As we find ourselves still at home on Easter morning, we are grateful indeed to our Chaplain, His Excellency Alan Hopes, Bishop of East Anglia, for the following meditation upon the Resurrection of our Redeeming Lord.
The Procurator of the Grand Priory of England wishes all members of the Order, Companions and friends of the Order a very joyful and blessed Easter, and good health, in these straightened circumstances.
The Gospel tells us that on the first Easter Day, just as dawn was breaking, the women, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary, came to the tomb where the lifeless body of Jesus had been buried after his crucifixion. They had come to wash and anoint his body, a ministry which had been denied him three days before because the Jewish Sabbath was beginning. They saw that the stone placed against the entrance to the tomb had been rolled away. They entered the tomb but saw no one except an Angel who told them:
There is no need for you to be afraid! I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified but he is not here, for he has risen, as he said he would. See the place where he lay, then go quickly and tell his disciples, “He has risen from the dead”.
As they returned to Jerusalem, the Risen Christ himself met them on the way and greeted them. As they fell down before him, Jesus repeats the message of the Angel:Do not be afraid!
This Holy Week and Easter has been a strange one in the present circumstances. We have not been able to celebrate this central message of God’s love for us and the whole world in our usual ways. Our churches, where we have loved to gather together to celebrate the solemn Liturgies have been closed to prevent the pandemic from getting any worse than it is. We have been reduced to watching live-streamed Liturgies. We have not been able to receive the assurance of sacramental forgiveness of sin and most of all, we have been unable to receive our Risen Lord in the Blessed Eucharist.
However, as for the women and the disciples, the Resurrection itself teaches us that darkness is transfigured into brilliant light by God’s grace: our tears are turned into joy, our fears are turned into peace.
During the darkest times in human history, the disciples of Jesus Christ have shone as beacons of his love by persevering in faith and hope, often in very plain and ordinary circumstances. In these challenging and worrying days we are also called to persevere in our faith and hope and be beacons of our Lord’s love in our homes and communities.
The Resurrection of our Lord assures us that no darkness - not even suffering and death can ever conquer the Victorious Christ. His Easter greeting then, as now, is, Do not be afraid!
And in Him, we have nothing to fear. Yes, our world has changed; our lives have been turned upside; we may be fearful of what the future holds for us; we may even be called to return to the Father.
But the empty Tomb is God’s own guarantee of hope: it strengthens us in faith, by grace, to continue to radiate his love to one another, and to proclaim his truth to the world.
+Alan S Hopes
Bishop of East Anglia
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