Easter message from Wales’ Archbishops
There may not be easy answers to the challenges facing the world today but Easter inspires us to be agents of good and change, say Wales’ two Archbishops in a joint Easter message.
The Anglican Archbishop of Wales, Andrew John, and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cardiff and Bishop of Menevia, Mark O’Toole, are inviting people to come to church this Easter to find out how faith can transform our lives and help navigate a path through crises.
‘CRISIS? What crisis?’ These are the words supposedly spoken by a politician when confronted by a journalist about the state of the country. Unsurprisingly, they didn’t go down terribly well with a nation facing significant challenges.
In truth, the last year has seen a dreadful cost of living crisis, a bitter war in Ukraine to add to the ongoing concerns we are not doing enough to tackle the climate emergency. These will sit alongside the many personal challenges we may have faced – the loss of a loved one perhaps, covid related ill health or employment challenges.
There are no glib answers here, certainly no straightforward religious ones.
But there are things which help us respond well. Easter invites us to think about the last week of Jesus’ earthly life. We are reminded that a man was betrayed by a friend, abandoned by everyone (save a few faithful women), endured a mock trial and was finally executed as a criminal. When the early Christians thought about these things, they had to wrestle with the question Jesus himself had asked as he was nailed to the cross: ‘Why?’
What helped the disciples answer that question was the realization that God had not abandoned them, as he had not abandoned Jesus. God was found in the midst of the struggles and heartaches that seemed unimaginably painful and hopeless. It was precisely because God had tasted death in and through Jesus that the disciples could make sense of their experiences. Here was a God, not locked away in some remote heaven, but one who was near, sharing their longings and also their worries for the future.
When he appeared to them as the Risen Saviour, he opened a way not only of looking at the world in a new way but of navigating its challenges too.
Part of our response is to understand what these things mean for us. We can watch events unfold around us with a sense of despair (‘What can I do’?) or apathy (‘It will make no difference’) and become paralysed by inactivity. But when they discovered He was alive, the first Christians become agents of good and change in the world. They were not only inspired, they were transformed. Easter invites this same encounter; to meet Jesus Christ afresh.
We are writing to you to invite you to come and worship at our churches this Easter. We do not offer easy solutions to complex problems but we can share the One whose risen life will make a difference to you and your communities.
May we wish you a very happy, joy-filled Easter in the name of Christ.”
Archbishop of Wales, Andrew John Archbishop of Cardiff, Mark O’Toole
‘ARGYFWNG? Pa argyfwng?’ Dyma’r geiriau yr honnir i wleidydd eu dweud pan gafodd ei holi gan newyddiadurwr am gyflwr y wlad.
Nid yw fawr o syndod na chawsant fawr o groeso gan genedl oedd yn wynebu heriau sylweddol.
Mewn gwirionedd, mae’r flwyddyn ddiwethaf wedi gweld argyfwng costau byw ofnadwy, rhyfel chwerw yn Wcráin i ychwanegu at y pryderon parhaus nad ydym yn gwneud digon i fynd i’r afael â’r argyfwng hinsawdd. Bydd y rhain yn mynd wrth ochr y llu o heriau personol y gallem fod wedi eu hwynebu – colli anwyliaid efallai, afiechyd cysylltiedig â Covid neu heriau cyflogaeth.
Nid oes unrhyw atebion slic yma, yn sicr dim rhai crefyddol syml.
Ond mae pethau sy’n ein helpu i ymateb yn dda. Mae’r Pasg yn ein gwahodd i feddwl am wythnos olaf bywyd daearol Iesu. Cawn ein hatgoffa y cafodd dyn ei fradychu gan gyfaill, y cefnodd pawb (heblaw ychydig o fenywod ffyddlon) arno, a ddioddefodd ffug dreial ac a gafodd wedyn ei ladd fel dihiryn. Pan feddyliai’r Cristnogion cynnar am y pethau hyn, roedd yn rhaid iddynt ymaflyd gyda’r cwestiwn a ofynnodd Iesu ei hun wrth iddo gael ei hoelio ar y groes: ‘Pam?’
Beth helpodd y disgyblion i ateb y cwestiwn hwnnw oedd y sylweddoliad nad oedd Duw wedi cefnu arnynt, fel nad oedd wedi cefnu ar Iesu. Roedd Duw wedi ei ganfod yng nghanol y brwydrau a’r torcalon oedd yn ymddangos yn annychmygadwy o boenus ac anobeithiol. Yn union oherwydd bod Duw wedi profi marwolaeth yn a thrwy Iesu y gallai’r disgyblion wneud synnwyr o’u profiadau. Dyma Dduw, nad oedd wedi ei gloi i ffwrdd mewn rhyw nefoedd anghysbell, ond un oedd yn agos, yn rhannu eu dyheadau a hefyd eu pryderon ar gyfer y dyfodol. Pan ymddangosodd fel yr Iachawdwr Atgyfodedig, agorodd ffordd nid yn unig o edrych ar y byd mewn ffordd newydd ond o wynebu ei heriau hefyd.
Rhan o’n hymateb yw deall yr hyn y mae’r pethau hyn yn ei olygu i ni. Gallwn edrych ar ddigwyddiadau yn datblygu o’n cwmpas gyda theimlad o anobaith (’Beth allaf i ei wneud?) neu apathi (‘Ni fydd yn gwneud unrhyw wahaniaeth’) a chael ein parlysu gan syrthni. Ond pan wnaethant ddarganfod ei fod Ef yn fyw, daeth y Cristnogion cyntaf yn gyfryngau daioni a newid yn y byd. Nid yn unig y cawsant eu hysbrydoli, cawsant eu trawsnewid. Mae’r Pasg yn gwahodd yr un cyfarfyddiad hwn; i gwrdd â Iesu Grist o’r newydd.
Ysgrifennwn atoch i’ch gwahodd i ddod ac addoli yn ein heglwysi y Pasg hwn. Nid ydym yn cynnig datrysiadau rhwydd i broblemau cymhleth ond gallwn rannu yr Un y bydd ei fywyd atgyfodedig yn gwneud gwahaniaeth i chi a’ch cymunedau.
A gawn ddymuno Pasg hapus a llawen i chi yn enw Crist. Archesgob Cymru,
Andrew John Archesgob Caerdydd,
Mark O’Toole