Sermon preached on Easter Day, 5th April 2026
in Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork
by The Right Reverend Dr Paul Colton, Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross
In Rosscarbery last Thursday, one of our Diocesan Readers told me a story that I hadn’t heard before – that when Bishop Sam Poyntz was being enthroned here as your bishop in September 1978, that as the readers and clergy were processing down Bishop Street from the Cathedral Hall on Dean Street, some of them became a bit anxious. He said, ‘we looked across the road and there, in the gateway of the Bishop’s Palace, standing beside a motorbike, was a dodgy looking character, in a biker suit and with a helmet on. We weren’t sure what he was up to.’
That ‘dodgy looking character’ – the motorcyclist – has been your bishop for the last 27 years. It was me. I had no ticket to get in that night. So if you didn’t manage to get a ticket for the farewell service later this month – don’t worry – you too could be the bishop of the Diocese some day. That ‘dodgy looking character’ has had the joy and privilege of being your bishop for the last more than 27 years, and of standing in this pulpit on Easter Day to proclaim that ‘Christ is risen!’
Today gives me an opportunity, in a particular way, to thank you all in this Cathedral family, for your care and support for us – Susan, Andrew, Adam and me – as your fellow parishioners – living across the road in the big house. It has been our home for longer than anyone else since the house was built in 1782. You have been our fellow pilgrims in this parish. We celebrated with you here for all the major festivals. Andrew and Adam went to Sunday School here – so much more and so many memories. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Over the years since that enthronement in 1978, and in the last 27 years since my own enthronement in this month – 24th April 1999 – so much has changed; beyond our imagination and experience. Sadly, a lot has not changed. We still live in a world of horrendous and inhuman conflict, injustice and marginalisation. Somehow, in spite of good intentions, energy, commitment and positive efforts, there appears to be a collective impotence when it comes to resolving some of the things that matter most in our world and in our society. In spite of all those changes and all those challenges the Easter message remains the same. Christ is risen!
As I did recently with my St Patrick’s Day sermons, I asked Gemini – Google’s AI tool – to summarise my sermons of Easter Day since 1991. And the verdict? Here’s what it came up with:
‘The sermons consistently focus on the themes of crucifixion, resurrection, and the implications of the Easter story for contemporary Christian life.’
As I retire, I am relieved and glad that the sermons stand up to scrutiny and that that has been the summary.
The main themes were listed as:
- The Mystery of the Resurrection and Faith: The empty tomb is seen as a sign, but the true symbol of resurrection is the encounter with the living Christ.
- Crucifixion and Resurrection as a Pattern: The core Christian message is that ‘resurrection follows inexorably from crucifixion’, offering hope that every experience of suffering, failure, or death can lead to a new beginning.
- The Transformation of the Disciples: The resurrection transformed the disciples from a ‘huddle of frightened peasants’ to courageous, world-changing witnesses.
- Being Witnesses Today: Christians are called to be ‘Easter people’ – witnesses to the resurrection in their own time by promoting peace, love, healing, and transforming unjust structures.
- The social Relevance of the Easter Message: The sermons frequently connect the timeless Easter story to contemporary issues, urging Christians to apply the resurrection hope and the radical simplicity of Jesus’ message to a hurting world.
- The Inclusive Nature of God’s Love: God “shows no partiality,” and the Easter faith is universal and inclusive, challenging all forms of prejudice and inequality, including racial, social, and gender-based partiality.
- The Role of Women: Multiple sermons highlight the revolutionary significance of the women, particularly Mary Magdalene,
So there you have it. And yes – the role of women – Mary Magdalene, again in today’s Gospel, to whom I shall return in a moment.
‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ (John 20.2)
As we hear these words here in this place, here on earth today, the entire Bible is, once again, on a journey into space. To be precise – when I checked at 7 a.m. Artemis II (with that Bible on board – one of the personal possessions brought by pilot Astronaut Victor Glover – a Christian, he has always brought a Bible on his space flights to the International Space Station) – was 198,000 miles from earth with 83,000 to go to the Moon – day 4 of this 10 day mission.
As a child of the 1960s I have always been fascinated by space exploration. The first decade of my life was dominated by the US-Soviet space race. As a 9 year old, like many of you I reckon, I watched those grainy black and white images on our televisions on 20th July 1969 as Astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon. Apollo 17 was the last time someone landed on the moon; in December 1972. In parallel in our childhood we had the first series of the science fiction series Star Trek.
I’m one of those people whose eyes well up when I witness a rocket launch – and it happened again with the launch of Artemis II last Wednesday night. Most of all, I am filled with admiration for those courageous human beings – the astronauts . I could never do it – even in a nightmare. I hold my breath as I watch the launch. I follow the progress. I pray for their safe return.
Watching people’s reactions on the TV on Wednesday night during and after the launch – there was infectious excitement and jubilation – relief, I expect too. As I watched, it occurred to me that, at this remove from that first Easter, only at this remove and only with the hindsight of faith, we too can have such unbridled joy as we proclaim and grasp the hope and reality in faith of the risen Christ in our lives and universally for our world.
However, as I read today’s Gospel we can see that the first Easter was not at all like that. That first discovery was marked by disappointment and uncertainty which gave way to confusion, questions, doubt and fear:
‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ (John 20.2)
Mary Magdalene did not know what to make of it all. There was misunderstanding. We can sense in today’s Gospel how tentative it all was – it was mind-wrecking. There was emotional upheaval. But most of all, Mary Magdalene had courage. She had been staying inside the reasonably secure city walls. It was still dark. The tomb where they had laid him was outside in a dodgy area; somewhere people didn’t venture, certainly not a young woman on her own. But she went. She was looking for a burial that had happened hastily and in secret. She wasn’t sure where she was going. She is certainly someone we can admire too. And then she makes the discovery. The tomb has been opened. She ran back to tell the others:
‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ (John 20.2)
It is only later, back in the garden that she thinks she meets the gardener. She pours out her grief to the stranger. He speaks. She recognises his voice. (As the Good Shepherd said they would know his voice). Again, she runs back to tell the others. ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.’ (John 20.18). And so it is that we are here to celebrate and to let the difference it all makes sink into our lives and concerns, here and now, day by day. We can now, in our day, joyfully proclaim ‘Christ is risen’.
Finally, and once again, that dodgy character, who was once that 18 year old standing across the road outside with his motorbike, thanks you. I wish you a happy Easter and pray for God’s blessing on you all as you journey on.
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