"Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia"
Easter Sunday,
Cobh
20 April 2025
My friends,
This Eastertime is different this year because a co-incidence of calendars of celebration of all the major Christian Churches – which means that we all are celebrating Easter at the same time. It would be great if we could agree to do so every year. It would serve as a united witness to the world of Christian faith.
The world is dearly in need of the Easter message of Joy and Hope. After 3 years of senseless and brutal war in the Ukraine an Easter truce has been declared – may it be the beginning of the work of making peace.
The ongoing carnage in the Middle East is beyond comprehension – it brings so many to the point of despair as others seem not to care.
Further afield in Sudan conflict and displacement of people confirms the futility and horror of war.
Meanwhile, all over the world, the poor and deprived suffer at the hands of those with great wealth.
It is indeed into such a turbulent world that Jesus came to walk amongst us and bring hope to a suffering humanity. Our hope is a gift – its deeper than keeping the best side out – it is rich with immortality.
We can declare these things because of celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Christ Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.
The Psalmist declares: “Death where is your victory
Death where is your sting?”
So, we can speak of Easter as a time of Joy. Like our sense of Hope – the Joy of Easter is not an easy and spontaneous Joy.
It is deeper than the joy we feel when everything is going well, when our health is good, when we experience the vitality of being young, when we’re blessed with good friendships and family.
The joy of the resurrection is the joy that comes ‘after’ – after the anguish, after the crisis. It is a joy experienced in the depths of our being. It drives out our many fears. It is as if the Risen Christ is saying to us this morning, “Do not be afraid, trust in me. See I have conquered the worst fear of all of death itself. For this eternal blessing – Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.”
Happy Easter!
