April 1, 2018
In 1564 Michelangelo made the following remarks to his fellow painters: “ Why do you keep filling gallery after gallery with endless pictures of the one ever-reiterated theme of Christ in weakness, of Christ on the cross, Christ dying. Christ hanging dead? Why do you stop there as if the curtain closed upon that horror? Keep the curtain open, and with the cross in the foreground, let us see beyond it to the Easter dawn with its beams streaming upon the risen Christ. Christ alive, Christ ruling, Christ triumphant.
‘For we should be ringing out over all the world that Christ has won, that evil is toppling, that the end is sure, and that death is followed by victory. That is the tonic we need to keep us healthy, the trumpet blast to fire our blood and send us crowding in behind our Master, swinging happily upon our way, laughing and singing and recklessly unafraid, because the feel of victory is in the air, and our hearts thrill to it.’
The Easter proclamation is not ‘Christ rose from the dead.’ It is ‘Christ is risen.’ In other words we speak of Christ not in the past tense but in the present tense.
Resurrection faith claims not only that Jesus rose from the dead but also that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, he remained actively present in the world, and in particular in the lives of Christians.
Sign of Peace
Lord Jesus Christ, on Easter Sunday evening, you appeared to your frightened and disheartened disciples and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’, And on seeing you they were filled with joy.
Look with compassion on us, and let your gentle words echo in our hearts, so that we may enjoy the peace and unity of your kingdom where you live for ever and ever.
May the splendour of Christ’s resurrection enable you to live your lives under the brightness of Immortality.
May the risen Christ enflame your hearts with his love.
And may the peace of God, who brought Jesus back from the dead with Peace and Joy in the Risen Lord to one and all.
Bishop Pat O’Regan, Dean Peter, Fr Solomon, Deacon Avinash, Seminarians of the Diocese, Parish Secretary Clare O’Brien, Parish Team Jenny and Veronica, Mark Durrant, Parish Pastoral Council, Myriam worked tirelessly in the Kitchen and with the decorations around the Cathedral.