‘Every night in my dreams I see
you, I feel you; that is how I know you go on’. So sings
Celine Dion in the love song from the film Titanic. These words
are probably a fair description of how many people feel as they try to
come to terms with the death of a loved one. They believe that
their loved one does ‘go on’ in some way that they would be hard put to
explain.
But for Christians, belief in eternal life for those who have died in
Christ is not about them simply ‘going on’ in this rather vague
way. Instead, it is firmly based on the belief that Christ,
having offered his life on the Cross for the sins of the world, rose
from death on the first Easter Day and that he invites us to share his
risen life.
St John tells us that, at the Last Supper, Jesus told his disciples
that he was going to prepare a place for them. He said ‘after I
have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you to
myself so that you may be with me where I am’ (John 14:3).
Eternal life is to be with Christ, to share His Life, to be raised up
to a life of fulfilment and joy way beyond our earth-bound imagination
and we shall share that life with the angels and saints and our
departed loved ones.
A service I look forward to each year is the Easter Vigil, celebrated
up at St Tudno on the evening before Easter Day. In the darkness,
we light the great Easter Candle and hear again the message that Christ
has vanquished death and hell and has risen triumphant from the
grave. We celebrate his resurrection with the cry:
‘Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, alleluia!’
and are then given the opportunity to renew our baptism vows.
As I celebrate this service with a small band of hardy worshippers, I
know deep within myself the truth that Christ has indeed overcome
death, and that whatever life can throw at us, even the death of those
we love, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ and that we
can have complete confidence in His promise of eternal life. I
know too that all who have died in the faith of Christ are not just
‘going on’ as Celine Dion sings, but are safe in His hands and sharing
his risen life.
The Easter Vigil Service is a very special way of sharing in the joy of
the risen Lord and if you haven’t experienced it before, why not give
it a try? I wish you all a very happy and blessed Easter.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
Fr. John
Previous letters:
January 2007
February
2007
March
2007