Easter 2025

The Resurrection by Cecco del Caravaggio (1619–20)                                 Source: Wikipedia

                                                       

Wishing you a Happy and Blessed Easter

He is Risen!

The disciples Peter and John running to the tomb on the morning of the resurrection - Eugène Burnand  (1850–1921)                   Source: Wikimedia Commons

 A Happy and Blessed Easter to all my Readers

Orthodox Easter 2022

Easter in Kyiv, Ukraine, 2019

 

Ukraine 2022

 

Pray for Ukraine and for the Orthodox Church

Easter greeting

The Three Marys at the Tomb Peter von Cornelius (1783-1867)                                                                                                                          Source: Wikimedia    

The Resurrection

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said! Come, see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.’ See, I have told you.”… Matthew 28:6

Happy Easter! 

Easter 2021

“Christ the Consolator”                  Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834-1890)  

With Very Best wishes for a Joyful and Blessed Easter

Easter 2020

The Resurrection                                                                                                     Caravaggio

A Happy and Blessed Easter

to all my readers

Easter 2019

The Resurrection of Christ, Tintoretto

Wishing all a Happy and Blessed Easter

Easter message

Bishop's Pride involvement 'fantastic'                                                                              Source: BBC

From the bishop of St Davids' Easter message:

 "Many of us this year will have lived through pain and suffering that we did not

choose and could hardly bear, knowing that God walks with us, but also hardly

knowing how that is supposed to help. Holy Week, Good Friday and Holy

Saturday remind us that we are called to endure." 

How true. Not just this year but every year since women were ordained in the Church in Wales.

Orthodox Anglicans did not choose to be cut off from their Church but Barry Morgan and his band led by his embittered Archdeacon Peggy Jackson saw to that.   

Each year absence from the Triduum reminds us most strongly of what we have to endure for our faith. 

The bishops welcome all manner of allegedly persecuted minorities while rejecting Anglicans who remain faithful to the orthodox teachings of the Church. The 'inclusive' church has no time for orthodoxy.

No doubt there will be further dollops of hypocrisy from other bishops.

As the Archbishop of Wales told anyone who was prepared to listen at the Swansea and Brecon Chrism Mass: "Because one act of compassion, one act of gentleness, of kindness, of mercy, of forgiveness, of love, from one person to another, changes someone’s life. And if someone’s life is changed then, as imperceptibly as it may be, the world is changed for the better.”

There is no sign of life changing compassion for abandoned Anglicans.

In Monmouth the bishop is still absent. For Holy Week and Easter they have instead a guest preacher, the 'married' gay priest, the Revd Canon Jeremy Davies, former Precentor of Salisbury Cathedral, the old stomping ground of the bishop of Llandaff June Osborne.

It is more of the same and not just for Easter!

The Joy of Easter

The Easter message is the same whether celebrated in the simplicity of an Ethiopian Orthodox tent (above), the magnificence of a Russian Orthodox cathedral, the shared experience of the Holy Fire ceremony in Jerusalem or in an Anglican church. 

But there is a difference in sharing that message. It is summed up by Bishop Gavin Ashenden in 'The Joy of Easter – Heaven not hell, Life not death. – A homily on the Resurrection 2018'.

For many of us in the Anglican Communion the mystery, the 'otherness', is something lost. Mystery has given way to the politics of inclusivity, engaging in the politics of public life rather than spreading the message

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Wishing all Orthodox readers a Happy and Blessed Easter.

Taking stock

Archbishop of Wales John Davies                                                                       Source: Mail Online

The two great Christian festivals of Christmas and Easter provide an opportunity to re-connect with people who have given up on going to church and with newcomers. As Christ commanded: 'Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit'. It is an opportunity too often missed. Hence full marks to the bishop Bangor for his Easter message.

Numbers regularly attending church continue to fall but the bishops keep digging.  See previous entry Digging their own grave

Opportunities to draw in people through the rites of Holy baptism, marriage and at funerals become less as faith is watered down. Much is trivialized as the church attempts to cash in on secular hatch, match and dispatch celebrations.

