Blogging Holy Week: Easter Day

"Alleluia, Christ is Risen!"
Being Episcopalians, the reply comes back, "He is Risen indeed, Alleluia!"

Photo by Di Tennent

The journey through Holy Week is complete, in evening or dawn vigils, the lighting of fires, big and small (see above for our one in Dunoon!)  Alleluias are sung, bells ring out, chocolate is eaten.  Easter Day has arrived.

As a clergyperson, we must find the energy to lead the worship with excitement and enthusiasm, even after the marathon that is this week. I reflected on the feelings of the disciples, the women as they approached the Easter revelation - their week had been a churning, destroying week. We still talk about it now, about 2,000 years later, after all.

What does it all mean? Jesus Christ is Risen Today (sing the Alleluia from the hymn  response). But what does that mean?

Hope for all humanity? Relevance for the church? Human belief that we are not extinguished after our bodies cease to function? A loving God who created us and understands us (became us) and forgives us?  A mixture of all of that...?

The Easter Day message is one of new beginnings - those new beginnings are about the gospel, and the gospel is about all sorts of things, in this world and the next.  But we can begin again...

After Easter Day on Bute I am (pretty much) on holiday for a week. Some jobs to do, a little prosecco with the family, some time to start to unwind and get the rushing thoughts out of my head and relax.  But best of all:

"Alleluia, Christ is Risen!"