‘30 years ago, on Good Friday, my father was dying. We watched over him for 3 days until he let go of life early on Easter morning. Like the women at Jesus’ tomb, I was exhausted, disorientated and sorrowing, yet I experienced for myself the deep reality of Easter. I knew, with all my being, the absolute certainty and joy that death is not the end but the gateway to new life with God. There is still great pain and grief in coming to terms with the death of someone we love but dying is not meaningless or hopeless, it’s part of God’s bigger picture of eternal life.

Eternal life begins here and now when we trust God and discover, through prayer and worship, his peace and purpose at the centre of our lives... his presence with us at all times, his help to carry our burdens, take away our guilt, heal our failure, loss and loneliness… his unconditional, unending love, which slowly enables us to accept ourselves and others… the faith expressed by Fr James Kavanah:

‘Most of all I believe in God and the power of His victory in Christ. I believe in a Resurrection that rescued man from death. I believe in an Easter that opened man to hope. I believe in a joy that no threat from man can take away. I believe in a peace that I know in fleeting moments and seek with boldness born of God. I believe in a life that lingers after this, a life that God has fashioned for His friends. I believe in understanding, in forgiveness, in mercy, in faith. I believe in friendship and its power to turn selfishness to love. I believe in eternity and the hope that it affords’.

with love and prayers

Jenny