1
Christ our passover is sacrificed for us :
therefore let us keep the feast;
2
Not with the old leaven,
nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness :
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
1 Corinthians 5.7b,8
3
Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more :
death hath no more dominion over him.
4
For in that he died, he died unto sin once :
but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
5
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin :
but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 6.9-11
6
Christ is risen from the dead :
and become the first fruits of them that slept.
7
For since by man came death :
by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
8
For as in Adam all die :
even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15.20-22
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
world without end. Amen.
I was watching a video on You Tube the other day from Duke Chapel , an Episcopalian Morning Service and a sermond preached on the First Sunday after Christmas.
The preacher's theme was " the party is over " , i.e. all the celebrations of Christmas were over , but emphasized the point that Christ was still with us and the purpose of which He had come into the world still counted.
I am trying to make the same point about Easter. It is not only the Easter trimmings such as the chocolate eggs, the hot cross buns and the family get to gethers, but all of a sudden the number of faithfull attending the Sunday High Mass
dwindle and dwindle. Is that why we jokingly call the 1st Sunday after Easter Low Sunday? On Easterday there is such a spirit of endless joy, we greet one another with the words " Christ is Risen " and others respond with "He is risen indeed, alleluia" I recall vividly my days as an altar server in Saint Paul's Anglican Cathedral when on duty on Easter morning entering the sacristy we would embrace each other with the Easter Greeting as mentioned above.
On Easter Monday we come to the conclusion that the world we live in still very much carries on the way it was and that we in the Church of God are still far away from Unity with each other. I was reading a blog by my esteemed collegue Father Chadwick in his Blog "As the Sun in its Orb and New Gollards" where he wrote a piece about "Schism". One person responded that Unity will have to wait until we have all moved to heaven" I do also recognize that I , as a Priest in the Anglican Catholic Church would be regarded as having committed schism.Most Churches seems to accuse each other of schism and as a former Anglican I get treated as such by Clergy or even Bishops I served under. But to me , it does not really matter anymore, my faith ( and hopefully ) yours is a Resurrection Faith and my duty is to preach Christ Crucified to all who want to hear and listen. Death and darkness still surrounds us as we go into this world and as we sometimes face people in other branches of God's Church millitant here upon earth. Therefore again, our faith needs to be a Resurrection Faith and we need to be filled always with that assurance .It is indeed a matter of time that you and I are surrounded by death and darkness, but when we cross the river Jordan all this shall be no more. As Bishops, Priests and Deacons and indeed as laypeople when living our Catholic Faith may God always grant that we focus on what matters most in the eyes of our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ is truly risen. Alleluia
Father Ed Bakker
Anglican Catholic Church / Original Province
Mission of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne
Bendigo
Australia
