‘The importance of caring, loving, of simpler lives’

In his Easter message, the Derry native and Primate of All Ireland said: “I have an early childhood memory of my mother leaving a basin of water out in the back yard on a bright Easter Sunday morning and inviting us to look in and watch the sun dance! ‘The sun dances on Easter morning’, she told us. It’s the kind of message of joy and hope that we all need during these difficult days.”

Referring to the story of Easter, he said the disciples were hidden away behind locked doors, isolated and feeling alone, fearing for their lives when Christ rose from the dead and brought back the light of hope into the darkness of despair.

“We know how important it is to continue to make sacrifices and to maintain the current restrictions in order to protect and save lives. Please God it won’t be too long before we can go back to singing and dancing together, to meeting and greeting, travelling and discovering, and gathering in church to celebrate and praise God,” he said.

“But what will we have learned? What is this crisis teaching us about ourselves and others, about faith and hope, about the importance of caring and loving, of living simpler lives and managing our expectations?

“In a strange way these days of seclusion have been helping us stop and think about what we value and perhaps even question some of the ways we have been living our lives.”

Archbishop Martin added: “An old medieval carol about the life of Jesus promises that ‘Tomorrow shall be my dancing day’. We still have a long way to go in the fight against Covid-19 and its consequences. There will be many more sacrifices to make before this is all over. But as surely as Christ rose on Easter morning, we will come through this, hopefully as better people, strengthened by the experience.”