Archbishop Miller’s Easter Message

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

As we prepare to celebrate the glory of Jesus’ Resurrection, I encourage you to consider his words to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), and the significance they take on during this Jubilee Year of Mercy.

Easter is the time in the Church’s year when we contemplate the joy of moving from the impenetrable gloom of death, as Jesus is laid in the tomb, to witnessing his radiance as He is raised from the dead. God shows us his ultimate gift of mercy by bringing forth life from death.

During this Holy Year of Mercy, Pope Francis reminds us that mercy is “Jesus’ most important message.” Indeed, the Jubilee Year is a gift of grace. It is an occasion for each of us personally to rediscover the infinite mercy of the Father who welcomes everyone and goes out personally to encounter each of us. It is he who seeks us! It is he who comes to encounter us!

And just as Jesus offered himself for all of us, we are invited to accompany Him on a journey of mercy that lasts a lifetime.

For the elect who will be baptized this Easter, such a journey is just beginning. They receive the gift of new life, the sacrament through which they become sharers in the Death and Resurrection of Jesus and beneficiaries of his mercy.

For all of us, Easter is an opportunity to renew the fervour of our own Baptism and to commit ourselves to being ministers of his mercy.

We are called to proclaim God’s forgiving love, inviting all men and women to salvation in the Lord. Together we are on a journey to bring to everyone the light of the Gospel, the embrace of the Church and the tenderness of God’s mercy!

In Pope Francis’s remarkable document, The Joy of the Gospel, he asks the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelization marked by offering and receiving mercy with joy: “God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy. Christ, who told us to forgive one another ‘seventy times seven’ (Mt 18:22) has given us his example: he has forgiven us seventy times seven.”

During this Year of Mercy, I invite you to live in the light of the word of the Lord: “‘Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). The Church must be a place of mercy freely given, where everyone can feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged to live the fullness of life promised by the Lord.

Let us seek out opportunities to bring this mercy to others, so they too can share it with still others.

As Parliament debates the new law on assisted suicide in the weeks when we continue our celebration of Jesus as “the Resurrection and the Life,” I ask you to pray not only that our legislators will safeguard human life to the greatest extent possible, but also that they will protect the freedom of conscience of all health care workers and institutions. In the Sequence for Easter we sing,

3. Death and life fought bitterly
For this wondrous victory:
The Lord of life who died reigns glorified!

8. Share the Good News, sing joyfully:
His death is victory!
Lord Jesus, Victor King, show us mercy.

 

Most Reverend J. Michael Miller, CSB
Archbishop of Vancouver