Reverend Berlin Guerrero from Dandenong Regional Uniting Church
We always welcome the Easter Week with joy and expectation.
For many, it is a time for personal and family reprieve, rest, and recreation.
But this year, the week was extra special. Why?
We have come out of the pandemic, though not totally.
And it reminds us of the First Easter.
The Easter story is about the Biblical narrative and the Christian belief of Jesus the Messiah, God’s beloved Son who was brought to life from an earthly death.
Jesus died by crucifixion in the hands of the Roman Empire and Temple authorities as punishment to his ministry of love, compassion, liberation, and salvation.
By God’s grace, from within the cave-tomb, Jesus came out to life again on that early Easter morning.
Our experience of the pandemic is like coming out of the tomb.
We are rising up from suffering and death to life and health once more.
The past two years of pandemic brought humanity to its one of the worst situations and greatest challenges.
It is humankind’s inherent goodness and resilience which made the difference between being defeated or being victorious over the shadow of death.
It is humanity’s soul where love, compassion, perseverance, and sense of unity emanate that enabled us to overcome the crisis of disease, selfish-preservation, divisiveness, and hopelessness.
We have a lot to be thankful for, especially for our medical and health front liners, federal and state governments and its various agencies, vaccine researchers and manufacturers, health care workers, civic associations, community groups, faith communities and volunteers all coming from the multi-cultural Australia we are all part of.
But we’re not out of the woods yet.
And here is the good news. We can always rely on our faith in God who is with us and in us.
Our experience of dying and rising up again is the assurance that we can overcome all obstacles and challenges that come our way.
Amidst pandemics and wars, we can always persevere, hope and strive for a better world and a better future.
