A huge thank you to everyone for your participation in our keeping of Lent, Holy Week, and the Easter weekend. Thank you to our musicians, wardens, sides people, vergers, servers, flower guild, readers, intercessors, refreshments & junior church team, and all Cathedral staff and volunteers for your hard work.
Here is an Easter message from the Very Revd Dr Jessica Martin which we shared on social media over the weekend:
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It's very very early in the morning, so early it's scarcely light. A little group of women are making their way slowly through a deserted city. Their faces showing deep signs of grief and suffering. One of them lost her son in a judicial public killing, political of course, only three days ago.
They're making their way frightened as they are of the authorities who killed him in the hope that they could find his body damaged with the signs of torture and give him some honor in his death by tending him. Something like this is happening somewhere in our world right now.
Grieving women seek to honor the bodies of lost sons all over the world in Ukraine, in Russia, in Gaza, in Lebanon, in Sudan, in Syria, in Israel itself, in Yemen and Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo even perhaps in the new look United States of America. But this one this one's different. This one happened in the occupied Roman state of Israel a little over two millennia ago. And when the women came to find the body it was not there. The grave was empty The shroud was neatly folded and put to one side and two messengers in white told the women calmly "He is not here He has been raised He has gone ahead of you to Galilee Why do you seek the living among the dead?"
For this man Yeshua he was called or the name we call Jesus. He was different He died Yes And he suffered as humanity does suffer at the hands of other humanbeings possessed by evil desires and impure motives. But on him the power of God rested. A power of justice and pure goodness. He was called Messiah theanointed one beloved of God. He was God's son He was God himself walking among human beings to bring our weary and fragile hearts back to love, back to his joy and life. For this Yeshua this Jesus he did not only die The life that is God returned into the world alive and a joybringer on Easter day And those grieving women met him living and breathing full of the spirit of life and love eating with them granting them peace bidding them to rejoice in God's power of love. For love is stronger than death. And Jesus's rising from the dead shows as well as tells that astonishing truth For amidst the world's grubby cruelties injustices and oppressions God's life and love flourishes free and innocent and pure. Jesus rose from the dead and lives now yesterday and today and forever. And because of that nothing that in this world is a cause for despair. Love is stronger than death On Easter day come and worship with us and celebrate love who overcomes every evil who lives who brings the light of dawn even into the darkest life.
If you would like to read Dean Jessica's addresses for Holy Week you can download them here:
Holy Monday: Trusting the God We Cannot See
Holy Tuesday_ The Very Thought of Jesus
Maundy Thursday Eucharist Sermon
Good Friday 1
Good Friday 2
Good Friday 3
Good Friday, Preaching of the Passion