From Fr Gregs Desk: Easter Message, Sunday 9th April 2023

“Yet three days afterwards, God raised Jesus to life and allowed him to be seen, not by the whole people but only by certain witnesses God had chosen beforehand.” (Acts 40 - 41a)

Hi everyone, and welcome to our Easter celebration of Jesus’ resurrection form the Dead!

We, as a Parish, wish to boldly proclaim that Jesus is risen from the dead and ‘alive and kicking’ among us right now. And I invite you all to ‘find the Risen Christ’ for yourselves.
But, where do we find him now?

For starters, why not ‘work from the known to the unknown’? Start, like the apostles did, at the empty tomb. I don’t mean you have to go to Jerusalem, to the Holy Sepulchre (although you certainly could!! I am leading a pilgrimage there in October!!).

Why don’t you start from the written word? Jesus was crucified on a cross by Roman soldiers, and there is independant historical evidence of it, from recognised sources of the time.

One is from a Roman historian called Tacitus, some 30 years after the event, who wrote about a “Christus, from whom the name ‘Christian’ had its origin,” and who “suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of Pontius Pilatus.” That ‘extreme penalty’ as far as the Romans were concerned was death by crucifixion.

But as for the resurrection; well, we can’t say we have independent evidence of it, or that anyone actually saw it happen!!

Christian sources do, however, unanimously report that the tomb was empty when a group of women, and then Peter and John, went to it that first Easter morning.

However, this same Tacitus – the Roman historian - also reported that:

“a most mischievous superstition … which broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome.”

He doesn’t explain exactly what that “mischievous superstition” was, but many scholars believe he was talking about Jesus’ resurrection.

The New Testament, though, openly, joyfully and faithfully testifies today to Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. And, yes, they now form as much a part of the world’s written history as Tacitus’ work ever did! And our first reading today quotes St. Peter, our first Pope, as saying:

“Now we are those witnesses – we have eaten and drunk with him after his resurrection from the dead!” (Acts 10, 41b)

That, by the way, was written just some fifty years after it happened.

What really matters, however, is that you now believe it, and live with the certainly that Jesus is risen from the dead. And look for his risen presence and listen to his words, week after week “wherever two or more are gathered in his name”. (Matt 18, 20)

And, that, dear friends, happens day after day in your Parish Churches!!

I wish you all a beautiful Easter Day together with your families and friends. And I look forward to seeing you at our Weekend liturgies from now on.

God bless, and take good care of yourselves!

Your brother, ever on the lookout for the Risen Christ alongside all of you,

Fr. Greg