PORTLAND — Diocese of Portland Bishop Robert P. Deeley has issued an Easter message to parishioners.

“A blessed Easter to you all! This beautiful feast recalls for us the truth that is the heart of our faith: Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and we, sharing in that resurrection, have been saved and given the gift of hope,” Deeley said. “Over the course of Holy Week, Jesus once again invited us to accept the gifts of forgiveness and reconciliation that he won for us in his Passion, Death, and Resurrection. In the mystery of Easter, we are renewed in faith and hope”

Deeley said that in times of suffering and tragedy, he believes we can trust in that faith.

“The God who raised Jesus from the dead will never abandon us. Our faith is not a gift to be kept. It is to be celebrated and shared. The challenge for us who profess belief in the resurrection is to show in our lives that we are different because Jesus has risen,” Deeley said. “Allow this gift of faith to transform your life. Every time we try to heal a wrong that has been done, offer a gesture of friendship to one who is lost, or help others to know the joy we know in the Lord, we celebrate Easter.”

Your life will be richer, more joyous, and truer when it is lived in imitation of the risen Lord, Deeley said.

“I pray that you and your loved ones have a blessed Easter. May the Lord open all our hearts to receive the gift of faith and live in the joy and hope it brings us,” he said.

On Dec. 18, 2013, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Deeley the 12^th Bishop of the Diocese of Portland, and he was installed as bishop on Feb. 14, 2014, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the New England region of the United States comprising the entire state of Maine.

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