My dear friends in Christ,

Easter Day is truly the day the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it!

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is immense.  It startled Jesus’ followers and changed the nature of how we as humanity understand the creativity of God, recognising that God is capable of vanquishing death and bringing new life.  Those early disciples experienced something so new that they had no option in their mind but to spread the news of Jesus’s resurrection throughout the world.

They realized that death was not the end; that the world did not finish at Good Friday.   At this time, when many in the world and in this Holy Land are struggling in the face of violence, loss and immense suffering, the message of Easter  compels us in confidence to speak and act in hope when humanity feels hopeless; in peace when people act in violence; love when a community appears dominated by hatred and paranoia.  Easter inspires us to be agents of God’s peace and love in this world and in this region.

The Christians in the Holy Land make up a tiny minority; yet through loving their neighbour we as a community bring, I believe, the most important message of peace and love to this place.  The Christians are like that mustard seed which Jesus spoke of “which, when sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

May God inspire you all this Eastertide, bringing peace to your hearts so that you may be His agents to spread His peace throughout this land and the world.

++Suheil Dawani
Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem