Churches Feel the Reality of the Cross and Resurrection
Easter took on new meanings this year as many Christians sought peace amid losses and ongoing violence.
Easter took on new meanings this year as many Christians sought peace amid losses and ongoing violence.
"Today, even in this modern age marked by anxiety and uncertainty, we live the event of the resurrection, which changed the face of our life and changed the history of humanity," said Pope Benedict XVI in his first Easter Sunday message as pontiff in front of nearly 100,000 people.
For Christians recovering in the Gulf Coast, the event of the death and the resurrection found itself all too familiar.
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"We've been in Good Friday since late August, said the Rev. Jerry Kramer of the Episcopal Church of the Annunciation, according to Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.” We live in both the reality of the cross but also the reality of resurrection, and we are caught in that tension."
Congregations whose church facilities were ravaged by last year's hurricanes celebrated the holy day in tents and homes as the meaning of a new life became more tangible for the believers this year. Others, whose churches remained intact when Katrina hit, served the hurting community with invitations to join Easter activities and worship services.
"We see God's grace," said Kramer. "We see people being really transformed by the Holy Spirit. You can't but walk around and see the power and the reality of the resurrection and the Kingdom coming."
While Christians around the world held their annual celebration with parades, large gatherings, and without the months of suffering Katrina victims were afflicted to, pastors offered a message of hope to all believers.
"Easter's pivotal message is that we don't have to despair," said the Rev. Jack Fitts, pastor of First Baptist Church, according to The Brewton Standard. "There's always hope. That's the message."
