus. He enters the locked room not with judgment, but with peace: “Peace be with you.”
Dear faithful, the Resurrection is not only the most earth-shaking event in history—it is also the most intimate. The Risen Christ comes to each of us with the same peace, the same mercy, the same personal love that He showed His first followers.
Today, we are reminded that the Resurrection is not a tale of the past, but a present and eternal reality. Every time we pray, every time we approach the Holy Mysteries, every time we forgive one another or bear witness to the light in the darkness, we encounter the Risen Christ.
Let us, then, become like the myrrh-bearing women—fearless in our love, persistent in our faith. Let us be like the apostles, transformed by the encounter with the Risen One into bold proclaimers of the Gospel. And let our hearts, like those on the road to Emmaus, burn within us as He opens the Scriptures and breaks bread with us.
Even as we return to the ordinary rhythms of our week, let us never return to spiritual dullness or forgetfulness. Christ has trampled down death by death. This is not just a victory to be remembered—it is a life to be lived.
May the joy of the Resurrection fill your homes, your hearts, and all your days. And may we greet one another always with that greeting of eternal hope:
Christ is Risen!
Indeed, He is Risen!
