The importance of the Easter message

On the eve of Good Friday, churches in the Great Southern have urged people to pause and reflect on the true meaning of Easter as they tear into Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies this weekend.

“There is nothing wrong with chocolate but it is important to remember what it’s there for,” Albany’s Lutheran Pastor Franz Moeller said.

“Society has become more and more secularised over the past couple of decades and we’ve seen Jesus being replaced by the Easter bunny.

“But the message is still so important today.”

Reverend Lesley deGrussa-Macaulay of the Uniting Church said the message of Easter at the beginning of the 21st century is as important as it has ever been.

Having moved to Albany just three months ago, this will be her first Easter in Albany and she said she expected the Uniting Church would be full this Easter Sunday.

“I just love Easter. I think it’s the most important time of our year,” she said.

“It’s about being humble and overcoming adversities and the ability to resist oppression non-violently.”

“Easter brings out that sense of hope and we as Christians hope that within our lives things can be better.”

Rev. deGrussa-Macaulay oversees three churches in Albany – Lockyer, Scots and Wesley Uniting Churches – as well as Denmark and Mt Barker Uniting Churches.

She said it was important people use the holiday to reflect upon their lives and not just to use the holiday as an excuse to gorge on chocolate.

Pastor Mike Harvey from the Apostolic Plantagenet Family Church said it would be a full house at the Mt Barker church this Sunday.

“I think the Easter message is even more important than it’s ever been in the past,” he said.

“I think young people are searching for a deeper meaning in their lives and I think the message of Jesus dying on the cross and rising again and giving us eternal life is even more important than it’s ever been.”

Priest of Denmark’s Anglican Church Sue Lodge-Calvert is expecting twice the usual number of worshippers on Sunday.

“I’m sure the message has got lost, but not irredeemably so,” she said.

“The message is more important now than ever because we have to watch the evening news.

“We see terrible things everyday that our grandparents probably only read once a week in the newspaper and I think it is a hard thing to be a hopeful person in today’s world and ultimately I think the Easter story is a hopeful one despite the cruelty and violence and terrible suffering.

“We do hold onto the belief that love will win out over hate.

“And if people want to eat chocolate that is just fine with me.”

marc.simojoki@albanyadvertiser.com