Easter message - Archbishop of Wales

With the outbreak of wars and the ongoing Covid pandemic, there is a sense of dread, hurt, chaos and loss in the world today, says the Archbishop of Wales in his Easter message.

But Christ’s resurrection, which we celebrate at Easter, offers us a firm hope that in all the bleakness and the suffering, God is with us.

The Archbishop, Andrew John, will be preaching at St Deiniol’s Cathedral, Bangor, on Easter Day. The Welsh service starts at 9.15am and the English service at 11am. All are welcome.

We need only turn on our televisions, our radios, any media outlet to see the very real suffering in the world; Afghanistan, Myanmar, Yemen and Ukraine are just some of those war-torn places. It’s an impossible task at the moment to look at the world, and not feel a sense of dread, of hurt, of chaos, of loss. Again, this last year COVID has played a huge part in these feelings both at home and all across the world; we still find ourselves asking if things will ever return to the way they were before the pandemic.

These feelings aren’t strange or alien to us at this time of year. During Holy Week every year we read of the events that lead to Good Friday, where Jesus is nailed to a cross, dies and is buried. Imagine the dread, the hurt, the chaos, the loss those first followers must have felt. They’d followed this man, seen the miracles, heard his teachings, loved him even; only for him to be handed over, beaten, and killed. What an anti-climax.

But this isn’t the end of the story. We read in St Luke’s Gospel account that on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and some other women went to anoint Jesus’ body in the tomb, only to find the stone rolled away and no body to be seen. They’re addressed by two angels who say to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” We read that they respond to the message and remember Jesus’ words about his death and resurrection. So they go and tell the other apostles.

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” It’s easy for us at times like these to forget. To forget that despite the dread, despite the hurt, despite the chaos, despite the loss, what we have in the resurrection of Jesus is a sure and firm basis for hope. We too, like the women who went to the tomb on that first Easter Day, need to remember that he has risen, that we won’t find Jesus among the dead but among the living.

It is through this new-found hope that we find our world completely and utterly turned upside down - it gives us a lens and perspective on life. It doesn’t ignore the hurt, the pain, the loss; it tackles them full on knowing that there is a way through with God, irrespective of how bleak, how cold, how dark things may get.

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.”

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Have a most blessed and happy Easter.

Archbishop Andrew John