Diocesan News18 Mar 08

Archbishop of Armagh's Easter Message

EASTER MESSAGE 2008
The Archbishop of Armagh
The Most Reverend Alan Harper

Those of us who live in Northern Ireland approach the season of Easter with the tenth anniversary of the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement of 1998 upon us. Although the complete outworking of that agreement is not yet achieved, the progress that we have seen in the establishment of durable community structures and renewed opportunities for community harmony seem little short of miraculous. Only a tiny rump of “irreconcilables” believes that there can be any going back to the deeply deplorable situation and unreconstructed relationships we once knew. This does not mean that we can now “rest on our oars” and enjoy an inevitable drift to complete harmony: transformation and newness of life must be worked for and witnessed to.

In this respect we find ourselves in a position little different from that of the disciples after the assimilation of what must have been for them both the shock and the awe of the Lord’s resurrection. They began to realize that everything had changed, permanently and for ever; but they also found themselves challenged to share the fruits of that change so that everyone who would hear could enjoy the vindication of faith and the access to grace and hope that they had come to know through the presence of the Risen Lord.

Three sentences from the post resurrection narratives resonate especially for me this Easter. First, the consistent greeting of the Risen Lord to his disciples, captured in the single word, “Peace”: “Peace be with you!” Second, the repeated question put to Peter, “Do you love me?” And third, the command of Christ (thrice repeated to Peter) “Feed and care for my lambs and sheep.” The gift of Christ is peace; the yearning of Christ is for love; the command of Christ is to care. May Easter be for all Christians a time to explore the foundational requirements of peace, love and mutual care as the basis of all our future common life.