Leaders of three faiths have issued formal Easter messages. The text of those messages follows:
"On that first bright Easter morn, Peter and John ran with alarm to the empty tomb, into which had been placed the lifeless body of the Savior Jesus Christ just days before. Similar concern must have filled the mind of Mary Magdalene as she gazed into the sepulcher now void of the body of the Master. Confusion and dismay were not to last, however, as the resurrected Lord made manifest to those so dear to him in life the reality of eternal life and the miracle of the Resurrection. (See John 20)."We now rejoice with all of faithful Christendom at the marvelous message of the Resurrection. By virtue of his loving gift of life, each of us will rise from the grave, body and spirit joined together inseparably throughout eternity.
"We proclaim that the `bands of death' (Mosiah 15:8) have, in very deed, been broken for the children of men. Each of us may lay aside all wonder, all fear of the darkness of death and rejoice, "having a perfect brightness of hope." (3 Nephi 31:20).
"We offer our solemn testimony that he lives; that the blessings of the Resurrection will be realized for each of us. We join with you in an expression of humble gratitude for his willing sacrifice and pray the blessings of heaven will attend us all, as we commemorate at this Easter time the hope and eternal promise of the Resurrection."
-The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(signed) Gordon B. Hinckley, Thomas S. Monson, James E. Faust
"It takes a certain courage to celebrate Holy Week and Easter, for in the landscape of Galilee, Gethsemane and Golgotha we are reminded of our deepest vulnerabilities and our highest hopes. And we find ourselves drawn into a cosmic drama where God's own vulnerability and hope are lived out in individual personas and as a faith community. Take courage!"
-The Rt. Rev. Carolyn Tanner Irish, Tenth Bishop of Utah, Episcopal Diocese of Utah.
"Easter Sunday is the `anniversary' of every Christian's baptism, no matter what day on the calendar the individual ceremony took place. We celebrate the saving death and resurrection of Jesus during the Sacred Triduum, beginning with the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday evening, and concluding with Evening Prayer on Easter Sunday. This central event of our Catholic faith affects forgiveness of sins and new, eternal life for each of us, and for all of us together as Church.
"Sometimes we come to a day of public celebration, and our own private experience and feelings do not echo it. For instance, on the Fourth of July in a particular year some citizens might be feeling anything but independent and free. But feelings are not the only reality: Those dejected citizens would still have their civil liberties, their right to trial by jury, freedom of speech and freedom of worship.
"In a much more powerful way, the saving events of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ always have their effects in our lives. For example, a Catholic family might be in mourning for a loved one at Christmastime, but God's Son still is born for love of them, and the gift of salvation is delivered into their hearts. Discovering, accepting and giving thanks for that gift may come later.
"This is even more powerfully true at Easter time. All our lives we may struggle with temptation and sinfulness, with doubt and disbelief, with loneliness and misunderstanding. The Good News of Jesus the Savior is always breaking into this neediness of ours, proclaiming that we are loved, forgiven and eternally alive in the risen Christ who died so that we might live. It breaks into our lives this way most powerfully at every Eucharist, in each of the sacraments, and in our experience of the Church.
"Each year that breaking-in of the Good News is most powerful of all for Catholic Christians at Easter: `We are an Easter people, and our song is "alleluia!" ' People usually can't keep good news to themselves; they have to share it. And our Easter faith is the best news there is. My prayer for each of you in the Diocese of Salt Lake City is that the joy and peace of this Easter season will be yours in abundance, and that you will share that joy and peace with everyone in your life."
-Bishop George Niederauer, Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City