The Church Of Ireland
Press Release

1st Corinthians 15 v.14 ... if Christ has not been raised (from the dead) then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain.

Years ago, too many years ago, when I was a secondary school pupil in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, some of us were brought down to the police barracks in the town so that we could learn something about police work. One element was concerned with training and a component of that was teaching policemen how to be observant in order to make them reliable witnesses. We were asked to watch a short film without any further introduction.

It was a street scene that one might see in any town and all I can remember of it, at this remove, was a shop-keeper pulling down a blind over his shop window, some cars and pedestrians, a young man running across the street and a dog on the pavement. Suddenly, two cars ran into one another and the film stopped. We were asked to write down our observations of what we had seen, particularly in relation to the accident. Only two of the twenty pupils got it exactly right.

Differences in accounts of the Resurrection story

As a young man I had difficulty in believing in the Resurrection and one of the reasons was the fact that the Gospel writers seemed to be at total variance with one another about the sequence of events. St. John tells us that Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb early, sees the stone rolled back and runs to tell Peter and John. St. Luke says that Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and other women, see two men in dazzling white. They run, not just to tell Peter and John, but all the eleven.

St. Matthew speaks of an earthquake with an angel rolling back the stone. The two women actually see where Jesus was laid. They are told to go out and tell the disciples and they meet Jesus on the way. Finally, St. Mark tells us that the two Marys and Salome go to the tomb, find the stone rolled back and are confronted by a young man in white. He tells them to go and tell the disciples and Peter, that Christ was risen. But because of their terror they simply go home without telling anyone.

To my youthful mind these difference were to say the least confusing. However, years later my mind went back to that police film where we had witnessed the same scene and yet differed widely in our observations of it. If that was our experience of an insignificant event it is hardly surprising that the same would apply when confronted with such an extraordinary and momentous occasion as the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Furthermore, long before the event was recorded in writing, the story would have been told by many different people, in many different ways, and so it is not surprising that there are discrepancies.

The Resurrection of Christ is central to our faith

Nevertheless, one thing is very clear and, that is, that all those involved came to believe with fervent conviction that Jesus was indeed raised from the dead. For as St. Paul reminds us in I Corinthians 15, verse 1, it is the good news 'on which you stand,' and a few verses further on in

our Epistle for today, he added, 'if Christ has not been raised from the dead then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain'. The Resurrection of Christ is the rock on which our faith is built and, today, nearly 2000 years after the event we celebrate it with hearts full of joy.

As a nation we have much to celebrate

As a nation also we have much to celebrate. Our economy is booming. Indeed it is the envy of many countries. Opportunities for employment abound for those who are qualified and all around us we see many outward signs of prosperity, for example, almost everywhere huge cranes towering above us eloquently speak of the strength of our economy. As a nation we became accustomed, over the years, to seeing droves of our young people emigrating to find work in England, America, Australia and other countries, and now we rejoice and celebrate as they return home in their thousands. Yes there is much for us to celebrate as a people.

The dark side of the economic boom

However, there is also the dark side. By no means everyone rises on the tide of prosperity, large numbers remain on the poverty line. Despite all the money there are still far too many homeless, too many old people and indeed young men afraid to go out at night for fear of violence, and too many people unable to buy homes, while the cost of rented accommodation has shot up - to give but a few examples. Furthermore, while we celebrate quite properly the return of our young people from abroad, we ignore, at our peril, the fact that by no means everyone who comes to our shores receives a Christian welcome. The welcome is sometimes conditional and depends on the colour of their skin or their ethnic origin.

Racism is rearing its ugly head

Racism is rearing its ugly head and may well prove to be our greatest problem in the future. It is a cancer in society, which if not checked and cured, will send out its deadly tendrils to infect much of the body politic. Have some of us refused to learn from watching the horrors of racism exploding on our television screens? Have some in our society refused to learn from the experience of the Balkans, apartheid in South Africa, the increasingly ugly situation in Zimbabwe and in many other countries today, not to mention the most dreadful of all examples of racism, the Holocaust, which because of the widely publicised court case involving David Irving, brought this horror home to us once again. I agree that these are extreme examples but they started somewhere in the minds of evil people and the seed that were sown by them reaped a horrific harvest.

The example of Nelson Mandela

If we have had our warnings we also have our icons of what can be done to challenge racism. Nelson Mandela was a recent visitor to our country. Here was a man who suffered twenty- seven long years in prison at the hands of a merciless racist white government, yet despite all this, this great statesman could put all his sufferings behind him and lead his people along the very difficult path of reconciliation. Who then is to be our icon, David Irving or Nelson Mandela? There is a stark choice.

Immigrants can enrich Irish society

In Ireland today there are many, many people of good will who in the context of which I speak are simply colour blind. They have no fear of people who are different from them in terms of culture and colour but rather realise how a nation can be enriched by such contact. It should be remembered that Irish emigrants have enriched other nations to a huge degree, particularly, Australia and America. Are some of us so arrogant as to believe that other cultures are incapable of enriching us? Certainly it would seem that some of our citizens believe so.

A recent survey on Racism showed that one in three people think there are too many people from minority groups living here, while a similar survey in Northern Ireland showed that about one-third of the population there resented the presence of people from other ethnic origins. We see many straws in the wind including some strong language from a minority of our elected representatives who ought to know better. As I said a few moments ago in other places this ugly theory started in the minds of a few people but eventually ended in a terrible whirlwind.

Need for vigilance

That is what we need to be aware of today. The survey that I mentioned a few moments ago does not necessarily mean that all or even a majority of those interviewed have racist tendencies. Some fear for their jobs when the Celtic Tiger is no more and some feel resentment at the way in which asylum seekers, for example, have been imposed upon them without any consultation whatever. Such fears and resentments need to be addressed for otherwise those with less understandable motives may well jump on the bandwagon and lead us into serious trouble. In all this, the media, schools and the Churches, and, indeed, all citizens need to keep a vigilant eye on racist attitudes and on language which incites hatred.

Jesus died for all

Earlier I mentioned the name of Nelson Mandela as an anti-racist icon but today we celebrate One who is greater than Mandela. Last Friday we thought of Him with arms stretched out on a wooden cross - the One who had said "And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men to myself". Jesus did not die just for black people, or white people or brown people or Unionist or Nationalist, or English or Irish, but for ALL people everywhere and for all time. But if the Jesus story had ended on Good Friday we most certainly would not be here today. It is the Resurrection that proclaims the victory of Good Friday and, indeed, of His entire Incarnate life. How privileged we are to celebrate this Queen of all Festivals in a magnificent cathedral, with a beautifully ordered liturgy and exquisite music. But our story too must not end here. We leave these hallowed walls as Easter people, with hearts filled with joy, to love that which we have received in Word and Sacrament and to proclaim in word and deed the wonderful works of God.