Catholic Diocese of Broome

Easter Message - Bishop Christopher Saunders DD

EASTER – THE SUPREME GIFT OF FAITH

I have been looking for an image of the resurrection – a painting, a sketch, a mosaic or a block-print. I wanted to use it in our magazine to accompany an article and a prayer-card for Easter and I wanted something that went beyond the pious, shallow art that so often adorns the pages of our press this time of the year.

I have looked far and wide for an art form of any kind that communicates graphically and wonderfully Christ’s rising from the dead. It will be no surprise that I have found nothing that captures the gravity and mystery of that moment, or even comes near the expectations of my imagination of what that gospel scene may have looked like. I have seen some wonderful paintings recorded in art books and on the web. I have looked at oils, water-colours and crayons, even at scenes constructed in soft light by world renowned photographers as they tried to seize that sacred second when Christ breathed anew and humanity was saved. However, each image seemed incomplete as the magnitude of what it proclaimed could never be contained or captured within the physical limits of a piece of art.

I have examined many memorable renditions of the crucifixion of Christ found in the great galleries of the world. They evoke an appreciation of Jesus as the one who has given everything, even unto death, for a sinful world. I am convinced of the authenticity of the rigours of the scourging at the pillar and the crowning with thorns portrayed in great works by the masters, and in modern films by directors such as Mel Gibson in his The Passion of Christ. I remember flinching through gruesome scene after scene of the Passion in a city cinema and looking forward to the resurrection ‘finale’, wondering then how it might look from Gibson’s perspective. Cleverly he avoided it. Well, almost. Bandages lay abandoned on the cold stone slab and an eerie light beckoned us to appreciate that something super-significant had happened. It was as close to the real thing that Gibson dared venture. I don’t blame him. I am sure he knew we would all feel severely disappointed with any attempted celluloid portrayal of such a mystery.

No artist can recreate the magnificence of the resurrection so as to do it justice. Similarly, the theologians simply haven’t the words to craft an explanation of the resurrection of Christ that satisfies us, nor can they explore in their conjectures the details of this profound occurrence; one that so changed humanity and humanity’s relationship with God. And neither can any of us with the most fertile of imaginations ensnare for a moment the full meaning of this mystery. Easter, it would seem, is nothing less than pure faith. It is a time for the true believers. “Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe,” What a superb gift to us is faith.

Our faith compels us to believe in the risen Christ, one who demands that we love as he loved. “This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you”. He now awaits our response to his supreme gift of love. He who has loved us to the point of death gathers us in this new life which he breathes into us through the power of the Spirit and urges us to live and love as he did.

Easter is a remarkable time that leads us to the edge of pure mystery and begs us to contemplate our relationship with God and with each other…and set it right. With this in mind I wish you a happy and a Holy Easter. May the joy that your faith promises you lift you up in happy expectation of new beginnings in the company of the resurrected Christ.