When you notice that the policemen are getting younger it is a sign that you are getting older. As one generation after another grows old and dies it begins to dawn on us that one day it will be our turn to face the reality of death. We accept the inevitability of death but we do not accept the finality of death. St Ignatius of Loyola said, “I am born for greater things”; and all of us have that inner conviction that, given the opportunity, we might achieve more.

In his poem, “Intimations of Immortality”, William Wordsworth reflects on the innate capacity that all of us have for life. We are created by God and for God. At our birth we bring something of God’s eternity into the world. As the poet says, “trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home”.

That human feeling takes on a new significance and importance for the Christian who believes in the Resurrection of Jesus. The Scriptural evidence is solid and convincing. Thomas, the Apostle who doubted the resurrection, was told by Jesus to put his and into the wounded side of his Master, and his finger into the wounds in his hands.

The two disillusioned disciples who encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus recognised the Risen Christ through the Scripture lesson given by the fellow traveller who joined them in their journey. Once their eyes were opened to the reality of the Risen Christ they, they hastened back to Jerusalem to add their witness to that of the others.

In a world seared by death in battle, by starvation and disease, by drugs and alcohol abuse, the message of the Risen Christ, the message of life after death, is more important than ever. How will the world hear that message of hope unless all of us are prepared to stand up and to proclaim with boldness and confidence, the message of the Resurrection of Jesus?

As we greet the Risen Christ with joy let us share that joy and that hope with all those around us. May your Easter be filled with happiness and a renewed faith.

+ Ian