An Easter message from the Dean of Norwich

The Dean of Norwich, the Very Revd Dr Andrew Braddock, shares a reflection for Easter 2025.

Watch the video message above and read the full text below.

"I'm standing in front of the Despenser altarpiece here in St Luke's Chapel at Norwich Cathedral.

Commissioned in about 1380, it shows scenes from the Passion of Christ, but culminates with panels depicting His Resurrection and Ascension.

In the Resurrection panel, we see Jesus still bearing the marks of his Passion rising from the tomb.

At His feet, we see soldiers, their eyes tightly shut. In this depiction, the soldiers represent all that separates us from God and one another. Not only the aggressive use of political and military power, but also human pride, vanity, envy, and hatred.

We know that as we come to this Easter, there is much in our troubled and broken world to disturb us.

Human pride, envy, hatred is all too apparent and it sometimes seems that we have our eyes tightly closed to the message of God's love in Christ.

Yet the message of Easter remains the same.

Jesus, who we see here rising from the tomb overcoming death, is the One who still comes to us today with that message of love and peace and reconciliation, that in Christ who rose from the tomb, nothing can separate us from the love of God.

In that Easter hope the risen Jesus invites us to journey on, inviting us to open our eyes to see His presence in our midst as our friend and our companion on the way."