Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing delivered his Easter Vigil homily at Saint Mary Cathedral on April 4, emphasizing that bringing personal suffering to Jesus Christ can lead to a lighter burden and a path toward life, happiness, and peace. The bishop’s remarks came as the Diocese of Lansing welcomed an estimated 940 people into the Catholic Church during this year’s Easter Vigil, marking the highest number of converts in two decades.
The event is significant for the local Catholic community, with three baptisms and seventeen additional individuals received into full communion at Saint Mary Cathedral alone. The bishop used his homily to provide guidance for those entering the faith and all present. “Our union with Christ, after all, is not just a union with his suffering and death; it is also a union with his life — eternal life, a torrent of life welling up from him in each one of us. Let the waters flow!” said Bishop Boyea.
Boyea offered two main points for achieving happiness and peace through Christ. First, he cited the angel’s words to Mary Magdalene on Resurrection morning: “Do not be afraid!” He noted these words were echoed by Pope Saint John Paul II upon becoming Bishop of Rome in October 1978. “The angel and the saintly Pope both knew that it is fear which prevents us from moving out of ourselves and being about the work of the Lord. The only way to proceed is to grow in union with Christ,” Boyea said.
Second, he encouraged using newfound courage for apostolic missions or personal change: “It is not enough to give up our fears to the Lord… we must also be willing to move, to go forth to Galilee!” He added that transformation through baptism or admission into the Church should change believers: “We must let these days and weeks change us. We must let our baptism and our admission into the Church change us.”
According to the Diocese of Lansing, it was established in 1937 under Most Reverend Joseph H. Albers. Today it covers several counties including Clinton, Eaton, Genesee, Hillsdale, Ingham, Jackson, Lenawee, Livingston, Shiawassee and Washtenaw counties serving more than 185,000 Catholics. Bishop Earl Boyea has served as bishop since 2008.
Reflecting on broader implications for parishioners across Michigan’s capital region this Easter season—marked by record conversions—Boyea concluded by urging prayers for all who have joined or returned: “Please keep all those who have entered the Church across the Diocese of Lansing in your prayers this Easter.”
