TO move a nation from ‘no confidence’ to trust and collaboration would take much more than legislation can offer. Easter people, who make up a significant portion of civil society, can put the nation on a new course of creating spaces and circumstances that would heal the divisions of race, politics, gender and generation and the many ways we are fragmented and divided.” This is the Easter Message of Roman Catholic Bishop Francis Alleyne, which is given in full below:
“On Easter Sunday and during the weeks following we will hear (read) the resurrection and post-resurrection accounts around the lives of the apostles. In those narratives, it is clear that for those who encountered the Lord, before and after his Resurrection, could not continue as before. For the members of the early Church, the physical Jesus was no longer present to them, but what he taught was now theirs to assimilate, make their own and share with others. That was very different from being in the learning seat free of full responsibility. Resurrection was not only the event of Christ breaking the bonds of death but also, and intending to be, the transformation in the lives of his followers, those whom he accompanied then and we who claim to be disciples now. When one encounters the Lord it cannot be business as usual.
“In the case of St. Peter, we are introduced to the Simon, a spontaneous individual with noble ideals but impetuous and afraid who denied knowing Christ. He had to overcome his limitations and take on the teachings of Jesus before his could live up to the name “Rock,” on which the Church could be built. Similarly, St. Paul, formerly Saul, was a diehard Jew who approved of the death of Stephen and was ready to draw battle lines with anyone appearing to act outside the parameters of Jewish law and tradition. That same Paul/Saul would write in his letter to the Philippians, “If only I can gain Christ and be given a place in him” (Phil 3:8-9). We are regaled with the Easter stories of Peter and Paul and all the saints with whom we profess to have communion and as their lives rose in stature and brought life to others, that in communion with them our lives too would be testimony of growth and transformation from a state of fragility and brokenness, to become “a consecrated nation, a people set apart to sing the praises of God who called you out of the darkness into wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).
“What is our story? The Easter mystery meets us in our daily lives in the midst of our usual routines of family and work and pursuits. It meets us with our fears and limitations, our hopes and dreams and meets us intent on freeing, transforming and expanding our lives. It meets us as individuals and meets us as communities, society, nation. Our mandate, as Easter people, is to live the Mystery, something within our reach, something for which we need each other. Pope Francis often uses the term “accompaniment”; journeying with, listening, sharing, empathising, respecting also connoting movement, direction with gaze and goal towards life to the full. This we can make real for ourselves and those in close proximity to us. This would be my Easter wish to all.
“My wish too would be that we sustain our prayer for the nation. Our nation at present awaits the outcome of legal pronouncements flowing from the no- confidence vote of last December. The courts and the constitution can clarify the terms and the way they are to be applied. But to move a nation from no confidence to trust and collaboration would take much more than legislation can offer. It cannot be business as usual. Much of what has gone before and to a great extent is still present, has not worked and is not working. Easter people, who make up a significant portion of civil society and who take up the invitation to live the Mystery, can put the nation on a new course, certainly one of accompaniment, creating spaces and circumstances that would heal the divisions of race, politics, gender and generation and the many ways we are fragmented and divided. He is risen, it cannot be business as usual.”
Yours sincerely,
Bishop Alleyne
