By
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Easter is a
time to remember the joy that Jesus is alive and that his resurrection can
inspire hope and love in the world, said Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of
Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
It is through the resurrection
that people can be alive in Christ and respect and love others, he said in an
Easter message released April 1.
“Jesus lives. This is the
simple message of Easter. And because Jesus lives — so does hope, so does
love, and so do we. Although Christ knew the pain of the cross and the
isolation of the tomb, his death and resurrection gives us the joy of the
resurrection and the gift of eternal life,” Cardinal DiNardo said.
Noting that a large part of
today’s culture “tempts us to see one another as different, dividing us
into ever more polarized camps,” Cardinal DiNardo added that Jesus walked
the Way of the Cross for all people.
“Everyone is in need of his
love, and everyone is offered his love,” he said.
Christ offers the “gift
of life and joy. How we choose to live that life, however, is up to us,”
he said. “Do we always treat one another as sisters and brothers in the
eyes of God? Can we look beyond the distractions and despair of our own
suffering to the hope of the world to come? Jesus endured the pain and
isolation to show us the path to life.”
The cardinal also called on
people to “acknowledge the gift of life Christ has given us” and to “look
into the empty tomb and proclaim with joy, proclaim with all our hearts and
with our lives — that Jesus lives!”
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