Easter Message 2024

HOLY ARCHDIOCESE OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

THE ARCHBISHOP OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND Ν Ε Κ Τ Α R Ι Ο S

My dear children. CHRIST IS RISEN.

As each of us from today and for 40 days exchange the triumphant paean CHRIST IS RISEN, somewhere in our soul there may still be a question. How can we celebrate Easter in a world torn apart by hatred, pettiness, and aggravation? What is the point of chanting "death trample death" when death still remains a stereotypical certainty? Is it possible that this luminous night of the Resurrection will last only a moment, until it is succeeded again by darkness, routine, the same relentless change of days, the same race towards death and feeling empty? No, it cannot be like that. All this joy cannot be a utopia, a chimera that aims to dissolve the filth created in us by the sufferings of everyday life and the uncertainties of our insecurity. It cannot be a self-deception that continues for centuries. Of course, faith is not amenable to scientific documentation. Not even miracles logical explanations. In order to accept the Resurrection, we need to abandon its logical interpretations and limit ourselves to our personal experience, i.e. to the sensory palpation of a historical event. Everything starts from this day of Easter and everything ends with this day. The Church does not provide us with "evidence of the Resurrection" of Christ. It does not seek to convince anyone. The Church invites every believer to "come and see" looking forward to experiencing the Church authentically, personally, within each and every one of us. Supernatural events can only be approached by faith. After all, how can one talk about the mystery in terms of human logic, when the same events mean its transcendence, and call for the discovery of another dimension that is expressed in contrasting terms, such as "unseen view", "unspoken reason", "intangible participle", "anonymous name", "innocent mind", "unspoken reason", "in ignorance of knowledge"? For the unbeliever, this may look like self-deception. They hear only words, watch only incomprehensible ceremonies and interpret them only superficially. For believers, however, all these things radiate from within, not as proof of their faith, but as a result of it. Therefore, Easter is not an event that happened once in the past. It is not just the memory of an event. It is a true meeting in a spirit of joy with Lord Jesus whom our hearts met a long time ago and knew Him as true light and life. We all need this cheerfulness today. To overcome our carnal mind. To be called by God again.

CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY RISEN.

With fatherly love and best wishes

YOUR ARCHBISHOP