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An Easter message from Bishop John |
Bishop's Easter reflection 2005
Easter faith: can it stand the test of life? For some of you, 2005 has been a good year in your life - things are going well for you and your loved ones, and your hopes for the year are high. But for others, your life and even your faith this year has been shaken by a death, a personal tragedy, perhaps financial hardship, or a relationship breakdown. Or perhaps, like mine, your year has contained its share of both joys and sorrows. Easter is a picture of a God and a spirituality that can cope with good times but also the difficult times. During the 'Dirty War' in Argentina we came to learn that God is with us. God understands. God has walked, stumbled, bled upon this earth. God knows the tears of a mother. A man called Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in a Berlin prison awaiting execution for his resistance to Hitler affirmed, 'Only the suffering God can help.' At Easter we recall that Jesus, this 'God with us', takes evil and suffering into himself and dies the painful death pictured so vividly in the movie The Passion. However, his death was not meaningless suffering, but a deliberate self-sacrifice on behalf of the world. Jesus suffered so that we might respond in repentance and faith to God, experience his presence and share in his resurrection hope. The Cross of Christ is the tear of God. It is God's heart to both walk with us in our humanity and to pay the cost of our redemption. In his death, Christ takes death upon himself, thereby overcoming death and bringing in eternal life. If you have had a difficult year so far, you can turn to this God who understands and find new hope. Of course, Easter is not only about death and suffering and sacrifice - it is also about new life and the celebration that goes along with that. In his resurrection, Christ is the life-giving rainbow of the love, hope and purposes of God: the resurrected, glorious King. If your year is going well, come along this Easter Sunday and celebrate the goodness of God with us. If you are struggling, come to the God who brings life out of death, and who in the end will rule over a resurrected world where every tear will be wiped away. God wants you to be a part of that new world - why not take up his invitation this Easter? Happy Easter
Bishop John Harrower
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