This victory of Christ’s is not imaginary, says Archbishop Barry Hickey.
Archbishop Barry Hickey
Archbishop of Perth
My Dear People
The perennial message of Easter is one of hope, but a hope that is set against the background of suffering and death and, inevitably, of evil.
Easter was the first feast of the Church because it was the most significant event for new Christians, followed closely by the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
For those who lived at the time of Jesus, especially for the Apostles, His resurrection meant that Jesus had not really left them but had returned to live among them in a new way. His appearances assured them that His resurrection was real, not imaginary.
It also became clear to them that Jesus was transformed by the resurrection, into a new way of living, unrestricted by the limitations of time or space. Jesus could remain with His people for all time and be a constant reminder of the new life promised to us when this life is over.
Beyond all this, the resurrection of Jesus signalled a triumph over evil. Jesus saw that the world was in the grip of Satan and His sacrifice broke that hold.
This Easter, let us reflect on these three truths:
1 Jesus’ resurrection was not imaginary. He truly rose from the dead to a new life. We can therefore be absolutely sure of His living presence among us now. We speak to Him in prayer. He is with us as our constant companion. It is the Risen Lord whom we receive in Holy Communion as food for our daily journey.
2 Jesus’ resurrection reminds us of the ultimate goal of our journey, the Kingdom of Heaven. It is the end of our Baptismal commitment, to be one with Christ our Saviour in the fullness of His Kingdom. At Easter, we think of Jesus’ death and recall that we too must follow Him into death. Part of the joy of Easter is knowing that death gives way to eternal life.
3 Jesus’ resurrection is the defeat of Satan and the overthrow of the kingdom of evil.
At first this seems to be clearly untrue because evil still flourishes. There is so much evil in the world, violence, suffering, exploitation, sexual abuse, pornography, killing of the unborn, to mention some of today’s evils. How can we say Jesus’ death was a victory over the forces of evil?
We understand this in the context of free will. No-one can be forced to be good. It must be a choice.
Now that the forces of evil which led to Jesus’ death have been defeated, the triumph of evil is not inevitable. The Risen Lord gives us in His grace the power to rise above evil and to live a life of integrity and wholeness despite the evil around us that would bring us down.
Evil cannot overcome us now that Jesus is risen. He is our strength.
We still need to carry our cross daily to follow Him, but the cross can be a source of great strength and grace if we remain faithful to Christ who has already carried His cross to the limit for our salvation.
There is much to rejoice in at this time of Easter. Let its good news fill us with joy and may it radiate outwards to others.
A Happy and Holy Easter to you all.
Bishop Donald Sproxton
Auxiliary Bishop of Perth
With the completion of St Mary’s Cathedral, there has been a palpable sense of rejoicing during these months that have followed. It is as though ‘the beloved old lady’ has entered into a new and glorious phase, something like a resurrection experience.
The Easter Vigil will be very special for us this year because of the beautiful space that has been created by the architect, Mr Peter Quinn, which forms the forecourt for the Cathedral.
In its centre is the place where the Easter Fire will be lit for the first time.
The Fire will be seen right down Murray Street into the heart of the city.
This would be reminiscent to the Irish historian of the night St Patrick lit a huge bonfire on the Hill of Tara, in defiance of the King who had forbidden the lighting of any fire before the one he lit celebrating the New Year.
The light from Patrick’s fire was testimony to the strength and victory of Christ. May our city of Perth see the Fire of Easter Victory and be drawn to Christ our Saviour.
The Resurrection of Christ is our greatest reason for hope. Before the birth of Jesus, despite the many efforts made to be faithful to God, His people always eventually succumbed to human doubt about God and the wisdom of His plan for them.
The Hebrew Scriptures are full of examples of how the people made new covenants with God, one after another, only to fail in their responsibilities.
Jesus, from the time of the temptations in the wilderness to the moment He breathed His last on the Cross, revealed His utter faithfulness and confidence in God.
The way in which He accepted the kind of death He suffered, showed His belief that the plan of the Father, however mysterious in a moment of time, was good and wise.
Resurrection is our hope.
We believe that when our life here is ended, the new life revealed by Christ awaits us. It is also granted to us that we should have resurrection experiences along our way.
Easter reassures us when we are full of doubt and the plan of God for us seems incomprehensible. The Easter Proclamation of the Vigil – the Exsultet – joyfully announces: The power of this Holy Night dispels all evil, washes guilt away, restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy; it casts out hatred, brings us peace, and humbles earthly pride.
I pray for each family that our Easter celebrations bring the blessing of new life and hope. May the power of Christ‘s victory over death bring us healing, renewal of faith and courage to give authentic witness to Christ.
Bishop Christopher Saunders
Bishop of Broome
I have been looking for an image of the resurrection – a painting, a sketch, a mosaic or a block-print. I wanted to use it in our magazine to accompany an article and a prayer-card for Easter and I wanted something that went beyond the pious, shallow art that so often adorns the pages of our press this time of the year.
I have looked far and wide for an art form of any kind that communicates graphically and wonderfully Christ’s rising from the dead.
