BISHOP GRAY'S EASTER MESSAGE
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Alleluia. He is Risen!
The Lord is Risen, Indeed. Alleluia!
For the first time in my adult life, and maybe ever, I missed being in church Easter morning. A serious bout with the flu that overtook me on Maundy Thursday and refused to let go until Sunday evening required that I “walk” this most holy of journeys flat on my back in bed. That unique perspective and my feeble efforts to participate in an Easter worship experience on television reinforced in me something that I must forever discover again and again throughout my life. Specifically, this pilgrimage of faith is never taken apart from the community of faith.
I so missed the companionship of the Last Supper and standing with others at the foot of the cross on Good Friday. Nor could I huddle with others in the dark of the Easter Vigil before the new fire was lighted and blessed. And having “Jesus Christ is Risen Today” sung to me through the television on the bed instead of being surrounded by voices daring to sing of such glory from the depth of their souls made the experience remarkably different .
On that first Easter there were many doubts. “Surely the women who saw him were mistaken,” some said. “The disciples must have removed the body and taken it away,” others declared. But again and again came the response of clarity and conviction: “We have seen the Lord!”
The Easter path, that journey of hope and renewal, cannot be traveled alone. We need others who will remind us of truth we have forgotten, who will offer us a hand when we have fallen and who will declare what they have seen with courage and conviction.
I give thanks for those who walk close to me in faith and who surround me on every side with so great a cloud of witnesses. Together we can proclaim, “He is Risen. Alleluia.”
May this great season of Easter renew in your hearts the joy of the Risen Lord.
Faithfully,
Bishop Duncan Gray III Diocesan Contact Information:
Physical Address:
Episcopal Diocese of MS118 N. Congress St.Jackson, MS 39201Mailing Address:
Episcopal Diocese of MSP.O. Box 23107Jackson, MS 39225-3107Phone/Fax:
Phone: 601-948-5954Fax: 601-354-3401
