Many of us like to tell stories
The greatest story ever told is that of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. This is not just any kind of story. It is not a story invented by a curious and cunning mind. It is a true story.

Even his closest followers who had travelled with him for three years and had heard him speak of such a reality stumbled to believe it. The almost beyond-belief explanation is that, through the power of the Father, Jesus did physically rise from the dead.

This rising from the dead has changed everything in our world. Jesus had proclaimed and inaugurated a new ‘Kingdom’, the ‘reign of God’. In such a kingdom, people would live in a totally new way, a way characterised by love rather than hate, forgiveness rather than revenge, a life of service of the other rather than being served. Jesus’ resurrection is the guarantee that such a reality has really broken into our earthy existence. If we claim this resurrection to be true, then we ought to live this radical new way of love rather than revert to our old ways of self-seeking. We don’t always achieve it; but Easter is the reminder that such a life is what we must strive to live continually.

To every SMA member and Associate, I offer my best wishes for this Easter season. May it be a time of rich blessing for you personally and for the communities among whom you live and work. May it propel us to greater eagerness and confidence in our preparations for General Assembly 2019.

Above all, may this Easter celebration convince you once more that living the ‘reign of God’ is not only possible but is essential if the planet we inhabit is to survive.

Fachtna O’Driscoll SMA
Superior General