Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch
Message to the Church – Easter 2026
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Christ is Risen!
In truth, he has risen!
In this holy season of the Resurrection, the Church proclaims with joy that Christ is risen. Yet the Gospel accounts remind us that the first experience of the Resurrection was not triumph, but fear. The disciples gathered behind closed doors, uncertain of what the future held, burdened by loss, confusion, and apprehension. Into that very space—into fear itself—the Risen Christ came and stood among them, saying, “Peace be with you.”
This is not incidental to the Paschal Mystery; it is central to it.
The Resurrection does not occur apart from the realities of human fear, suffering, and uncertainty. It unfolds precisely within them. The Risen Christ does not wait for courage to return, nor for clarity to be restored. He enters the locked rooms of the heart as they are, not as we would expect them to be. And there, in the midst of fear, he breathes peace.
This truth speaks powerfully to our own time. We live in a world marked by uncertainty, global instability, social division, war, personal anxiety, and the quiet burdens carried in the depths of many hearts. There are moments when it seems that we, too, are living behind closed doors, unsure of what lies ahead. Yet the message of Easter is not that such conditions disappear, but that Christ enters into them and transforms them from within.
At the same time, the Resurrection is not only a consolation for the human heart—it is the beginning of the renewal of all creation.
In rising from the dead, Christ does not stand apart from the world; He draws all things into new life. The Resurrection is cosmic in its scope. It is the first movement of a transformation that embraces not only humanity, but the whole of creation. What was fractured is being made whole. What was divided is being reconciled. What seemed bound to decay is being drawn into the life of God.
This means that the peace Christ speaks is not merely the absence of fear—it is the presence of a deeper reality. It is the quiet but unshakable assurance that even now, beneath the surface of our uncertainty, the life of God is at work, renewing, restoring, and bringing all things toward their fulfillment.
To believe in the Resurrection, then, is not simply to affirm that Christ rose long ago. It is to trust that his risen life is active here and now—in our world, in our communities, and within our own hearts. It is to recognize that no fear is so great, no suffering so profound, no moment so uncertain, that it lies outside the reach of His transforming presence.
As a Church, we are called to bear witness to this mystery—not only in word, but in the way we live. We are called to be a people who carry peace into fearful places, who embody hope in times of uncertainty, and who trust that even in the midst of struggle, the seeds of new life are already being sown.
In this Easter season, may we open the doors we have closed in fear, and allow the Risen Christ to stand among us. May we hear again his word of peace, and may that peace take root within us. And may we come to see, with renewed vision, that the Resurrection is not only a promise for the future, but a reality already unfolding—within us and throughout all creation.
With every blessing in the Risen Christ,
‡ Mark Elliott Newman, Presiding Bishop
Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch – USA