Press Releases06 Apr 04

Archbishop Neill's Easter message

EASTER MESSAGE 2004
FROM THE ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN,
THE MOST REVD DR. JOHN NEILL

The Resurrection of Jesus from the dead is a wonderful and profound event recognised as such not simply for its dramatic impact, but because of the unique quality of the life that was raised ? the life that Jesus lived in Galilee and Judea, in Nazareth and at the place called Golgotha, or Calvary. Every encounter that took place in the life of the incarnate Lord is suffused with the power of the Resurrection. Easter is not the reversal of Good Friday; it is the revelation of the power of the love and of the life that was there at that place of suffering and death.

Where does the Risen Christ surprise us in today?s world? In those very places where the success is hard to see, where the suffering seems prolonged, and where there is disappointment and almost total despair. It is in such places that the power of the Resurrection, the power of God displayed in raising Jesus from the dead, can be seen again and again as somebody claims the power of God to resist being sucked totally into the darkness. This can be seen where a word of reconciliation is uttered, a touch of forgiveness offered, a gesture of love extended.

The Risen Jesus points us to the possibility of being ?alive? for him and with him in the very situations that are part and parcel of life in today?s Ireland and today?s Dublin.

Is there anything imaginative that can be done in our own local communities for the young couples trying to establish a home and yet who cannot possibly afford a house or flat in which they will have any privacy of their own? Can anything more be done by us all, churches included, to provide resources for young adults who in their boredom and lack of direction are drawn into a sub-culture of drug dependency? Can a fresh start be made by society as a whole on the issue of alcohol abuse? If we fail to address such issues, we behave as if life is cheap. The Resurrection points to the exact opposite, that life is full of potential for transformation. ?All will be made alive in Christ.?