It will be no surprise that I have found nothing that captures the gravity and mystery of that moment, or even comes near the expectations of my imagination of what that Gospel scene may have looked like.
I have seen some wonderful paintings recorded in art books and on the web.
I have looked at oils, water-colours and crayons, even at scenes constructed in soft light by world renowned photographers as they tried to seize that sacred second when Christ breathed anew and humanity was saved.
However, each image seemed incomplete as the magnitude of what it proclaimed could never be contained or captured within the physical limits of a piece of art.
I have examined many memorable renditions of the crucifixion of Christ found in the great galleries of the world.
They evoke an appreciation of Jesus as the one who has given everything, even unto death, for a sinful world.
I am convinced of the authenticity of the rigours of the scourging at the pillar and the crowning with thorns portrayed in great works by the masters, and in modern films by directors such as Mel Gibson in his Passion.
I remember flinching through gruesome scene after scene of the Passion in a city cinema and looking forward to the resurrection ‘finale’, wondering then how it might look from Gibson’s perspective. Cleverly he avoided it.
Well, almost.
Bandages lay abandoned on the cold stone slab and an eerie light beckoned us to appreciate that something super-significant had happened.
It was as close to the real thing that Gibson dared venture.
I don’t blame him.
I am sure he knew we would all feel severely disappointed with any
attempted celluloid portrayal of such a mystery.
No artist can recreate the magnificence of the resurrection so as to do it justice.
Similarly, the theologians simply haven’t the words to craft an explanation of the resurrection of Christ that satisfies us, nor can they explore in their conjectures the details of this profound occurrence; one that so changed humanity and humanity’s relationship with God.
And neither can any of us with the most fertile of imaginations ensnare for a moment the full meaning of this mystery. Easter, it would seem, is nothing less than pure faith.
It is a time for the true believers. “Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe”. What a superb gift to us is faith.
Our faith compels us to believe in the risen Christ, one who demands that we love as He loved.
“This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you”. He now awaits our response to His supreme gift of love.
He who has loved us to the point of death gathers us in this new life which He breathes into us through the power of the Spirit and urges us to live and love as He did.
Easter is a remarkable time that leads us to the edge of pure mystery and begs us to contemplate our relationship with God and with each other … and set it right.
With this in mind, I wish you a happy and a Holy Easter.
May the joy that your faith promises you lift you up in happy expectation of new beginnings in the company of the resurrected Christ.
Bishop Justin Biacnhini
Bishop of Geraldton
I was privileged to spend two months of my sabbatical last year in the Holy Land. One month was in the walled city of Jerusalem itself at a centre called Ecce Homo run by the Sisters of Zion.
Three of the very special places for me, and for us all as Christians, are Nazareth (the place of the Incarnation), Bethlehem (the Nativity) and Jerusalem (the place of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus).
Each of these sites has a special church. Even with a GPS, I don’t think we could get much closer than these actual sites where the saving work of Jesus for us and our world took place.
From the roof top of Ecce Homo I often looked out and prayed over Jerusalem and its people – the Jews, Christians and Muslims. I would look over at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Resurrection.
This special church was close enough for us to visit at various times of the month to reflect and pray there.
One morning our group of 30 had the rare privilege of celebrating the Eucharist there, close to the site of the crucifixion of Jesus.
The place of resurrection is also close by. It is so close that when Emperor Constantine built the first church, after his mother had discovered what we believe to be Jesus’ cross, it was able to encompass (as the present one does) both sacred sites.
This church is just so special because of where it stands and what it honours – the death and resurrection of our loving Saviour and His Paschal Mystery which we celebrate in the rich Church’s Liturgy of Easter. The Paschal Mystery is at the core of our Christian Faith.
The point I want to make in this Easter message is that the two sites of the dying and rising of Jesus are not far apart. For Jesus, they were close in space (perhaps just a stone’s throw away) and in time (just the three days).
It is important to remember that in our lives our dyings and risings are connected closely to each other. Our whole life is a continual succession of dying and rising.
In the course of one day we can “die” and “rise”.
There are times of course when the ‘dying’ part is very prolonged and the suffering seems endless.
Just as surely as the cross we experience is real, there will be a ‘rising’ because of Jesus’ Paschal Mystery.
I would like to quote St Paul who had a deep love for and appreciation of Jesus and the Paschal Mystery – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God” (2 Cor 1:3-4).
Through Paul’s own experience he is teaching us not only the value of the cross but encouraging us as he did to embrace it in our lives. Jesus will then give us consolation.
In other words He will bring us through to peace and greater life. We in our turn then can use that consolation to help others who are going through difficult times. We can do both of these things because Jesus is with us, bringing us consolation as well as empowering us to offer that same help to others.
Jesus’ death and resurrection were not far apart. Ours (our many small and bigger deaths and resurrections) likewise are unquestionably connected.
What is more important is that Jesus and His big Paschal Mystery are never apart from us and all that we are called to do.
This is what we celebrate at Easter and at each Mass.
Happy Easter. Happy Passover.