Thousands of Christians across Toronto are celebrating Easter this weekend, and many have done so by attending mass at churches throughout the city.

Hundreds gathered at St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica downtown to mark Jesus's resurrection with mass said by Cardinal Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto.

Collins called Easter the "most important" Christian celebration of the year.

"This is a past event, about 2,000 years ago, but it's a present experience because each Christian, really in different ways, experiences the presence of the risen Lord," Collins told CBC Toronto moments before said noon mass.

"Not the memory of a historical figure, of Caesar or someone like that, but the actual presence of Christ in our lives. And that's the heart of our Christian life."

In his homily, he planned to remind parishioners that the lesson of the story of Jesus's resurrection can help put current strife and divisiveness in the world into perspective.

"The only way to confront it is by imitating Christ, and he showed us the way through that, not by dodging but to go through it with love and then to come to the glory of the resurrection," Collins said.

Parishioners filled St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica for the noon mass on Easter Sunday. (Paul Andre St-Onge Fleurent/CBC)

Asked about those who may celebrate Easter but aren't practicing Christians, Collins said it is still a "beautiful day" for family and friends to spend time together.

"Where there is love, there is God's presence," he said. "Human love is a sign of God's love."

'Hope and sacrifice and love'

In his own address Sunday, Toronto Mayor John Tory noted Easter's "important message of hope and sacrifice and love."

"In churches today here and around the world the story of Jesus Christ's resurrection is being told and filling hearts with faith," he said.

He also noted the "important work" church parishioners across the city do to help residents who are less fortunate than others.