Easter Day Service 2017 - Live from Hereford Cathedral (BBC ONE | 16.04.2017)

[Music] welcome to horrific cathedral on easter day the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ I'm standing beside the shrine of sindh Ethelbert the King Herefords saxon saint perhaps not the best known of British Saints but nevertheless Ethelbert story speaks of courage and of good triumphing over evil great Easter themes Ethelbert story also reminds us of her over 1,200 years pilgrims have come to this holy place to seek encouragement for the journey and to find Jesus Christ who lived among us who died for us and is alive today so we welcome you all as fellow pilgrims with us the congregation of Hereford Cathedral as together we seek to experience afresh the risen Lord Jesus Christ in word and sacrament and in hymns of praise Jesus Christ is risen today Alleluia [Music] in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit grace mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you brothers and sisters in Christ on this most holy day when our Lord Jesus was raised from death to life we are gathered in this ancient and hallowed place to celebrate the sacred mystery of his resurrection and through His Holy Word and Blessed Sacrament to share in his victory over sin and death so let us offer our praise and thanksgiving to God as we proclaim the triumph of his son the light of the world who is Christ yesterday and today the beginning and the end Alpha and Omega for all time belongs to him and all the ages to him be glory and power through every age and forever amen Alleluia Christ is risen Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed for us let us therefore rejoice by putting away all malice and evil and confessing our sins with a sincere and true heart Almighty God our Heavenly Father we have sinned against you and against our neighbor in thought Almighty God who in Jesus Christ has given us a kingdom that cannot be destroyed forgive you your sins open your eyes to God's truth strengthen you to do God's will and give you the joy of his kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord amen [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] let us pray Lord of all life and power who through the mighty resurrection of your son overcame the old order of sin and death to make all things new in him grant that we being dead to sin and alive to you in Jesus Christ may reign with him in glory to whom with you and the holy spirit be praise and honor glory and might now and in all eternity amen Apostles Peter began to speak to those assembled in the house of Cornelius I truly understand that God shows no partiality but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him you know the message he sent to the people of Israel preaching peace by Jesus Christ he is Lord of all that message spread throughout Judea beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with him we are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem they put him to death by hanging him on a tree but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead all the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through his name for the word of the Lord [Music] [Music] [Music] the Lord be with you here the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke [Music] after the Sabbath as the first day of the week was dawning Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb and suddenly there was a great earthquake for an angel of the Lord descending from heaven came and rolled back the stone and sat on it his appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow for fear of him the guard shook and became like dead men but the angel said to the women do not be afraid I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified he is not here for he has been raised as he said come see the place where he lay then go quickly and tell his disciples he has been raised from the dead and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee and there you will see him this is my message for you so they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples suddenly Jesus met them and said greetings and they came to him took hold of his feet and worshiped him then jesus said to them do not be afraid go and tell my brother's to go to Galilee there they will see me this is the gospel of the Lord [Music] may the words of my mouth and the thoughts of our hearts be always acceptable in your sight O Lord our strength and our Redeemer are men cathedrals have a love/hate relationship with notices about the place on the one hand we want to be informative to visitors and pilgrims on the other hand we don't want to clutter up the place we want the beauty of the building to speak for itself it's not a museum so what to do about our Easter Garden in the south transept with the empty tomb surely an excellent opportunity for a well-crafted notice telling our visitors all about it why the stone is rolled away why the linen cloth is rolled up there why there are three crosses explain it all tie it all out I'm not so sure without a notice people may stand and look puzzled and that may be good the resurrection is a mystery which we simply can't explain a multi faceted jewel which can be seen from many different directions and about which there are many different interpretations for some the empty tomb is not helpful in a letter to a friend during the 1950's the right sir Rose McCauley wrote if my mind can't quite take certain things such as the physical resurrection does it matter so long as it doesn't get in the way of belief in Christ as master and Savior and helper to be sought and served well there's one reaction we may not agree but every visitor will surely acknowledge even if he or she knows nothing about the meaning is that the whole thing tomb and garden is hugely important it's a large feature it's being constructed with great care it's brimming over with flowers it clearly means a great deal to those who've had anything to do with its making and so it is with the resurrection whatever its meaning it's hugely important to this place to any church to any Christian believer however it's expressed because it's life changing if we look around this Cathedral we'll see many examples images of Christ's passion the crowning with thorns the nailing the scene in the garden the trial before Pilate Jesus carrying the cross now images of the resurrection of some how different for the gospel doesn't tell us how Jesus rose from the dead and so there's not that to go on true some artists have had a go with a muscular Jesus holding a flag breaking out of a stone grave soldiers nearby and a faint but you know most of the images of the resurrection in art are about people's responses the disciples in a fishing boat doubting Thomas the walk to the to Emmaus the images of the resurrection are on the whole what happened as a result how lives