My family in Christ,
“Do not be afraid. He is not here; He has risen.”
A blessed Easter to you all!

Of course, this is anything but a normal Easter, but it is the new reality under pandemic protocols. What we celebrate at Easter lies at the very heart of our faith, the belief that Our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and through this we have the gift of new life here on earth and for eternity in heaven with him. It’s normally a day for much celebration. But we cannot fully celebrate that joy of Easter. Last year Easter 2020 we were right in the very midst of the COVID 19 dreadful crisis. This year Easter 2021 we are grateful that with pandemic protocols in place we are able to gather in person to celebrate the Paschal Mystery. We have to come before God as we are, in the midst of a pandemic, with personal and collective triumphs and trials.

Nevertheless, for the Christian we are called always to learn from every experience and to pray that we can see it in the light of our faith. We are in the midst of a pandemic but as Christians we must keep our faith in the Risen Christ ahead of us.

In particular today I would suggest we should pay close attention to the scriptures, to the story of the discovery of the empty tomb. This is the story of a group of people who are in the midst of a crisis, a tragedy, an uncertainty, their leader, their friend, their Lord and master, is dead. It is a crisis point. They are surely surprised, shocked, to discover the stone rolled away. But this is now the start of new life. A new dawn. And they are called to greater faith than ever and to pass that on.

Easter brings so many promises of God to us, light overcomes darkness, life triumphs over death, love trade places with hate, good triumphs over evil. Once again I pray that the resurrected Christ may live in our hearts that we may always embrace his presence in others with love and gratitude.

May we be filled this Easter with the gift of faith in the Risen Christ so we may build a future of hope for our world in a new being called again to new life.

Fr. Noël Clarke
Parish Priest