Monthly Newspaper • DIOCESE OF BRIDGEPORT

BRIDGEPORT—“Christ’s victory is our victory, a victory for all those willing to persevere and be patient in His life,” Bishop Frank J. Caggiano said in his Easter morning homily at St. Augustine Cathedral, where he has celebrated all Holy Week Masses.

“This Easter it may be harder than any before to see the signs of this victory. Once again I come here to celebrate Mass essentially alone. I miss all of you not being here as you are in your homes hunkered down in safety, trying to be free from an invisible enemy in our midst,” said the bishop in his life-streamed homily.

“Just as this deadly virus has passed from person to person, consider with me that Christ’s victory also passes from person to person this Easter morning,” he told the faithful as he asked them to think of all those who are in hospital beds, isolated in quarantine or on the front lines struggling to serve people during the pandemic.

In his homily the bishop focused on the garden as an image of growth, beauty and eternal life but also a place of human suffering.

“The saga of Christ’s death began in the Garden of Gethsemane, where Lord surrendered to His father’s will and showed us how much he loved us.”

The bishop said that Christ’s resurrection created a new garden that has triumphed over sin and suffering and death. “The tomb is empty because Lord has risen in victory.”

“As we gather this Easter morning, this most unusual of Easters that you and I are celebrating together, let us recall the great in-breaking of Divine Life, the victory over death that occurred in a garden which featured a tomb hewn out of rock. In fact, the story of our salvation began in the first garden when Adam and Eve were tossed out in search of redemption.”

He said that every gardener longs for seeds to grow, but must learn patience and perseverance, and during difficult times may ask, “What kind of garden? Where is life and beauty ? What are the signs of Easter beauty?”

Photos by Amy Mortensen

“The winter you and I are living during this pandemic seems not yet to be fully letting go. We see the first signs of seeds but need to be patient. Are we any different than Lord in Gethsemane being asked to sacrifice it all? We too are asked to persevere,” because in the garden of Eternal Life Christ asks us to plant the seeds of his powers, healing and presence.”

“As we run into empty tomb with heart renewed in perseverance and settled in patience, let us personally pass seeds of the light of Christ won for us this day and I promise you that winter will pass, spring will come, not the Spring of nature, but the springtime of eternal life and victory in Jesus Christ. And that springs and the plants and sees and flowers of that garden, no one and nothing will ever take away from you and me.

Before giving his final blessing the bishop wished all the faithful a “happy grace-filled, and joyous Easter,” and reassured them that “the Lord’s victory is already in our midst as we plant seeds in the garden we share together. I see it blossom before our eyes. The Lord is truly risen and we honor him with glory forever and ever.”