By David Holmes

All gone?

I imagine that 99% of children will have finished all their Easter chocolate by now, and even those grown-ups who like to have an Easter egg may still have only a little bit left.

I was thinking about that the other day and comparing the transient nature of the traditional enjoyment of chocolate to the Church’s amazing Easter message.  A child can be quite disappointed when the chocolate runs out.  Perhaps the same can be said, to some extent, about an adult chocoholic too.  Do we feel that we have come down from the high of Easter Day to our more usual activities, stretching ahead, with nothing much standing out to which to look forward?  If so, we are not really putting the meaning of Easter at the heart of our lives. 

Just reflect for a moment on what Pope Leo said in his address to the crowd in St Pater’s Square on Easter morning a couple of weeks ago:

“Easter opens us up to a hope that never fails, to a light that never fades, to a fullness of joy that nothing can take away” as “death has been conquered forever” and no longer has power over us.

Easter calls on us to “lift our gaze and open our hearts,” the Pope explained, as “the Lord is alive, and remains with us.”

And the Pope also echoed thoughts of Pope Francis’ in affirming that the resurrection of Christ “is not an event of the past; it contains a vital power which has permeated this world. Where all seems to be dead, signs of the resurrection suddenly spring up. It is an irresistible force. Often it seems that God does not exist: all around us we see persistent injustice, evil, indifference and cruelty.  But it is also true that in the midst of darkness something new always springs to life and sooner or later produces fruit”.

Because we need to remember that Easter is God’s creation brought about by the risen Christ.  It is a new beginning because it is life finally made eternal by God’s victory over the ancient enemy. We need to proclaim this song of hope. We need to be like Mary Madgalene, announcing Him to everyone, living out the joy of the Resurrection, so that wherever the spectre of death still lingers, the light of life may shine instead.”

Because, of course, we are resurrection people.  People who believe in the Resurrection of Jesus following the events of Good Friday, as we are taught to do by Jesus himself in John 5:24 &25.  Paul pointed out that the Resurrection is how Christ is proved to be the one atoning sacrifice for sins and redeemer of all things.  He was “declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4).

Mark tells us quite graphically that after Jesus’ Resurrection, the disciples met Him in Galilee and while some of them worshipped Him, some of them doubted Jesus and all that had transpired recently. Even in the presence of Jesus, it was hard for some people – even his disciples – to believe and have hope.

Thousands of years later it is natural that we still struggle. But as Christians we believe that the message of the Resurrection is everlasting, unlike an ephemeral chocolate egg.