Easter Message 2016

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us hope that our own lives can be transformed

The 2016 Easter message from Diocesan Administrator, Fr Peter Williams.

TRANSCRIPT

Dear brothers and sisters in the risen Christ,

It is an undeniable fact that some people are morning people and some are night people. There are those who instinctively believe that morning is the best part of the day, and those who believe that the night hours are the most productive. I fall into the first category. One of the things about early morning people is that invariably you get to witness the dawn. There is something about the breaking of the dawn and the refracted light at that time which is markedly different from sunset. Perhaps it is the still dawn air or the distant first glow. With the dawn comes the expectation of a new day and all that it might bring. I don’t think it was any mistake that on that first Easter day the women went to the tomb in the garden just as dawn was breaking. As the light became brighter they could see that the tomb in which the body of Jesus had been placed was now empty as the stone was rolled away. As we meditate on the Easter story we see that the realisation of what had taken place took some time to be absorbed by the first witnesses to the resurrection. Resurrection faith came slowly, but as the day unfolded the truth became clearer and then the resurrected Christ began to appear to his disciples.

For us in these times there are many challenges to accepting the truth of Christ risen. So much of our world and so many lives seem to exist in a state of darkness and with the darkness a foreboding that nothing can get better. For those who embrace faith in Jesus Christ, his saving death and resurrection, there is always the hope before us of our lives being transformed – even when faced with personal and societal challenges. Uncertainty gives way to doubt and often despair. The risen Christ says to each of us “peace” and that gift of the peace which St Paul reminds us passes all understanding, becomes the anchor which steadies our lives and provides the security we need to continue in our journey towards ultimate fulfilment.

May you experience that gift of Easter peace that the risen Christ bestows on those who claim faith in him and may the hope that he inspires continue to guide us in the remainder of this year and beyond.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

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