Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
He showed them his hands and side.
We are an Easter People, and Alleluia is our song.
Use our Easter prayers and give thanks and praise to Christ who is risen.
The war in Sudan has forced millions of families to flee their homes. Now those caught up in the conflict are facing yet another crisis – hunger.
A stained glass window showing St. Thomas touching the wounds of the Risen Jesus.
The first Easter day begins in the darkness. The good news breaking through to people who are confused, afraid and full of doubt. The weeping Mary Magdalene, the sceptical Thomas, the disciples in hiding and the despairing travellers heading to Emmaus.
And perhaps, for some of us, this Eastertide finds us in a similar place. As we listen to the news it often feels like the world is overwhelmed with conflict, injustice and division. Escalating conflict across the Middle East has had a catastrophic cost, while the protracted war in Sudan continues to fuel a devastating humanitarian crisis. How do we live in the hope of the resurrection when faced with a world that feels increasingly fractured?
It is precisely amid the pain of this broken world that the risen Jesus appears, bearing the marks of the cross on his hands and side, and offering his peace.
The scars of Good Friday are visible on Easter Sunday. The brutality of the cross has not been hidden or erased. Christ is risen but his body still bears witness to the worst that the world can do; to the violence and injustice that surrounds us even now.
As Jesus invites us to look upon his wounds, we are reminded that the cruelty of the cross is not the end of the story. In celebrating the resurrection, we rejoice that love has borne these wounds into newness of life. Death-dealing powers have been defeated. Love is stronger than violence. A better world is not just possible but promised.
The life-giving power of Easter is not just a past event, but a present reality lived out every time we choose to make peace, to stand in solidarity with those in need and to work for justice.
We see it in our courageous partners, serving amid crises and conflicts across the world.
It shines through the generosity of CAFOD supporters who refuse to look away from suffering but instead give, pray and speak out for justice.
The light of Easter continues to break through the shadows. As we journey together this Eastertide let’s open ourselves to the peace of the Risen Christ so we may, as Pope Leo XIV writes, “transform the world with the gentle and courageous power of Christian hope.”
