My beloved children in Christ,
Christ is Risen.
“I am the resurrection and life” (Jn. 11:25).
Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, came to earth to give us new life. This new life, is first and foremost, found in God, the true and living God. Here on earth, it is the life of saints. However, for this life to come about, it requires a clear knowledge of the true and living God. Christ revealed Him to us. One who has acquired it, is full of love and is in communion with this God, fellow human beings and creation. Most importantly, this new life is based on living according to the will of God, and away from sin. The fact is where there is sin, there is death. God who dwells in saints call us for constant repentance to be worth of His kingdom of heaven, His eternal life. Here, our Lord and Savior seals it by saying “I am the resurrection and life (Jn. 11:25)”, a special calling for Orthodox Christians.
That is why the Orthodox Church gives the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, a great importance. This feast is extremely important on the Orthodox Church Calendar. It is the feast of feasts, and the center of feasts. With the light from the source of light, Orthodox Christians celebrate the feast of the resurrection of Jesus Christ with great joy. It is a joy whereby everything is filled with life, the life from the empty tomb. This very life is the vision of a living reigning Lord. Giving everyone courage, hope, love and faith. Christ resurrected is all and in all. Mankind attains victory over death, in other words attains eternal life. The Church of Christ, which is the body of Christ, is to lead us to eternal life.
One has to visit Christ on the cross in order to grasp the depth and width of this new life. Truly speaking, Christ on the cross sheds His blood for the remission of our sins. He redeems us and reconciles us with God. At the entrance in Christ’s Church, we are born again by water and spirit. In the Church, our chief drink and food, as Orthodox Christians, is Christ’s blood and body. In communion, we get the remission of sins and everlasting life. Here one realizes the resurrection and life of Christ since in communion, Christ cleans our conscience and life and transforms our nature. Christ neutralizes the poison of sin and the bites of the devil. We are set free and drafted as sons and daughters of God, the Father, by Grace.
In the resurrection of Christ lies the hope for beloved country Uganda. As we confront the challenges of our great nation, the free sons and daughters of God the Father, by Grace, are ready and empowered with the vision of the resurrected Christ to raise this nation from heights to heights. Central to their being is the message of resurrection. It is a message of victory, victory over death and victory for eternal life. This victory is to bring about the quality of life for Uganda and indeed for all Ugandans. It is a message where love prevails in our communion with God, fellow citizens and creation. This message justifies our motto “For God and My Country”. And it puts Christ’s uniqueness and exclusiveness, as saviour able to give us true life, in the midst of our corrupt life, to the national agenda. We do re-orientate our hope to surpass the impassable which chokes our life. Let us shout loudly that Christ is Risen, each and every one in Uganda is free.
CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED, HE IS RISEN!
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Christ is Risen! Hristos Voskresi! From Australia, my heart joins you all in Uganda in the celebration of Pascha. My special greetings to Father Christopher Walusimbi and all on Bukasa. I’ve been to Uganda twice and continue to pray God restores my ailing body to be a healthy one so I can again come to Africa and again visit the Orthodox churches there. I thank God for the flourishing of Orthodoxy throughout Africa. With love-in-Christ, Tatiana Bol