Happy Easter to you all! As you read this, the ears of Christians throughout the world shall still be ringing with their shouts of praise in celebration of the empty tomb; “Sing, choirs of earth! Behold, your light has come! The glory of the Lord shines radiantly! Lift up your hearts, for Christ has conquered death! The night is past, the day of life is here!”
For Christians, Easter is the annual remembrance and celebration of the victory of light over darkness, goodness over evil and, most of all, unending life and love over death.
To arrive at the joy of Easter, however, we have had to experience the difficult days of our Holy week as we journeyed with jesus on his road to the cross. That journey is important, as we cannot truly arrive at the empty tomb with joy without contextualizing that joy with the seeming despair and defeat of the cross. This year during holy week, the church, along with the whole world, encountered a different type of despair, as with disbelief we watched the cathedral of Notré Dame become engulfed in flames.
The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, found himself consoling not just Parisians, but millions around the world who found unity in his words; “part of us all is burning”. Constructed over 200 years, and completed in 1345, the entire wooden frame of the cathedral burned and its iconic spire fell in on itself. Eyewitnesses were crying in the streets, watching with helplessness as they asked questions “how could this happen” and “what is going to happen next” in the face of their heartbreak.
When the medieval St. Paul's Cathedral in London was burned down in the 17th century, the architect commissioned to rebuild it sifted through the rubble, and found a large stone from the old cathedral with a word already carved on it. He picked it up in front of the assembled workmen and placed it on the ground as the cornerstone of the new cathedral. On it was carved the Latin word resurgam, meaning ‘I shall rise again'.
One of the images that I shall remember from this tragedy is that, even as Notré Dame was burning, groups of people were in the streets singing hymns inspired by the knowledge of the Easter message; the message that out of seeming disaster, God brings hope and new life.
As Phoenicians we are familiar with that imagery, living in this city named after the mythical bird which finds new life while arising from the ashes of its previous one.
From the destruction of Notré Dame, new life will come. From the difficulties and set backs which we face as individuals, new and surprising avenues will appear. From what might seem for us even the darkest of nights, we emerge into the dawn of a new day with new opportunities to know and tell of God's faithfulness and love. From the cross and from empty tomb a life flows which makes us all inheritors of that same victory over death.
In our Easter celebrations, we find the truth of that victory in ourselves and the world around us, which sets an undying flame of faith within our hearts. May that flame burn brightly today and always. Alleluia.
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