No, Easter does not banish tragedy and suffering; it does not signal the end of all our striving, the drying of our tears. Instead it takes us and shows us deep down into the heart of things where Christ is working his endless work of love. It shows us the triumph, the resurrection, that is laid in store for us beyond tragedy. On this day of waiting, the day after the struggle is over, this day of brimming regret a sudden stillness falls on the battlefield, for an instant the smoke clears. We catch sight of the high eternal hills; then the urgent thrill of a trumpet call, and there is Christ going before us, walking on broken feet into the everlasting kingdom.
This death and its strange and glorious sequel do not banish tragedy. The world still suffers and grieves and regrets. But know that another thing is happening and this same tragedy, like Christ’s wounds, is being transformed into a glory that gives a meaning beyond all our meanings in a time beyond all the time we know.
So this is one moment, but we also know another, yet now another, for it is the same moment in its truer meaning. That moment is the moment of the Resurrection, which is the meaning of the death of Jesus from the side of God’s purpose.
A New Heaven p.83 – by Richard Holloway, former Bishop of Edinburgh, which book, published in 1978, I have read again each Easter Triduum for the past 30 years, and which never fails to move me.
About Scott Anderson
Formerly an Anglican priest (ordained 1975) received into the Catholic Church in February 2012, and ordained to the Diaconate on 27th July 2013. I took early retirement, and divide my time between London and northern France. I am deeply committed to the Ordinariate as a gift of the Holy Spirit in the search for unity. Like many Ordinariate members I feel a personal gratitude to Pope Emeritus Benedict, together with loyalty to our Holy Father, Pope Francis. My blog tries to make a small contribution to the growth of the Ordinariate by asking questions (and proposing some answers) about the 'Anglican Patrimony'.
I have always been fascinated by the whole issue of growth and decline, and therefore concerned for appropriate means of evangelisation in western Europe. I believe that the Holy Spirit is constantly renewing the People of God and that we must be open to him.
On Saturday 19th October 2013, I was ordained to the Priesthood at Most Precious Blood, Borough, by the Most Revd Peter Smith, Archbishop of Southwark, for the service of the Ordinariate of our Lady of Walsingham. I continued to serve the Ordinariate group and Parish at Most Precious Blood until the end of 2014. Subsequently, I helped in the care of the Ordinariate Groups at Hemel Hempstead and Croydon, and in the Archdiocese of Southwark, until the beginning of September 2015. With the agreement of my Ordinary, , the Bishop of Amiens appointed me Administrator of the Parish of Notre Dame des Etangs (Pont Remy) in Picardie, France.
After nine years as parish priest, with wonderful and supportive parishioners, I decided that the time had come to retire and return to the UK. A nasty accident four years ago and contracting COVID has left me physically rather feeble! I shall be ever grateful for the years in France, a wonderful ending to the years of parish ministry. So here I am back in the UK, taking a long rest, setting up home, coping with all the new Safeguarding procedures - and wondering what next.
Ordinariate Pilgrim 