Peace be with You  

Peace be with You

Easter is our season of joy, but it is understandable that immediately after the resurrection the disciples would have experienced conflicting emotions. Today’s Gospel finds them behind locked doors in fear, still traumatised and grief-stricken from the brutal and unjust way that Jesus had been killed, but with the hope of the empty tomb. Into this turmoil of emotions, the resurrected Jesus’ first words to them are: “Peace be with you.”

This year Lent and Easter have felt anything but peaceful. From the civil unrest and fires at Parliament on Ash Wednesday, to the heartbreak of the war in Ukraine, to the ongoing necessary restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic, we also hear Christ’s greeting of peace through our own present-day experiences of grief, fear and locked doors. The peace that Christ offers is not the absence of conflict or pain, but our hope and faith that the tomb is never the final word.

I know that for many of us, it can be hard to feel that we are in the season of Easter when we are still “fasting” from singing and other aspects of our communal liturgical life. Like many of you, I long for the days when we can sing “Alleluia” together freely and without constraints. However, while we continue to protect the most vulnerable members of our communities with Covid restrictions, let’s allow the hope and joy of Easter to take root and sing in our hearts. Christ still offers his peace to each of us and to all of us. Christ lives, and we rejoice.

Lisa Beech

Music Co-ordinator/Leader