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EASTER REFLECTION 2003

Each year Easter marks a ' turning point ' in our daily living. The darkness of evenings gives way to the brightness of setting suns, nature itself takes on a refreshing aspect with its colours and sounds and outdoor activities speak of a healthy life-style that is uplifting and envigorating. The freshness of new life and the prospects of the summer months are reflected in our personal encounters and conversations. Yes, a ' turning point ' has been reached.

This Easter we all need to experience a ' turning point ' in our personal lives. We have been weighed down by so much ' bad news ' recently that we need to be able to breathe again the oxygen of the ' Good News '. We need to believe that there is 'Good News ' for all of us. We need to believe that, despite the infidelities and abuses, the violence and the wars, there is the ' Good News ' of forgiveness, healing and love. Easter is that ' Good News ', that 'turning point' from death to life, from hate to love, from sin to grace.

As we set out on our Lenten journey we were reminded of the appeal God continues to make to each one of us: " Come back to me with all your heart, for I am all tenderness and compassion" ( Joel. 2: 12-13). This ' coming back ' is the ' turning point ' to which we are called this Easter, rising above our doubts and fears, our weaknesses and frailties through the grace of the Resurrection. We are invited to live the new Life won for us on the Cross and to walk in newness of life in the Risen Christ.

May this Easter celebration bring about a change in all hearts, a healing of all hurts and a cessation of all violence so that truly the ' Good News ' of salvation may be experienced by all mankind and the Kingdom of God on earth may permeate the realities of our daily living.

+ John Magee.