'On this Easter morning let us resolve to use our gifts faithfully'
Dear friends, on this Easter morning we have just listened to Peter proclaiming the truth he had come to understand about his friend, Jesus Christ. One can almost imagine the turn of his voice as he described Jesus. He had known him as a special man – singularly blessed by God: a man who knew the Scriptures and interpreted them in a new, life-giving, way; a man who worked signs and wonders – who cured the sick, who calmed the storm; the man, surely, to bring God freedom to the people of Israel. One can hear his voice breaking as he recalled how this man, this good man, had fallen into the hands of those who sought only to maintain their own grip on power; how he was handed over to the Romans and condemned to a shameful death before being laid in the tomb. And then the true nature of this man was revealed all the world to know; because on the third day after he was laid in the tomb, it was empty; and after they had seen the empty tomb some of the disciples and women close to him were privileged to see Jesus once more: to talk with him, to eat and drink with him. They knew then that they had encountered their God: the God whom the Scriptures had taught as untouchable and invisible was now revealed in a particular time and a particular place. On the first Easter Day, our forebears in faith, Peter and his brethren, knew Jesus to be God and they knew God as a man knows his friend. This friend not only forgave their weakness and sin which had been so dramatically revealed in the preceding days but also commanded them to bring the good news of salvation, of God’s friendship, to the very ends of the earth: to every place and every time.
Now, dear friends, we human beings know that this world is not limited to what our senses can perceive. Now we know that death is not the end of all things. Now we can be sure that our God loves us – loves us to the extent of sharing a human existence, loves us so much that he has shared our death, and continues to love us by leaving us gifts of his grace which will bring us to eternal life with him in our heavenly homeland.
These gifts of grace, however, are not imposed upon us: they are ours to accept or reject. On this Easter morning, as we look forward to the remainder of this year, let us recall once again what is offered to us and let us resolve to use our gifts faithfully. We are offered the gift of the Scriptures in which we hear the voice of God speaking to us – as he wishes to speak to all men and women. But to hear this voice we must open the book and read; read daily. We are offered the gifts of the sacraments; gifts which help us to cope with the realities of human life: forgiveness for our sins, food for the journey, membership of Christ’s body, grace in sickness and in health. We are offered the gift of the Church in which we can find both divine and human support and encouragement as we spend each day in God’s service. These gifts and others besides are offered to us today. They are offered to us so that we may fulfil the command addressed to us just as it was addressed to Peter and his companions: ‘Go, make disciples of all the nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.’
It is easy for us to feel positive on Easter Sunday morning. It is equally easy to allow our good intentions to slip away as the year wears on. So today, on this Easter Sunday, let us make our own Easter resolution – here and now. May our Easter resolution be that we play our part in bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to those who do not know him or to those who have forgotten him.
Fr Abbot