As we celebrate the great feast of Easter, the resurrection of Christ from the dead, let us remember it is the most solemn feast that we celebrate each year. The risen Christ comes to bring his light into our hearts and into our world torn by war and hatred. My prayer for you in this Holy Year, is that He will enlighten you personally to share your faith and become a light to others.
We are mindful that the spirit of Easter, that is the risen Christ living in us and working with us, is not just for one day or one season, but for the entire year.
We are called to be missionary disciples in a lifelong journey to holiness. Each one of us is called to be disciples, that is, to know that Jesus loves us, to accept his love and to do our very best to return that love through prayer and our daily actions. Our relationship with the Lord Jesus is not just between him and us individually. We are called to be disciples who have a missionary spirit; that means we are willing to reach out to bring Christ to others.
We are willing to try to seek Christ in the faces and the lives of others. We are willing to look for the poor and those who are neglected, those who are on the sidelines of life, those who are vulnerable and those who have been hurt by violence. We are also willing to share our faith with others and not to apologize for being a Christian and a Catholic.
This Easter season gives us an opportunity to recommit ourselves not only to being disciples, but to being missionaries, that is, to reach out to live our faith, to share our faith and to bring others to know Christ as we strive for holiness.