Ukraine front-and-centre in Dorset Archdeacon's Easter message
Mariupol and the rest of Ukraine are at the forefront of the Archdeacon's thoughts and prayers this Easter.
The Ukrainian city of Mariupol, named after the Virgin Mary, is at the forefront of the Archdeacon of Dorset's prayers this Easter.
This week the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters the eighth week.
Today churches across Dorset meet together to celebrate Easter Sunday. That privilege is something Archdeacon Antony MacRow-Wood considered in his Easter message.
He said:
"This is a lovely time of year. Sitting in my garden earlier I noticed the daffodils were certainly going over but the primroses were still flowering, and the bluebells are not far from coming out. Over it all was the joyful sound of multiple birds singing their hearts out.
"Spring is certainly upon us, new life was evident all around me after the cold barrenness of winter. The natural world was bursting forth from its winter tomb which resonates so completely with Easter and Christ bursting from the tomb on Easter Day.
"This is not manufactured like the date of Christmas because we know the first Easter took place at Passover. The festival takes place on the first Sabbath after the first full moon after the Equinox, which is why its changes each year. In a world in which so much of our lives are dominated by what makes for an efficient economy, it is refreshing that the date of the first holiday weekend of the year is determined by something as obscure as the ancient Jewish practice for dating the Passover."
"It reminds us that spiritual realities can be just as important if not more so than economic realities, for both Spring and Easter fill us with hope and expectation of what is to come. The trials and tribulations of winter are behind us and in the natural world we look forward to sun, warmth and new life. For humans trials and tribulations are not so restricted to winter, they can occur at any time.
"The poor people of Ukraine are gearing themselves up for a new assault from Russia with yet more untold horrors to come. For them life resembles Christ’s suffering on the Cross, an agony of pain and waiting. Mariupol means Mary’s City and like Mary those left in that poor city are waiting at the foot of Christ’s Cross.
"It is a period of intense suffering with no end in sight, for them Easter will be greatly delayed this year but like the first flowers of Spring there are signs of its coming. The enormous tide of international support, the offers of homes for refugees these are the signs of Easter.
"They remind us that in the face of inhumanity and wickedness there remains the capacity for each and everyone of us to respond with humanity and generosity. This is how we will make Easter a reality not only in our own lives but in the world around us."