An Easter message from the Dean

"During this Eastertide let us all work together for a better world; that all people come to know the new life that God wills for his world." Read more of the Dean of Norwich's message for Easter below.

“And they all lived happily ever after.” This is how most fairy stories end, so Cinderella marries the handsome prince, Little Red Riding Hood is rescued from the wolf by the brave woodcutter, and Jack escapes the clutches of the giant when he shins down the beanstalk and then cuts it down behind him.

As human beings, we like happy endings and so it tends to be the case with children’s stories and even in most adult novels that things reach a good or satisfactory conclusion.

In the Cathedral on Easter morning we shall hear the story of Mary Magdalen going to the tomb, finding the stone rolled away and the body of Jesus gone. We shall recall how she met Jesus and having at first mistaken him for the gardener, eventually recognised him and was filled with joy as she ran to tell the rest of the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!”

This seems like a fairy tale ending after all that had happened on Good Friday ~ the trial and torture of Jesus and his slow and painful death on the cross, all of which had traumatised his friends and followers.

However, the resurrection of Jesus on the first Easter Day was not the end of the story. Just as God suffered in Christ on the cross so he continues to suffer today in the millions of people in our world who are the victims of war and violence, or who watch their children starve, or who are abused in any way. He continues to feels our pain when we are lonely, anxious or fearful or when we have had a huge disappointment, received bad news or have recently been bereaved.

So, the Easter Story is not about happy endings, however, it is about Good News! In the resurrection of Jesus, we discover that love could not be defeated by hate and that death did not have the final word.

Jesus in overcoming death gives us hope both in this life and for the world to come. In his resurrection life we are shown that evil can be overcome in our world and that our personal lives can be turned around. New beginnings can be made at many different levels.

So, during this Eastertide let us all work together for a better world; that all people come to know the new life that God wills for his world. Not a happy ending, but new beginnings!

Alleluia, Christ is Risen.

The Dean of Norwich

The Very Revd Jane Hedges