Easter 2011

from the eyes of a peace activist

I found plenty of meaning this Easter.

I went to mass on Thursday, Friday and Saturday as we ritually remembered the arrest, execution, and resurrection of Jesus.  I read the part of Pontius Pilate at the Good Friday Mass of perhaps 300 in our local church.  Through the whole proceedings I had this parallel image of Jesus struggling for justice in Roman times, and our good selves struggling for Justice in USA times.

It just seems so obvious to me that the church – “the body of Christ” is called upon now to renounce war, and to put itself on the side of nonviolent love, and yet it struggles with its calling.

Bishop James (who read the part of Jesus in the passion) mentioned in two seperate homilies that in the 2011 calendar, Easter was as late in the year as it possibly could be, so that Easter Monday was also ANZAC Day.  Then he fell silent and had no more to say about it.

So I was happy to receive e-mails about two Catholic Worker actions on Good Friday.  Jim Dowling (above) in Brisbane, and Ciaron O’Reilly (below) in London.

On Easter Sunday in Australia, a network of faith groups started up an ANZAC Eve Peace vigil, using lanterns designed by Graeme Dunstan to commemorate ALL the victims of war as part of ceremonies.  It was appropriate to launch the inaugural event on Easter Sunday.

Here is a pictorial report on the event in Canberra.

Here is a pictorial report on the event in Cairns.

As I move towards a Ploughshares Action in Rockhampton in July, during exercise Talisman-Sabre, I found great meaning in the Easter/ANZAC Day conjunction, and I loved coming across the pictures of activists I’ve known and worked with (some for decades) hard at it – even during the present difficult times for peace activists around the world.

Call me naive and optimistic, but it feels to me that we’re at a cusp, where every impetus towards nonviolence and unarmed love can tip the balance in our sad and sorry world.