Bishop George H. Niederauer of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City released this Easter message:
" `Peace! Do not be afraid!' With these words in Matthew's gospel the risen Jesus greeted the women at the tomb on the first Easter Sunday morning. On Easter Sunday 1996, among the mountains and valleys of Utah, Jesus meets us, his followers, and says again: `Peace! Do not be afraid!'"What are we celebrating this week? We celebrate the work of our salvation and our Savior: Jesus Christ suffered and died on the cross that we may die to sin and spiritual death, and he was raised up by the Father that we may live now and forever as his sisters and brothers - made one with him and with each other by the bond of his spirit of love.
"With such breathtakingly good news, why does Jesus think we disciples still need peace, and encouragement not to be afraid? Because we live constantly with the already and the not yet. Jesus has already died for our sins and been raised to share with us eternal life. But we disciples are still struggling to realize the meaning of this mysterious gift and to respond to its power in our lives. We are not yet living completely as Easter people.
"We need to take the already of Easter very seriously. It is our hope and our strength. As a people of faith, we feel no suspense about how the story of Holy Week comes out. On Holy Thursday evening, it is our risen Savior who calls us together to celebrate the Eucharistic Supper. On Good Friday, it is the risen Jesus who invites us to remember and give thanks for his suffering and death. On Holy Saturday, it is our risen Lord who calls us during the day to wait quietly, prayerfully for the Vigil to begin.
"And at the Paschal Vigil it is the risen Christ who leads his new disciples through the waters of baptism, bringing them, with himself, from death to life.
"But the not yet is quite real as well. St. Augustine cautions us: `God, who made you without you, will not save you without you.' We should not think of ourselves as the passive observers of salvation, and we may not live that way. In describing the celebrations of Holy Week, the liturgist Father Gerard Broccolo once said: `We are not sitting in the bleachers, watching Jesus "do his thing" again this year. Rather, Jesus is within us and we are within him, as we "do his thing" again this year. Rather, Jesus is within us, and we are within him, as we "do Jesus' thing." '
"The crucified and risen Jesus continues the work of salvation within us and through us, drawing us to himself through all the dyings and risings of our daily lives.
"Jesus urges us not to be afraid as we draw on the power of his grace to die to sin and to rise to new life in his kingdom. We are challenged to be especially vigilant about the judgments we form in our minds and bring to our lips. Let us remember that the deadly judgments of the world around him fastened Jesus to the cross, while his own compassion gave forgiveness to the crowd, eternal life to the thief, and Mary as spiritual mother to us all.
"Jesus calls us to rise to new life with the catechumens and candidates (both converts to the faith) who become our sisters and brothers in the family of faith; with the people who forgive us, and whom we forgive, as we seek out the Sacrament of Reconciliation and its fruitfulness in our daily lives; with the Eucharistic Banquet which nourishes us with the Word of God and the Word of God made flesh; with the Body of the Crucified One whom we meet and serve in all those who need us - need our time, our attention, our energy, our patience, our resources, and, above all, our compassion.
"The Catholic Church in Utah has many "risings" to celebrate and give thanks for at this Easter time. Consider just a handful of the external signs of growth and new life throughout this diocese this Easter: the hundreds of catechumens and candidates at the Paschal Vigil in our parishes, joining us on our pilgrimage of faith; the Bishop William Weigand Resource Center for the homeless in downtown Salt Lake; the wonderful opportunities for expanding Catholic education in the valley; ground about to be broken for the new church in Park City; the new parish halls in St. George and Kanab, in American Fork and Roosevelt; the addition to Blessed Sacrament School in Sandy; the expansion at St. Joseph Villa; and many, many more.
"These gifts are but the exterior signs of the growth of faith, hope and love with us and among us as Utah Catholics.
" `Peace!' The Lord Jesus Christ is risen, and he is our Resurrection and our Life. `Do not be afraid!' In all of our dyings and risings, we die and rise in Christ the Lord."