WE are approaching that time which defines our faith as Christians in the most dramatic way; three days inextricably linked in a torrent of emotions that reveal both the beauty and the weaknesses of human nature.
As we relive the most momentous events in history we will see how the unquenchable spirit of love and service embodied in one man survives even the worst excesses of betrayal and brutality.
This night heralds a new beginning and sets down the markers for all that is to follow; a night when a simple meal with his closest friends assumes a significance that continually reminds us of the sacrifice he made.
He washes their feet, a task normally undertaken by the lowliest servant, even though he knows one of them is about to betray him with a kiss.
And only a few days after a wildly excited crowd welcomed him to Jerusalem they abandon him...and choose instead to save the life of a condemned prisoner.
Even his closest friends, those who shared that Last Supper with him, scatter when their own lives are imperilled.
And, worse still, the one to whom he entrusts the future of his Church shamefully denies knowing him - not once, but three times.
Scourged, humiliated, abandoned, reviled and rejected, he stands alone...and still he refuses a final chance to save himself. For this, he knows, is his destiny.
A broken body, but a resolute spirit that both ennobles and redeems humanity.
The moment will come, in just a few days, when we will rejoice in his great victory over the final enemy, death itself, but we cannot escape the reality of went before that.
For we cannot have a sanitised faith, any more than we can live in a make-believe world.
To understand the full meaning of Easter is to accept the lesson to be learned in its entirety and which we, as active Christians, cannot avoid.
The victory of good over evil was not achieved without pain and sacrifice; and it has to be a constant reminder of how weak and corrupt human nature can be.
Yet, it is also a wonderful reminder of how the unconditional and redeeming love of one man can transform lives.
We see it most vividly in one of those closest to him who perhaps committed the greatest betrayal of all when he denied knowing him in his hour of greatest need.
But it was in the tear stained shadow of the Cross that the power of unconditional and forgiving love overcame fear and vanquished shame.
Tradition has it that Peter eventually died a martyr’s death in Rome - but not before he had indeed become the rock on which Jesus said he would build his church.
We look to the history of Christianity for many other instances which inspire us today; and which restore hope where often we see only despair in the future.
And so, for a short time, we must grieve for the failings of humanity...but in the certain knowledge that from weakness there can emerge great strength; and that where there is division and hatred, there can be reconciliation and peace.
As we grieve tonight we can also rejoice in the words of the one who said: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
