Easter message, 2026

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Happy Easter!

As I write this just before Holy Week, I reflect on the resurrection of Christ, while just preparing to enter into His Passion and death. Expecting Jesus' resurrection, even in the midst of the most hopeless situations, we expect our resurrection as well.

Isn’t that, however, an image of the Christian life? We are here in this ‘valley of tears’, subject to pain, anxiety, and sorrow. We are worrying not only about the Ukrainian tragedy of war, but also about the Middle East being set on fire, which threatens to spread. There is a concern that conflict might also affect us, at least in terms of the increased cost of fuel, food, and living. There are also dramas often in our personal and family life, at the workplace and school. We, in a smaller or bigger way, experience the reality of the cross.

But with Jesus, there is resurrection! Jesus Christ rose from the terrible suffering and death on the Cross to resurrection and glorified existence. We are offered to unite our sufferings and crosses, pains and death to Jesus in His Passion and Resurrection. He is inviting us to entrust, ‘cast all our anxieties into His hands because He cares for us’ (1 Pt 5:7). The more we seek to entrust ourselves and unite to Christ, the more we will be able to experience His resurrection.

May our Risen Lord unite us to Himself, and so help and bless the Church and our world with the gifts of resurrection, peace, love, and reconciliation in truth between nations, groups, and individuals. May our loving God bless you and your family.

Yours in Christ, Fr. Marijan Sisko