Bishops wishing for blessed and peaceful Easter holidays
Ljubljana, 30 March - The bishops of the Catholic Church in Slovenia have extended their Easter greetings to everyone through pastoral letters. While wishing for blessed and peaceful Easter holidays, they stressed the fragility of human life during Holy Week and highlighted Christ's triumph, love, peace, mutual respect, and joy.
Ljubljana
Prayer.
Photo: Anže Malovrh/STA
"Jesus invites us not to linger by our graves, not to discuss the weight of stones, and not to surrender to despair about life, ourselves, or God. He invites us to venture into our own Galilee.
"There, where we first heard the call with our hearts more than our ears - 'Follow me.' And we followed him. Because in him is life, because he is the light of humanity, and because that light shines in the darkness," the Archbishop of Ljubljana Stanislav Zore wrote.
Evangelical Bishop Leon Novak meanwhile wrote that Easter reminds us of Christ's cross, which was erected on Good Friday as a sign that transcends all human suffering and death.
Novak says that Christ emerged as the victor from apparent helplessness and defeat. "Behind every suffering, every death, and every tragic end, there comes Easter. Christ's triumphant act, overcoming death and assuring us of a new, brighter future, provides us with hope and comfort," he wrote.
Vigils will take place in churches in the evening, with bishops leading them in the cathedrals in Ljubljana, Maribor, Celje, Novo mesto, Murska Sobota, and Koper.