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'Why look among the dead for someone who is alive? He is not here; he has risen.’ Luke 24:5-6 “When they came to Jesus, they found he was already dead, and so one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance and immediately there came out blood and water.” John 19:33-34 2008 Issue 1 (March) Easter Message |
KCP Magazine Easter Message
I found some remarkable similarities in the public discussions about this historical event and the wonder that we remember and celebrate each Easter. I am uplifted by the bright promise of building a just future heralded by hopeful hearts since that moment in Canberra. It was a healing, liberating experience. At the same time I see in the death and resurrection of Jesus, a promise come true that gives substance to the hope for which all humanity longs. For some years, certainly since the ‘Bringing Them Home’ report of 1997, there has been the hope of reconciliation for Aboriginal people centering largely on the Stolen Generations but by implication including all Indigenous people in the quest for A Bran Nue Dae, as the Kimberley musical calls it. There are signs that this Nue Dae is now a possibility for us as a nation. In the achievement of reconciliation with one another there is the prospect of healing and peace unknown in previous generations. God’s promise, as revealed in scripture, of new beginnings with the human race is enabled by Christ whose death and resurrection seals in trust the covenant between God and humanity. To know Christ is to know God and to know that his love is healing, unconditional and without bounds. To know and love Christ is to be united in love with God so as to find meaning in our existence, to appreciate the mystery of suffering in our midst, and to acknowledge the power of God’s forgiving Grace. God calls us to holiness, to change our selfish ways that burden us and others so readily. He invites us to renounce sin and to forge a new relationship with Him made possible in Christ. As an Easter people we celebrate that it is God who “brings us out of darkness into his own wonderful light.” I wish you and your family every blessing, every joy and every wonder that the feast of Easter so generously offers our world. Yours in Christ
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The recent National Apology on behalf of the Australian Parliament to the Stolen Generations has given rise to a great deal of discussion about reconciliation in our land. Among those who supported the historical moment there has been talk about making the past right, acknowledging the injustices enacted by the discriminatory laws, saying sorry for the hurt caused and making reparation for wrongful acts. There has been much said about the hope for a new beginning in forging equitable relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, restoring trust between governments and Indigenous people, and healing the wounds of a harsh history.