CHRIST IS RISEN !…

It’s Easter ! The very heart of the Christian faith is being announced, proclaimed and sung in churches all over the world : “Christ is risen ! And you also are risen with Christ”.

If we were to have one message to give, it would be this one. It’s fair to say that we ask many, many things of Christians.

We ask them to be “nice” people, to be honest and show solidarity. And that’s a good thing ! But they are not always… We also ask them to deal with all of the world’s problems and to reduce all suffering ; but they face the same tests and have the same work to do as everyone else. Often we even ask them to give what they do not have !

But they really want to share what they have received : Jesus has risen from the dead ! The tomb is empty. Death could not hold Jesus of Nazareth, the eternal Son of God.

What Jesus experienced concerns all of us too. Saint Paul says that Jesus risen is the first born of the dead. If he is first, this means that others are following and will follow him.,

It’s a little like climbing a mountain in the dark. The first climber has already reached the top and is in the light, “standing in the sun”, while we are struggling, breathless, on the steep slope… It’s hard, but we are bound to him, by strong links that will hold forever. He attracts us to him, as he attracts everyone to him.

Death has no more power over him. The powers of evil, violence or selfishness which afflict the world and our hearts too will not have the final say.

I hope that all of you will receive this wonderful feeling of hope in your hearts and in your lives and wish you a Happy and Holy Easter.

Denis Moutel
Bishop of Saint-Brieuc and Tréguier