.jpg)
2026 Easter Message
Bishop Greg Bennet
From ashes to the living font is the movement of the heart of during Lent and now our arrival at Easter. How joyful it is for us to gather across the Diocese of Sale and across the Church universal to celebrate this great feast of our life, our hope and our promise.
Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and we sing Alleluia, Alleluia!
The promise of this feast is that in every moment of our life, whether there is struggle or anxiety, fear and even death itself, the promise is that God has sent his Son Jesus Christ who has risen beyond the tomb to embrace us wherever we are through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
This promise breaks into the complexity of the world. A world that is struggling with the violence of war, the enormous devastation this brings to so many and the economic uncertainty it has brought to our shores, Easter arrives once again. The Easter proclamation assures us that God’s work continues even where we can no longer see a way forward. Resurrection does not erase the wounds of the world — it transforms them. Easter reminds us, with quiet insistence, that “nothing is impossible with God” (Lk 1:37).
How wonderful it is that across Diocese of Sale at the Easter Vigil this year, 2026, over 100 adults have chosen the Christian way of the Catholic Church. Our Elect will receive the water of life for the very first time poured upon them as the Father, Son and Spirit descends upon them. Together with our Candidates they will come to the altar of the Lord with us for the first time to be nourished by his body and blood, his legacy, his presence to us in every age.
Their “yes” to faith renews the hope of us all, reminding us that the Spirit continues to call and to awaken hearts in every generation. This is the living water to which every Christian returns again and again to remember who we are and to whom we belong.
My dear friends we are called through this feast to be the living hope and life of the world – in our parishes, our homes, our workplaces. Jesus is our strength; it is to him we are called to be living witness.
As we gather on Easter Sunday, let us pray that that the tombs across our hearts will be moved. That the Holy Spirit with the gift of Jesus’ resurrection will truly bless us on our way.
May the Lord bless you, my dear brothers and sisters, Alleluia.
May his face shine upon you and be gracious to you, Alleluia.
May the Lord bless you and keep you always Alleluia, Alleluia!
