Paschal Massage of the First Hierarch and Apostolic President

My dear Sisters and Brothers – Friends: Christ is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

May all of us together be enriched by the healing love of Almighty God, Light of the Universe, Who raises us from death into eternal life. May God protect and guide us and all those that we love especially during this season of Easter.

Jesus’ resurrection – the anastasis, the rebirth – reminds us that God’s Holy Spirit is always alive in us and is a reality that informs our daily choices, allowing us to achieve the unconditional love that is the basis of Jesus message. Each day, we are privileged to surrender our hearts to God’s Call for us to love our neighbor as ourselves. The resurrection affirms our love for ourselves. The resurrection secures our love of every other one of God’s Children and Adults. The resurrection defends the recognition that all are created in God’s Image and Likeness.
We seem to be experiencing a time of almost worldwide confusion and disharmony – among peoples, among nations, and in the Church globally. Division seems prevalent everywhere out of which often such division grows mistrust. We are seeing many of the world’s institutions challenged to open themselves and be accepting of change. We are experiencing higher levels of unemployment and displacement of families from their homes than any generation since the Great Depression. And, through all of this, we are experiencing the opportunity for rebirth – for resurrection – to uplift one another with authenticity, compassion, and love in Christ.

In being born into this world, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a fact that challenges us to establish a social order based on the unconditional love. Every choice we make, no matter how small, affects us and everyone and everything around us. It becomes part of the community experience we share and is harmonious or dissonant depending upon the quality of motivation leading us to the choices we are making.
During this Holy Season, we pray for peace within our selves and with those we love, but also we pray for harmony among all nations – especially in Africa and the Middle East – and within our own country. We who call ourselves Christians are called by Jesus to be peacemakers: our love must be unconditional, our actions non-violent, and our community inclusive.

May God bless you and may your heart be at peace in God’s Grace.

In the Light of the Risen Christ, I am,


First Hierarch and Apostolic President.