Easter Letter 2026
“All will be made alive in Christ.”
Easter Sunday
April 5, 2026
Dear Siblings in Christ,
Grace and peace to you! Christ has died… Christ is risen… Christ will come again.
We have journeyed through another season of Lent, a lengthy time of preparation for the coming of Christ. We prepare as though we hear the call of John the Baptist for the coming of Jesus in the Incarnation as those in the first century had. We also prepare in preparation of Jesus’ coming again. Now, we join with the apostles and disciples who were surprised to find the deeper meaning of Jesus’ actual Resurrection when the Lord spoke to them.
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!”
John 20:16
I cherish this simple interaction between Mary Magdalene and Jesus. Still in mourning, her eyes overflowing with tears, in shock that Jesus’ body was no longer in the tomb did not immediately recognize Jesus. In her distress, she only lived in the expectation that Jesus was gone. It took her a moment, until Jesus called her by name, when Mary knew this man knew who she was though she thought it was a stranger. In a sudden intense moment of recognition, Mary’s tears no longer have the same purpose. Tears of grief and sadness are turned to tears of joy. Jesus continues his work of reversing the expectation of earthly life. He who died, lives.
I pray each of your spiritual journeys this Lent has prepared you to appreciate the unexpected moments Christ reaches into your lives. May our Lord continually surprise us, change our sadness to joy, and give to us the same exuberance of overcoming the finality and darkness of death. May new life be brought to us in Jesus’ call to us, as he calls us each by name, in a personal connection. Let’s join Mary Magdalene in her joy of finding Christ alive in her, and our, life.
As we journey forth into the life of our Lord, remember to keep one another and your parish in your prayers. A blessed Eastertide to all! Live in love as Christ loves us. [Ephesians 5:2]
The God of Life and Peace be with you,
Fr. Michael
A Collect for Easter
The Book of Common Prayer, 222
O God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.