Before Christmas 2017 the newly elected archbishop of Wales, the Most Rev John Davies, bishop of Swansea and Brecon, featured in an article in the media magazine Christian Today, a global media ministry which "provides thoughtful, biblical perspectives on theology, church, ministry, and culture".

The 64-year-old former lawyer called for the Church in Wales to 'pause and draw breath' after his appointment. 'The coming into post of a new archbishop is an opportunity for me to say to the very good and very many people that we have as part of our church, that we need to take stock', the BBC reported Davies to have said.

"I want to try and refresh the vision of the church as that institution to support and nourish the lives of wider society" he said, as ever neglecting the many true believers who have not compromised their faith to remain in the church of their baptism.

Before Easter 2018 the archbishop was again interviewed for Christian Today. As usual politics reared its head - Archbishop of Wales interview: I am not 'left-wing' for backing justice, equity and compassion.

It was another damp squib. Previous intellectual positions were alluded to with unforeseen repercussions.

Moving on to talk about his forthcoming Easter sermon Davies said that his sermon would discuss the origins of the faith he used the headline grabbing suggestion – "and the initial belief that the resurrection story was 'fake news'."

Following the lead he had provided the archbishop was asked about  " 'the practical reality of the resurrection' and the empty tomb, a difficult concept for the modern mind to grasp".

"Davies is thoughtful. 'I don't think any of us actually knows, quite frankly. What I believe is that something radical happened that changed the lives of the people who were there at the time.'

He cites the late bishop of Durham, David Jenkins, who said the resurrection was 'not just a conjuring trick with bones'.

And Davies says: 'It is about something far more than a dead body coming back to life – it is the complete renewal of the being of Christ."

A simpler response would have been, "if Christ hath not been raised, then is our preaching vain, your faith also is vain." 1 Corinthians 15:14. Instead he circled around what the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Williams of Oystermouth had to say about the meaning of the empty tomb and came a cropper, as Rowan has done in the past leading some to speculate that he needed a minder to protect him from media traps.

Ironically Davies was caught out by the very people he and the liberal elite have used to advance their agenda, appealing to secularists with no concept of the spiritual implications for support. The Mail Online headline was

Unbelievable! Archbishop of Wales chooses EASTER to cast doubt on the Resurrection after saying 'I don't think any of us actually knows' when quizzed over Christ's biblical return

It was reported in 2002 that "a third of Church of England clergy doubt or disbelieve in the physical Resurrection and only half are convinced of the truth of the Virgin birth."

Trendy clergy are even more in evidence following the ordination of women and the sexual freedom they demand of the church. As one commentator put it when responding to my 'Easter Message' entry, "Many remain entombed in the dark ages with their misogynistic and homophobic rants against this that and the other; wake up and discover the resurrection life at work in those around out. Come out!"

Rowan Williams said in his lecture I referred to above, "Believing in the resurrection is believing that the new age has been inaugurated, the new world has begun. And that new world is, as you might put it, the final phase of the history of God's relation with his people. So to say 'Jesus is risen', is to say that we have now entered on the last days, on the final decisive phase of God's interaction with Israel and through Israel, with the whole world.

Too many people in the church interpret 'new age' as do as you please, taking the Christian understanding of love out of context. Instead of 'Love the Lord thy God...'  and 'Love thy neighbour...' we are bidden to 'discover' the meaning of love, anything goes under the umbrella of love. There is no hell as the Pope may or may not have said.

Archbishop Davies was right when he told the BBC that we need to take stock. I have heard on a number of occasions that the Church in Wales is finished. Save for the rare occasion the bench have nothing to offer but political posturing. Forget 20/20 Vision. There isn't any apart from setting up Local Ministry Areas which are designed to keep the liberal elite employed until they can draw their pensions.

The only hope for the Church in Wales is to  be re-absorbed into the Church of England which despite its many faults has a longer life expectancy.

Easter: Remembering the suffering in Syria and beyond

Some readers may have received this card from Aid to the Church in Need, a timely reminder of the suffering endured for their faith in Jesus Christ by many Christians in Syria and beyond.

