Another line from the Easter liturgy comes to mind. On Easter Day, the Sequence may be read after the second reading and it contains a wonderful line: 'mors et vita duello', literally between life and death there was a duel and we know that Christ won that duel in that the forces of darkness, evil and negativity have been overcome for all time and can never regain the upper hand. So, a little like the daffodils that- are being tossed about in a strong wind outside my window as I write, but that refuse to be destroyed and seem to bounce back even more beautiful after the storm, so it is with us. Life can be difficult, cruel, brutal, uncaring BUT we are always accompanied on our journey by the risen Christ who never deserts us or abandons us. If we put our trust in Him and in His love for each one of us, then a little like the daffodils, we will be able to prosper and bounce back despite what the world does to us.

Perhaps it is good that we remember to communicate the joy of Easter to those around us so that we will be part of the process of bringing light to a darkened world. Christ cannot proclaim His message of hope and joy without our assistance, and the best assistance that we can render is the practical loving of our neighbour whoever that person may be. 'See how these Christians love one another' was a saying of the early church. We proclaim our belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead not by what we say, but by what we do. So let us use these days of light and hope to demonstrate to the world that our faith is not in vain but is alive and filled with power.

A final thought. For me, THE great Easter prayer is the Glory be to the Father etc. Two words stand out: 'is now'. The prayer reminds us that, just as God was powerfully active at the beginning of time and will be active at the end, so is God powerfully active NOW in His world constantly re-creating and re-newing. The 'is now'-ness of God is what we celebrate at Easter. We proclaim our belief that God is always present and always at work, and we recommit ourselves to totally placing our trust in Him. Wouldn't it be marvellous if we made it our business to attend all three parts of the one Easter ceremony, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil so that once again, we might hear the good news of what God has done for us. There is only one good news - that good news is our faith in Jesus Christ who is risen as He promised.