Catholic Diocese of Broome

Jesus is quoted in John’s Gospel as saying to his followers, ‘I have come that they might have life and have it abundantly’ (John 10:10). This is the promise full of extraordinary hope for the human race of that generation and of all generations to come. It has its echoes in the Hebrew Scriptures as well – ‘Today I offer you a choice between life and death. Choose life!’ (Jeremiah 21:8)

Despite the offer of life to the full some 2000 years ago, where ever we seem to look in our world today we find activities that seem to be calculated to bring death and destruction. Some would wish to use this as a proof of the failure of religion to deliver on its promises; more so when some of these acts are deliberately perpetrated ‘in the name of religion’.

Someone once said, it is not that religion has been tried and failed; it is more the case that it has not been tried yet! It seems to be more the case that we are seeing people in many cases slipping backwards into a particular expression of ‘religion’ that not only would not be recognised by Jesus, but would most likely receive the same condemnation that he reserved for the Scribes and Pharisees in his own day.

There is no doubt that we live in times that can fill us with fear, uncertainty and doubt. The temptation is to retreat into areas where we think we can find ready made solutions, easy answers and a quick fix. For those who are religiously inclined, this can result in a flight into fundamentalism. This can seem to provide a place where everything relies on God and where God can be persuaded to fix everything by us promising to ‘keep the rules’. That’s not what the life of Jesus demonstrated; it was not what the Hebrew Scriptures extolled.

The story of Easter is the story of a life journey not an event. The life of Jesus, his Passion and the Resurrection must be kept together. Jesus could not escape the suffering; there was no quick fix for him; he had to choose this path to gain life. God did not force life upon our ancestors; he offered them a choice. Easter reminds us once again that as human beings we have a choice; it is the sum total of our choices to cooperate or not with God that will bring us all to either the fullness of life or the darkness of death.

In the mystery that we remember this Easter, we are being offered the choice once again. Will we choose life or death? Our fellow human beings all around this planet, and indeed the planet itself, cry out for us to take the risk, make the effort, take a leap of faith and ‘choose life!’

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those of the Bishop of Broome.