Our bishops have both written messages for this Easter season.
An Easter Message from Bishop John:
At Easter we celebrate the glorious resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Maybe you find the idea of resurrection difficult? Maybe the whole idea of life after death is unbelievable for you? Well I’d like to offer you a parable, to encourage further reflection.
Imagine twins talking to each other in their mother’s womb.
One says the other, “Do you believe in life after delivery?” The other replies, “Why, of course. There has to be something - maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”
“How ridiculous,” says the first. “There can’t possibly be life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?”
The second says, “I don’t know, I’m just guessing, but maybe there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat using our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.”
The first replied, “That’ absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Logically, life after delivery cannot exist.”
The second insisted, “Well I’m convinced there is something and maybe it’s different from it is here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.”
The first replied, “That’s fantasy! And what’s more, if there is life after delivery, then why has no one has ever come back to us from there? It’s obvious that delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion.”
“Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “but I believe we shall meet Mother and that she will take care of us.”
The first replied “Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?”
The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we have life. Without Her this world would not and could not exist.”
The first retorted: “Well I can’t see Her, so logically, She can’t exist.”
To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and you really listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above.
Happy Easter!
Download an audio version of Bishop John's Easter message on the sermon podcast page.
An Easter message from Bishop Martin:
We live in a time of division. We are passionate about what we believe in, but all too easily despise those we don’t agree with. Instead of asking ‘I wonder’, we can find that our mind is made up by whatever we see on social media, on TV or in our newspaper. Social media thrives on ‘Them and Us’ sending us anything that will grab and keep our attention and sending us more and more of the things that make us angry, or sad or make us laugh. This can be fine, or it can drive us into some dark places filled with hate and division.
Good Friday and Easter show us another way. Jesus taught us to call God ‘Abba’, which means Father. As in the Lord’s Prayer which begins ‘Our Father’. If God is our father, then that means we are all sisters and brothers. Everyone, every human being. Not just our family, friends, tribe or nation. Not just those who are like me or who I agree with. But everyone. ‘With God as our Father, one family all are we.’ How different would our world be if we could really believe and live out that truth.
We live in a hard world, and Jesus was put to death on a cross. As he died he looked at his oppressors and said, ‘Father forgive them, they know not what they do.’ Evil and hatred will never have the last word. Forgiveness and divine love are stronger still. Jesus was crucified and died as human evil did its worst. And Jesus stands with those who suffer today. But on Easter Sunday Jesus rose from the dead. Alleluia! Love is come again, never to be defeated!
Happy Easter!
