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April 5, 2026Dear Friends in Christ,
Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!
After forty days of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we have finally arrived at the very heart of the Christian faith – the Paschal Mystery as Jesus passes over from death to life. In our Lord’s resurrection, you and I receive a promise from God that we too will be able to pass over the brokenness of our human condition – the sins that beset the human family – into a new way of living filled with grace and goodness. Easter is the feast of hope that God will never leave us to face our challenges alone.
There are two profound images in the resurrection accounts that remain close to my heart at Easter. The first is the burial cloths. The gospels tell us that Jesus rose from the dead and all that remained in the tomb were his burial cloths. This is such an evocative image. These simple pieces of linen represent all that you and I leave behind this Easter. They are the experiences of life that keep us from arriving at our true selves as women and men created in the perfect image and likeness of God. At Easter, Christ makes all things new, most especially you and me. Easter is our opportunity to “leave behind” the things that keep us from right relationship with God and each other so that we might walk together in wisdom and holiness.
The second image is the conversation between the risen Jesus and Mary Magdalene. She arrives to find the tomb empty and sees who she thinks is the gardener. She asks him, “where have they taken my Lord?” The man, who is Jesus, doesn’t explain the actual resurrection that happened sometime during the night – he doesn’t give her a theological explanation on the meaning of the resurrection in the economy of salvation. He simply answers her question with one word: her name. He answers with, “Mary!” This is how it must be with you and God too. Early in the morning on this first day of the week our Lord resurrects and calls you and me by name into a new hope, a new way of being, a holier life with him and one another. This is the meaning of Easter!
On behalf of the priests, deacons, women and men religious, and lay ministers who serve you in the Diocese of Tucson, I wish you a very happy Easter filled with the assurance that your hope is never in vain. May God bless each of you with newness of life and an ever-young soul filled with joy and holiness. Happy Easter!
+Bishop James A. Misko