Easter Greeting 2026

To the Very Reverend Clergy, Monastics and Religious Sisters and Brothers, Seminarians and Laity of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Toronto and Eastern Canada

Christ is Risen! Indeed He Is Risen!

Simple is not always easy. The Good News is simple: Jesus Christ is Risen from the Dead! Yet understanding the Good News and the significance of this is only one small step. The other challenge is accepting it deep in our hearts without condition. It is actually a great challenge that we take up for our entire earthly journey as pilgrims in life. Ultimately, each of us truly hopes to REJOICE in this Good News as we proclaim it.

So where are you at with this mystery right now? Are you merely aware of this Good News (following seasonal traditions and going through the motions); intellectually aware perhaps (so that you could explain it to a child); emotionally moved so that you could lift up the heart of someone else who is feels distant (ready to talk to someone about the Resurrection and what it means); or ON FIRE and not able to keep quiet about it?

Jesus said, “This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in Him may have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.” Jn 6:40 So, how do you SEE the Son or BELIEVE in the Son at this time?

Contemplate this – “Eternal Life is to participate in the community of the Divine Trinity, the Life of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”. Becoming aware that you belong to them and are with them is eternal life. To reject this invitation and awareness is to reject life itself and simply taste death. How are you aware that you are participating in this life even if you don’t FEEL it? How are you called to believe in this profound truth?

We are invited to participate in this eternal community in several ways. Like those on the way to Emmaus, we can share with each other, reflect together with wives and our family members, phone a brother, visit a person that is ill or shut-in, etc. The fruits of this charitable activity are manifest later.

Jesus says, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Jn 6:53 We are invited to go beyond just a ‘mental exercise’ or personal spiritual ‘act of faith’ and respond to the invitation to commune with the Risen Lord through the reception of Holy Communion. Let’s admit there are many ways to commune with God that are far above our emotional awareness.

Mother Teresa, St Teresa of Calcutta, reminds us to “be happy in the moment”. To find God in the vulnerable and suffering person is to allow the Risen Christ to work through you. Archbishop Fulton Sheen explains that the Incarnation, the Death and Resurrection of Christ continues to happen through you as the Body of Christ. Indeed, Jesus has risen and is alive in you! We don’t have to always fully understand this mystery to celebrate it. However, the more we appreciate it, well, that is up to God and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Let us look at the paradox of those in Ukraine at this time. Amid the suffering and death, there are those through whom the Risen Lord is alive and truly visible. We witness small or significant humble acts of great faith and heroism, despite the clouds of doubt, destruction and death. One person may have little or no hope in life, yet another comes to their side to witness to the Risen Lord. Likewise, He invites you to be that vessel as well.

May the Holy Spirit use you to spread the Good News, regardless of your level of awareness of this mystery. As members of the Body of Christ, may God bring hope to others through each of us, through our families and through our communities.

 

+ Bryan Bayda, CSsR,

Eparchial Bishop of Toronto and Eastern Canada