Abbot Hugh Allan, O.Praem.

Apostolic Administrator of the Falkland Islands and Superior of the Ecclesiastical Mission to St. Helena, Tristan Da Cunha and Ascension Island

Pastoral Letter for Easter 2023

Dear friends in Christ,

“Surrexit Christus, spes mea” – “Christ, my hope, has risen” (from the Easter Sequence)

These are the words which the ancient hymn puts on the lips of Mary Magdalene, the first to encounter the risen Jesus on Easter morning. She ran to the other disciples and breathlessly announced: “I have seen the Lord!” (Jn 20:18). We too, who have journeyed through the desert of Lent and the sorrowful days of the Passion, at Easter rise the cry of victory: “He has risen! He has truly risen!”

Every Christian relives the experience of Mary Magdalene. It involves an encounter which changes our lives: the encounter with a unique Man who lets us experience all God’s goodness and truth, who frees us from evil not in a superficial and fleeting way, but sets us free radically, heals us completely and restores our dignity. This is why Mary Magdalene calls Jesus “my hope”: he was the one who allowed her to be reborn, who gave her a new future, a life of goodness and freedom from evil. “Christ my hope” means that all my yearnings for goodness find in him a real possibility of fulfilment: with him I can hope for a life that is good, full and eternal, for God himself has drawn near to us, even sharing our humanity.

If Jesus is risen, then – and only then – has something truly new happened, something that changes the state of humanity and the world. Then he, Jesus, is someone in whom we can put absolute trust; we can put our trust not only in his message but in Jesus himself, for the Risen One does not belong to the past, but is present today, alive.

May we all remember that life is worth living and we should live the fullness of our Catholic faith. Remember that the resurrection is the guarantee of the truth of our Faith. With that in our hearts, embrace the challenge to live the beauty of holiness in following the teachings the Christ. Not just the ones we may find comforting and easy, but more importantly the ones which challenge us and help us to live as saints.

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter. The fasting of Lent is over (alleluia!) and so now we can celebrate and rejoice. Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia.

With my love, prayers and every blessing,

+Hugh o. praem.

Abbot Hugh Allan, o.praem.