were changed how the world was turned upside down in the Cathedral you know we do have images of the resurrection but they're more abstract the trehearne windows by Tom Denny the Phoenix of New Life rising out of the cross or our new ascension window completed only a couple of weeks ago the darkness of the lower area splintering into shards of light as despair gives way to hope the window with the blue stone memorial below commemorates our local regiment the special air service and we pray that this new addition will add a new sense of resurrection in this building and give hope and encouragement especially to those who come here in sadness and bereavement all these images are about experience not description and perhaps that's the best way we can interpret our Easter tomb here not with a notice describing what happened on that first Easter day the best scenario will be if you are I was standing by the garden one day and a visitor also stood there looking puzzling and we were able to speak about it how your life has been changed by that event how Jesus resurrection is about now how it enables us through him to turn darkness into light sadness into joy loss into gain each of us will have our own story of the resurrection which no notice can possibly do justice to this is how the resurrection dawned on those first disciples in the fifty days after Easter they came to see Jesus in unexpected ways they learned to see him on a beach cooking breakfast breaking bread with them nothing startling but it was in those ordinary human encounters that they found the amazing reality that he was alive that he was infinitely stronger than darkness and death rose McCawley and that letter for all her doubts about the empty tomb had nevertheless got to the very heart of the resurrection that it's people you and I who can live and breathe and act on Jesus risen life day by day thanks be to God for this wonderful Easter hope Alleluia let us affirm our faith as we say together the Nicene Creed we believe in one God the Father of all that is seen we believe [Music] in the power of the Spirit and in union with Christ let us pray to the Father Father we praise you for the resurrection of your son Jesus Christ from the dead shared his glorious light on all Christian people that we may live as those who believe in the triumph of the cross Lord Haris we pray for those who at this season are receiving in Baptism your son's new life by water and the spirit dying with Christ may they know the power of his resurrection Lord hear us we pray for all whom we know and love both near and far may their eyes be opened to see the glory of the risen Lord Lord hear us we pray for those who suffer pain and anguish grant them the faith to reach out towards the healing wounds of Christ and be filled with his peace we commend to your tender mercy the people of Syria and all who have been made refugee Lord hear us we remember before you those who have died in the hope of the resurrection unites us with them in your undying love Lord hear us join our voices we pray Lord our God to the songs of the Blessed Virgin Mary st. John the Baptist sent Ethel birth the king sent Thomas of Hereford and all your saints in proclaiming that you give us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord amen the risen Christ came and stood among his disciples and said peace be with you then were they glad when they saw the Lord Alleluia the peace of the Lord be always with you let us offer one another a sign of peace [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the Lord be with you lift up your hearts let us give thanks to the Lord our God it is indeed right our duty and our joy always and everywhere to give you thanks Almighty and Eternal Father and in these days of Easter to celebrate with joyful hearts the memory of your wonderful works for by the mystery of his passion Jesus Christ your risen son has conquered the powers of death and hell and restored in men and women the image of your glory he has placed us once more in paradise and opened to us the gate of life eternal and so in the joy of this Passover earth and heaven resound with gladness while angels and archangels and the powers of all creation sing forever the hymn of your glory [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] accept our praises Heavenly Father through your son our Savior Jesus Christ and as we follow his example and obey his command grant that by the power of your Holy Spirit these gifts of bread and wine may be to us his body and blood who in the same night that he was betrayed took bread and gave you thanks he broke it and gave it to his disciples saying take it this is my body which is given for you do this in remembrance of me in the same way after supper he took the cup and gave you thanks he gave it to them saying drink this all of you this is my blood of the new covenant which is shared for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me therefore Heavenly Father we remember his offering of himself made once for all upon the cross we proclaim His mighty resurrection and glorious ascension we look for the coming of your kingdom and with this bread and this cup we make the memorial of Christ your son our Lord Jesus Christ is Lord Lord by your cross and resurrection you have set us free you are the savior of the world except through him our great High Priest this our sacrifice of thanks and praise and as we eat and drink these holy gifts in the presence of your divine majesty renew us by your spirit inspire us with your love and unite us in the body of your son Jesus Christ our Lord through him and with him and in him in the unity of the Holy Spirit with all who stand before you in Earth and heaven we worship You Father Almighty in songs of everlasting praise blessing and honor and glory and power be yours for ever and ever amen let us pray with confidence as our Savior has taught us our Father who art in heaven Hallowed and we break this bread to share in the body of Christ though we are many we are one body because they all share Alleluia Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] let us pray God of life who for our Redemption gave your only begotten Son to the death of the cross and by his glorious resurrection have delivered us from the power of our enemy grant our so to die daily to sin that we may ever more live with him in the joy of his risen life through Jesus Christ our Lord amen father of all we give you thanks our help is in the name of the Lord blessed be the name of the Lord the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight and the blessing of God Almighty the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit be among you and remain with you always go in the Peace of Christ [Music]

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Length: 58min 5sec (3485 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 14 2018