pathways APRIL 09
THE GREAT MYSTERY OF LIFE
In these early months of 2009, we have witnessed natural disasters by fire and water at opposite ends of our vast land.
Suffering and pain have come to people unannounced. Across our cities, violence and human sin are evident, with so-called "drive-by" shootings and death by human conflict. As a nation, we have seen young Australian soldiers in Afghanistan die from enemy fire.
What then is it that we bring along in our hearts to the resurrection story this Eastertide of 2009?
We come with sadness and with sorrow; we come seeking forgiveness for our world and hope for those who despair of peace and security.
We come with many questions and searchings, because we do not understand, just as the disciples who came to the tomb on that first Easter morning did not understand.
The Resurrection of Christ is the great mystery of life.
It is the greatest change known to humankind that one human being died a violent and destructive death only to rise to a new life with its promise of eternal life for each and every one of us.
The Resurrected One is the Cosmic Christ alive and active in our world and our lives today.
We are to be beacons of that resurrected life in all that we are and all that we do for humankind and for our earth.
Christ has no other presence than that in his followers. So it is imperative that we, religious men and women of Australia, be messengers of his peace and mercy - we who have experienced the gift of the Resurrected One deep within our being.
The message of peace that we wish to bring to our world is one based on listening, dialogue and the seeking of understanding of the differences that divide our world, whether those differences are based on religion, race, politics, economics, prejudice or intolerance.
At our annual Assembly in June, we are being invited to enter deeply into that listening, dialogue and the seeking of understanding with our sisters and brothers from the Abrahamic Faiths.
It is only together that people of goodwill can seek to bring wholeness and healing into our troubled world.
May our experience of this Eastertide bring a new energy and freshness to our faith and to our humanity, so that we may be the messengers of peace and mercy that our Christian calling constantly invites us to be.
Clare Condon SGS
Top of page
