"Easter is the most important celebration for us, Christians. The Son of God who became man for us and for our salvation proclaimed the Good News that the Heavenly Father unconditionally loves us and cares for us. The Lord Jesus Christ taught us the values of God’s Kingdom such as love, justice, compassion, forgiveness and self-giving. The experience of God’s, unconditional love frees us to love our neighbour freely, with a predilection for the poor, widows and orphans, the oppressed and the marginalized.

"Our Lord Jesus Christ, rooted in the love of His Father and empowered by the Holy Spirit emptied Himself in loving service with the same predilection for the outcasts. His ministry was met with opposition from the Religious Leadership of His time which culminated in His passion, crucifixion and death as had been foretold by the prophets. He became the Suffering Servant who took upon Himself the sins of others in order to redeem them. Saint Paul in his letter to the Philippians brings out this mystery of death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus very powerfully: "Christ Jesus emptied himself taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross. Therefore, God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2: 6-11).

"Thus by his Passion, Death and Resurrection, the Redeemer won for us the privilege of being God’s children again. It is these mysteries of our Redemption that we celebrate during the Sacred Triduum of the Holy Week. Easter, therefore, will be meaningful only in the measure that we die to sin and rise to a new life with the Risen Savior.

This year, we are celebrating Easter at a very important and critical period in the history of our country. We are deeply conscious of the immense sufferings of so many innocent Tamil civilians in the war zone and thousands of them in the "welfare centres." We are keenly aware of the hardships of the people in the South resulting from the ongoing war and the sky-rocketing cost of living. We are not blind to the loss of the near and dear ones in the battle fields and the attendant excruciating pain and agony of their families across the divide. It is the dream of all Sri Lankans, here and abroad, that peace, and lasting peace may return to the country. The feast of Easter gives us fresh enthusiasm and hope that the Sri Lankan society be delivered from all forms of evil, hatred, division, violence and counter violence.

"Our Lenten theme this year was "‘Harmony Through Reconciliation". Let us celebrate the Holy Mysteries of our salvation with great fervour and prayer that our country may soon be blessed with peace, harmony and unity. All of us need to be purified from everything that is keeping us divided as a nation. This is an hour that all of us both in the North and the South need a change of heart and consequently of attitudes towards each other. With such a disposition, let us accept each other as brothers and sisters of the same nation and family. Therefore, in this Easter let us be renewed in the action oriented awareness that the Lord Jesus has made it possible for us to build a society that is permeated with love, brotherhood and fellowship through forgiveness and reconciliation.

"May the Risen Savior, Jesus Christ, who brought the message of peace to the Apostles, grant us the same gift in our lives, in our families and in our beloved nation."