Remember not just over Eastertide all Christians who are oppressed or persecuted for their faith.

Wishing you all a Happy and Blessed Easter.

Christos anesti!

Mary Berry's Happy Easter

Mary Berry explores the wonderful foods that bring each different community together on Easter Sunday
- the most symbolic and meaningful feast in the Christian calendar. BBC

I am inclined towards gardening rather than to cooking which may explain why I missed Mary Berry's Easter Feast when it was first shown last year on 22 Mar 2016. This year, more by accident than by design, on Good Friday I watched the most overtly Christian programme I have seen for some considerable time. BBC schedules have become somewhat short of Christian content of late which made the theme all the more remarkable. Given the BBC's preference for promoting Islam since appointing Muslims to head up religious content, perhaps it slipped through because the main them was cookery.

From the BBC's Media Centre description - As well as sharing her own family favourites like mouth-watering roast lamb, she discovers how the Greek Orthodox community break the Lenten fast with Tsoureki bread; spends a day with the Archbishop of York John Sentamu, cooking up a storm in his kitchen; and discovers Filipino and Italian Easter specialities.

The first episode explored the origin of the Hot Cross Bun, claimed originally to be the Alban Bun. Apparently legend has it that it originated in St Albans Abbey where 14th century monk, Brother Thomas Rocliffe, developed it using an original - and still closely guarded - recipe and distributed it to the local poor on Good Friday from 1361.

So far I have resisted the temptation to eat Hot Cross Buns before Good Friday. I think Mary Berry's advice to eat them throughout Lent is excellent. I shall find it difficult advice to avoid in future.

Alban buns                            Credit: The Herts Advertizer

Easter 2017

The Resurrection by Andrea Mantegna  1457-1459

Wishing you a Happy and Blessed Easter

Alleluia! Christ is risen

He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!

A Happy, Peaceful and Blessed Easter to All.

Easter reflections

"One supermarket chain buyer apparently asked the company
 that supplies the eggs what Easter had to do with the Church"

The caption under the cross is a quote from an article by Caroline Wyatt, the BBC's new religious affairs correspondent in which she poses the question: "Is Easter still about religion for most?" She writes: "A large, feathery Easter egg stands in the middle of a small street in a shopping area in north London.
Beneath it is an Easter message: 'This egg is to remind people to shop at independent retailers'.
I had thought that it might be to remind people of the other message of Easter - the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, for example, which churches across the country will be marking on Sunday.

... For many years now, leading church figures have bemoaned the fact that in a country that is still officially Christian, with almost 60% of people identifying themselves as such in the 2011 census (although far fewer actually attend church services, or believe in God), the religious message of Easter has been drowned out by the secular festival of chocolate and shopping being celebrated at supermarkets across the country." To which I might add relevance to society.

I was more encouraged by the BBC's headline coverage of Caroline Wyatt's news report: "Easter services to denounce killing of Christians" or, as The Australian put it: Holy Thursday massacre prompts Easter reflections.

The Archbishop of Canterbury's Easter message paid tribute to persecuted Christians while the Pope prayed for "killed Kenyan students [and] decries persecution". All credit then to Metropolitan Hilarion who said it as it is: "There is the genocide of Christians in the Middle East".

Muslims are not exempt if they don't toe the line. Just two of the latest examples here and here. Despite all the carnage and misery it has been reported that "Islam is set to rival Christianity for global adherence by 2050". This is not a time to cast doubt on the Resurrection. We are an Easter people "and if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith".

Anglicans in particular have paid a heavy price for being more 'relevant to society' than to the faith of the Church, few more so than in the Church in Wales where their Archbishop parodied Je suis Charlie when when he claimed "Nous sommes Jesus" in his Chrism Mass sermon. He then delivered his Easter message claiming: "while we may not be able to prove the existence of God or that Christ rose from the dead, Resurrection moments are part of daily life." Given his record that is taken to mean softening up his flock to accept same-sex marriage in the same way that he manipulated the Governing Body to accept women bishops before reneging on promises made to members of his flock who remain faithful to the Apostolic faith. His priorities are wrong.

