"Mary stood crying outside the tomb. While she was still crying, she bent over and looked in the tomb and saw two angels there dressed in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and the other at the feet" (John 20:11,12).
 
 

Dear Sisters and Brothers of the Household of God:
 
            For some reason, Mary Magdalene decided to look for Jesus in the tomb, among the dead rather than the living. When she turned around, however, she saw him in the garden, very much alive. That first Easter morning brought a victory for life that Jesus wants to share with all of us.
 
            I am still reminded of the earthquake and its many after-shocks that took place in Haiti earlier this year. (And, then, another one in Chile.) While the devastation was tremendous and affected multitudes, my recollection centers on the faith and hope of the Haitian people, even in the midst of great deprivation.
 
            Individuals who were buried in the rubble for as long as two weeks (or even longer) related how their belief and trust in the Lord Jesus saw them through. They focused on life and not on death. Their relationship with the Lord went way beyond the material. It did not depend upon what they had or did not have, - nor, on what they were enduring.
 
            That is as it should be. Christians are to look for their Christ in the garden and not in the tomb. The Lord's Kingdom is not of this world, as Jesus himself stated to Pontius Pilate. Once we are able to grasp and accept that our true happiness has its foundation outside of this material world, we will truly be a People of the Resurrection and our lives will be an eternal "alleluia."
 
            May this year's Easter Blessings bring a genuine resurrection into your life and into mine, in such a way that others around us will experience the presence of the Risen Lord in the midst of life's challenges. 
 
 
                                                                 Sincerely yours in the Risen Lord,
                                                                    
                                                                 (Most Rev.) Joseph V. Adamec
                                                                 Bishop of Altoona-Johnstown