Easter Message from the Archbishops and Primates of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia

What happens when love leads us?

Around 2,000 years ago there was a teacher who told his disciples that he had a new

commandment for them.

“You should love one another”, he said, “in the same way as I have loved you.”

Most of us would welcome that idea. It evokes a sense that we could be fair, and just, and kind

to each other and even have compassion for one another.

It sounds good.

But if we know the story, then we know that what this teacher had in mind was far more than

just a lovely sentiment. His proposition was radical, and revolutionary, and dangerous.

The teacher gave his new commandment during what would be his last supper with his

disciples. He had lived and travelled and taught with them for many months. Through him they

had seen lives changed, people healed and restored, and the miraculous happen. He had

shown them what love looks like when it moves beyond being just an idea and becomes the

real work of standing with the suffering, the marginalised, and the oppressed, liberating them

from injustice and setting them free.

But of course, the teacher’s work upset the oppressors. To them, a love that liberated the poor

and the despised became a challenge to their privilege and power. A challenge too dangerous

for them to ignore.

The teacher knew the danger but continued to care, and show compassion and kindness, and

love others anyway. He inspired his people to do the same.

And so it was that the rulers of that time sought to end his life with a terrifying act of hate. They arrested and killed the teacher by hanging him on a cross.

When we consider what is happening in our world today, it seems that not much has changed

since the time of the teacher. People are being marginalised and oppressed all over the world.

Rulers are waging war and killing innocent men, women, and children. Minorities and

immigrants are being vilified and oppressed. Communities face systemic and structural

disadvantages that keep them poor and desperate, while the rich grow ever more rich and

powerful. These times feel very dark indeed for many people.

In times like these, just like in the time of the teacher, love and compassion for others is not

just a nice sentiment. In the face of hatred, love is a radical response. Under the threat of

Empire, love is a revolutionary act. In a world reeling from war, love is the only hope for healing,

and for lasting peace.

We who are the peoples and the communities of the world must love one another, because we

know what happens when we don’t.

The story of Easter is the story of the teacher, the one we know as Jesus Christ. His story

teaches us that love is stronger than hate. Hate kills. Love resurrects and brings new life.

Let us pray for the world, and especially for displaced immigrants, oppressed minorities, and

those faced with unimaginable suffering in war-torn places like Gaza, the Ukraine, and the

Middle East. Let us pray for our own communities suffering in the despair of a cost-of-living

crisis, in unsettled homes and families, and for those in grief, pain, and need.

Let us pray for peace in a troubled world. But more importantly, let us pray for the courage and

the strength to love like Jesus loved – in a real, radical, and revolutionary way. Let us love others despite difference, reject hate, and show compassion instead.

Let love lead. Because everything else fails.

Yours in Christ,

Archbishop Justin Duckworth Archbishop Sione Ulu’ilakepa Archbishop Don Tamihere