Easter 2016

Easter at Swanvale Halt was a bit lacklustre this year: numbers were down at most of the services, and the Passion service for families which went so well last year was a complete disaster this, the attenders halved to twelve only two of whom were children. Partly I suspect this was because Good Friday was the only day forecast to be sunny over the holiday weekend! I can also see signs that Easter is now becoming another occasion, like Christmas, when dispersed families are under pressure to make an effort to see one another, so even in households which have some faith the emphasis is not on that but on providing huge meals and competitive present-buying followed (or, depending on the weather, preceded by) a trip out somewhere to stop children going completely ape.

However I will remember two things. At the Liturgy of the Passion on Good Friday the thirty-ish parishioners present come forward to venerate the cross in a variety of different ways while the Reproaches are sung and, as I said last year, this is always a moment of deep significance. It struck me this time how important this quiet demonstration of faith is in binding us together as the Body of Christ: our making clear to one another (though not in any self-conscious way, because our attention is focused on him) what is most crucial in our lives means we all go through this experience together. Then, after the Dawn Mass on Easter Day I watched the congregation partaking of our now-traditional breakfast of champagne and pain au chocolat and saw the same people who went through that experience of desolation now united in doing something very different, in celebrating a return to light and hope. Christ is here, too.