We will be celebrating Easter, 2021, in New Zealand with free access to our churches, and no restriction on numbers — please God.
This is a marked contrast with the situation we faced last year, and with the strict lockdowns still in place in many other countries.
The coronavirus pandemic has brought our world to its knees.
Pope Francis, in his latest book, “Let us Dream”, is challenging us to see in this global tragedy the possibility of working towards a different future, in which we are more sensitive to the needs of others.
What steps can we take to support those here and abroad who have lost friends and family members, jobs or livelihoods?
We all know that the Easter story is one of triumph in the face of what initially appeared to be an absolute disaster.
Jesus ends up rejected by his own people and abandoned by those he had most trusted.
But Easter Sunday tells a different story: an empty tomb, an encounter with someone Mary Magdalen takes to be a gardener, and a mix of fear and joy when “he showed them his hands and his side”.
The holes left by nails and a spear were startling signs that this was the dawning of a New Day in God’s work of creation.
What changes might be possible for us in a postCovid world? Pope Francis is inviting us to dream together for a better future.