Humanity is facing a grave crisis in the face of creeping Islamisation but there is a choice. Murder, rape and servitude under Islam or Christian faith, hope and charity. This is not a time to cast doubt on the Resurrection. It is a time for conversion

Easter 2015

Resurrection of Christ and Women at the Tomb                  Fra Angelico fresco 1442

A Joyful and Happy Easter!

Will it be a Halal Easter?

Credit: Silversurfers

The season of Lent has not begun but supermarkets have long been gearing up for their Easter bonanza. True observance of this major Christian festival has long since been forgotten as dwindling congregations testify.

Hot-cross buns have been on the shelves for weeks while other items associated with Easter such as Cadbury creme eggs are a constant presence in many stores. The few children who still attend Sunday School may be looking forward to the prospect of receiving an extra special treat, an Easter egg, the symbol of new life.

It is indeed a new life for Cadbury creme eggs. The wrapper may look the same but that is as far as it goes. The recipe has been changed and you now get five for the price of six. Story here. But that is not all. The wrapper conceals the complete and utter contradiction between Islam and Christianity.

The long list of Cadbury halal products (here) includes a range of  "Seasonal (Easter and Christmas)" products. Easter and Christmas are the major Christian festivals which are no-go areas for devout Muslims. A Muslim may not exchange a Christmas greeting because it would acknowledge that "God was born on 25 December, the most evil of shirk" (idolatry). Not only is the Resurrection denied in Islam but so is the death of Jesus on the Cross.

We are no longer surprised by the actions of money-grabbing multi-national companies and their broken promises as they take their pieces of silver, regardless of the sensitivities of non-Muslims but I hope people will also surprise them by boycotting products containing any ingredients obtained from ritual slaughter. Halal slaughter must be performed by a Muslim after invoking the name of Allah in a similar way to Islamists slaughtering non-Muslims in the name of Allah if they don't convert or pay the jizya, accepting subjection as the price of being spared.

The non-labeling of halal products is a deception too far, adding to the impression that only Islam is regarded as sacred. The recent report that a grandfather's body may be exhumed in a multi-faith cemetery after relatives of a Muslim buried next to him complained that the Roman Catholic was an unbeliever serves to emphasize the point. Current reports suggest that the request has been rejected but this episode is an uncomfortable reminder of the plan to dig up 350,000 bodies in the historic London cemetery of Tower Hamlets to provide a mainly Muslim burial site. The Council's environment spokesman said: "To preserve the respect and dignity for everyone, I think most of the graves would have to be cleared out and we'd start afresh. Officially it would be known as a "multi-faith" cemetery but it is likely that it would principally answer calls for a Muslim graveyard in the largely-Asian East London borough."

Tower Hamlets council displayed their moral bankruptcy in 2011 when they were prepared to allow banquets to be staged in the Merchant Navy Memorial gardens which are dedicated to the thousands of mariners who died during the two world wars and the Falklands. Alcohol was to be sold from 11 am until midnight, yet another Islamic contradiction if ever there was one. The Mayor, Lutfur Rahman subsequently used his 'executive powers' to stop the event taking place after the furore the plan created.

It is difficult to escape the conclusion that Islam receives deference way beyond the number of Muslims as a percentage of the population and that specific areas have become Islamised. It has been claimed in the High Court that supporters backing Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman told people to vote for him because his party were "Muslim people", and that activists for Mr Rahman's party, Tower Hamlets First, handed out curry to voters from the backs of cars outside polling stations. Expert evidence has been presented to the Court suggesting that one in four postal ballots cast in the re-election of Mayor Lutfur Rahman in one ward in Tower Hamlets were completed by the same person.

