An Easter Message From Fr. Richard Gibbons

Happy Easter Everyone!

Betrayal, frightened disciples, torture, death on a cross, the ignominious end of a movement of love…..but then….. an empty tomb, talk of someone coming back to life, not an end anymore but the start of something extraordinary – so extraordinary that the very concept of what we really are as human beings is changed forever! It could be the basis of a blockbuster movie but it’s far more profound.

Easter is a time where we proclaim once again that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and where he has gone, we hope to follow. We proclaim this in a world which, seems at this time and for the past number of years since Covid, to be stuck in Good Friday. In a world run by people who seem only interested in causing chaos, the Resurrection speaks to people who are touched by death every day in the violent arena of our world, it speaks to people whose loved ones have died in upsetting circumstances, it speaks to people who find life hard, difficult and upsetting in many ways.

It is only through the Resurrection that we can understand that our destiny is not here in this present life but with God where in the end “all things shall be well”. We believe this because as Christians we trust in those who physically witnessed the Risen Lord – they actually saw him. Far from being the basis of a movie, it is the basis of our very existence.

A very happy Easter to you all and a welcome home to those who are visiting family and loved ones – He is Risen, Alleluia!

Fr Richard