Press Releases07 Apr 04

Archbishop Eames' Easter message

EASTER MESSAGE 2004
FROM THE ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH,
THE MOST REVD DR. ROBIN EAMES

When Jesus prayed from the Cross of Calvary ?Father forgive them? he spoke of the deepest of human emotions.

Forgiveness calls for the most generous, courageous and self-denying words and actions of which any human being is capable. Often for a person to forgive is the hardest challenge in life. When we are hurt by the words or actions of others, when we are denied, misjudged or victimised anger and resentment flood our mind and heart. Too often there is no room for anything such as forgiveness. Sadly the reality of human experience is that anger and resentment corrode and destroy us even more than the original sense of hurt or injustice.

How we deal with our memories of the past can dictate the person we are. When hatred and resentment control our heart and mind we lose the chance to grasp any real happiness or opportunity to enjoy the gift of life. We quickly lose self-dignity and esteem.

This Easter Northern Ireland contains a great deal of anger and resentment. Memories of the past have left us with a deep legacy of hurt. Judgement of those who have such memories by those who have suffered little themselves must never permit our society to minimise the depth and sincerity of such emotions of pain.

Hard and almost impossible as it is to find ways of coming to terms with the past the truth is that as individuals and as communities we have got to find a way of doing so. We cannot rewrite history ? but we can build a future if the real truth of Christ?s words at Calvary are seen in the certainty and reassurance of Easter Day.

Good Friday speaks to the Christian of pain, sacrifice and death. Easter Day brings triumph over darkness, death and sin.

This community has to decide which of those experiences it wants to place at the core of its future.

I pray that within our hearts and within our lives we can find the courage and trust to grasp the real meaning of Easter morning.