To these 'isolated' incidents we should add the 'Trojan Horse' campaign to impose 'faith-based' ideology in Birmingham schools and the revolting child abuse by 'Asian heritage' men in Rotherham, Rochdale, Oxford and elsewhere. It was claimed in 2013 that "Nowadays jails are run mostly by Muslims". The supporting figures showed that the rate of increase of Muslim inmates in British prisons is "eight times faster than that of the overall prison population, and the numbers show a clear over representation of Muslim convicts: Muslims, who make up roughly 5% of the British population as a whole, now make up 13% of the British prison population (compared to just 6% in 1997)". The Report goes on:

"Prisoners told the researchers that they had felt overwhelming pressure to convert. In some instances, they said, Muslim inmates had left Islamic literature in their cells and ordered them to 'read this'. In other instances, inmates were promised that if they converted to Islam, they would be safe from physical assault." Non-Muslims and prison officers inside Whitemoor Prison in Cambridgeshire where '39% of the prisoners are Muslims' described Islam as an 'organized gang' and a 'protection racket', which "glorified terrorist behavior and exploited the fear related to it."

The latest report shows that the Muslim population in England and Wales has nearly doubled in 10 years. "In 2011, 2.71 million Muslims lived in England and Wales, compared with 1.55 million in 2001. There were also 77,000 Muslims in Scotland and 3,800 in Northern Ireland". Responding to the report, the atheist deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, said: "I believe that every person, whatever their background and circumstances, should have an equal chance to thrive". Like many other political and well meaning religious leaders he is deluded. Islam means 'to submit' or 'give in' or 'surrender'. Our democracy is being used against us to that end. Evidence abounds on the placards used in Islamist demonstrations and is clearly voiced here.

A couple of days ago I read an interesting article by Ruth Gledhill titled the Future of religion in Britain is Islam and black majority churches. According to figures published by the Office for National Statistics 80 per cent of Muslims actively practised their religion, the highest proportion of those with a religion, compared with just 32 per cent of Christians who said they "actively practised" their religion. According to Professor David Voas who specialises in population studies at Essex University, statistics show that Islam and newer forms of Christianity are overhauling the Church of England as white Britons lose their taste for worship. Is this the key?

Islam has been allowed to expand unhindered in Britain while Christianity is being obliterated in ancient Christian lands such as Syria and Iraq to name but two. Criticism or even comment is met with accusations of racism and Islamophobia but we are failing in our duty if we keep silent. Christians were warned, "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves". Proselytising is seen largely as a one way activity converting non-Muslims to Islam be fair means of foul. This must change. There is only one Way. It is not Christians who are the 'unbelievers'. The Muslim world is being reached here. We need to do more.

A halal Easter is an utter contradiction. No sacrifice is required after Christ's death on the Cross. If Muslims understood that we would all be spared the slaughter going on around us today in the name of Islam.

Looking forward to Easter, remember the Lamb - or the turkey. If it is halal, reject it. It is easy to be fooled by the wrapper. What you see on the outside may hide sinister ingredients on the inside. Be aware, keep the faith and above all, help others to see the Light.

Happy Easter!

This year we searched in vain for packs of Easter cards with an icon depicting the Resurrection. There were plenty of cards to choose from with fluffy bunnies, flowers and eggs, even a few floral crosses but not what we wanted. After our initial disappointment I found myself reflecting on the part that flowers and eggs have played in our Easter celebrations. In particular I recalled the powerful fragrance of freesias and lilies which adorned the Altar of Repose, the result of many hours of work when help was taken for granted. Much has changed in the passing years. Divided congregations have become increasingly elderly. There are fewer, if any, children in many churches compared with the days when the Sunday School children, later re-named the more trendy 'Junior Church', would join the main congregation to await the vicar's usual question, "Why Easter eggs?" Back would come the eager replies of "New life!" earning the reward of a Cadbury's cream egg - and not just for the children :)

Happy Easter!

The egg also symbolises the tomb from which sprang new life. Following the installation of Pope Francis heralding a new pontificate of simplicity, the Anglican Church too witnessed a change in emphasis in the installation of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury: “I am Justin, A servant of Jesus Christ, and I come seeking the grace of God, to travel with you in his service together.” - Together as one, a new beginning?

Christ is Risen!

there is no doubt

Easter Day

Click here for an Easter Day meditation

by Dr Marianne Dorman