The Revd Dr Tessa Henry-Robinson, General Assembly Moderator 2023-2024, offers this Easter message:
Friends, grace and peace to you as we enter this sacred Easter season; a season that is steeped in the profound mysteries of hope, love, and resurrection. We are positioned to reflect on a poignant convergence and it is noteworthy that at this time, the United Nations marks the Monday of Holy Week as the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
This is a moment that calls us into deep spiritual engagement, which urges us to plait the threads of Easter’s promise of renewal, the infinite reach of God’s love through God’s son Jesus Christ, and the act of honouring the memories of the lives of those ancestors which were irrevocably changed by the horrors of slavery.
In the community of our Easter gatherings, we think of what Jesus experienced on the cross at the hands of those bent on doing harm to his body, even as we hold in our hearts the indomitable spirit of those who endured through the abyss of one of history’s most grievous chapters. Easter calls us way out of our comfort zones to celebrate life’s victory over the shadow of death.
And we have been presented with this opportunity to remember the enslaved across the Atlantic. Friends, this an invitation to confront the reality of human anguish and marvel at the resilience of the soul in its quest for freedom. As Easter people we have a sacred duty to cherish the memory of those affected by slavery by participating in cultivating a church that mirrors the virtues of love, justice, and communal harmony.
If we pay attention, we will see how greatly we would benefit from confronting the lasting scars that some colleagues among you right here in the URC carry, owed to the legacy of bondage. Then, what if we dedicate ourselves to mending the breaches brought by centuries of injustice with compassion, understanding, and acts of reconciliation? For in honouring the memory of the enslaved and descendants of the enslaved, we testify to the enduring capacity for hope and rebirth in our collective journey.
So, as we celebrate the joy of resurrection this Easter season, may we be filled with God’s unfailing kindness, stirring us to transform both the world around us and the inner landscapes of our soul.
As we try to grasp the promise of rebirth, propelled by the spirit of Easter to commit anew to the ideals of equity, justice, and universal peace, let us not only pay tribute to the legacies of those who have gone before us, but also lay the groundwork for a future in which every person is valued and embraced for their inherent dignity and worth.
Friends, may this Easter season inspire each of us to be agents of God’s love and justice, rekindling in our hearts and communities the brightly lit hope of rebirth and the steadfast pursuit of a world where the full humanity of all is celebrated and safeguarded.
As we shout our hallelujahs, mindfully embracing the transformative power of Easter, may we remember to dedicate ourselves to the creation of a more just, loving way of being in the world; and as Isaiah urges…
“You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in’.
May God bless us all.
Happy Easter!
Amen
Image: Tasha Jolley/Unsplash.