What does Easter mean in a secular world?  Very little I think.  Nevertheless for so many people it means holidays, time to spend with the family, relief from work, and for so many in the city escape from the absolute torment of traffic jams morning and evening.  However for Christians who understand their faith Easter means absolutely everything, especially new life through the resurrection of Jesus, a resurrection that brought new life both to Himself, to all creation, and to each and every one of us.  After His resurrection the world could never be the same again. 

Because of the resurrection we live in a new world filled with the love of God, filled with hope, filled with a deep peace that can only come from God.  God’s love gives us the capacity to look beneath the violence and sin we see all too often on TV and in the printed media, to recognise a world in which evil has been conquered while goodness triumphs in actions as simple as a kind word, an act of forgiveness or assistance, an act of love.  However once having grasped the vision of Jesus nothing can make us return to a rather lifeless grey world where money, possessions and entertainment become the focus of our life.  After the life, death and resurrection of Jesus life is just too good to be wasted on matters that can never give us ultimate satisfaction in this life and in the life to come. 

All of us are made to love and be loved and every year Easter gives us breathing space to ask ourselves whether we are wasting our lives on superficial reality or not.  Jesus said He had come to bring us life and life in abundance.  It is there for the taking if we will only learn a little more about the incredible magnificence of Jesus Christ who loves us and seeks our love in return.  I wish this Easter a very happy and holy Easter for all and pray that Mary the mother of Jesus will open for us the extraordinary vision of her son Jesus that changed the world and can change us also if we will ask her to share with us her insights about Jesus as she did with the early Church.  Each year Easter helps us to come alive once again in Jesus.  May the whole Archdiocese be filled with the joy of the risen Christ. 

Archbishop John Bathersby

April 7, 2009 

Released by The Catholic Leader