Christine Bryant, Lay Minister, St John’s.
In March 2023 my brother died suddenly and completely alone in Canada.
He was fit, a regular tennis player, aged in his early seventies, but he also had some health issues. Nevertheless, his death came as a profound shock to his children and to us, his brothers and sisters.
Two weeks ago, my remaining siblings and I gathered with some cousins to commemorate his life, to remember all the good times and to reconnect with our niece and younger cousins.
It was a good time to introduce them to each other and to help them learn what it means to be whanau, to belong to a wider family.
Thirty years ago, when my father died, we made the decision that we would not be a family who met up only at funerals.
Since then, every three to four years, we have gathered, mostly in New Zealand, but also in Australia, to enjoy a weekend in each other’s company, centred around a long Saturday lunch. This year, there were 30 of us, ranging in age from three to nearly eighty.
Jesus also recognised, 2000 years ago, the importance of family gatherings.
The first miracle we read of took place at a wedding in Cana.
It must have been a convivial occasion because the host ran out of wine! Jesus, prompted by his mother, turned the water stored in amphora into wine, thus saving the host from embarrassment and delighting all the guests.
Within our families, we are known by name, we are loved and accepted for who we are, despite our foibles and our differences.
This is important when we contrast this with social media.
On these networks, we are no more than an algorithm, only useful for recording likes and dislikes and as a target for advertising.
Jesus, also, knows the importance of a name.
On that first Easter morning, when the stone had been rolled away, the two Marys, who had come to anoint his body for burial, were distraught to find the tomb empty.
They thought they had come across a gardener. Mary Magdalene asked him where Jesus’s body had been taken. Jesus only had to say her name, “Mary!”, and she knew she had encountered Jesus alive, raised from the dead.
He has not ceased to call us by name.
Pope Francis, speaking to 500,000 young people at the Catholic World Youth Day in Lisbon emphasised this: “You are not here by accident… [Jesus] has called each of you by name”.
Our families may range from the very close to the dysfunctional, but for most of us it is the place where we can have a sense of belonging.
The importance of gathering as a family cannot be overstated.
Family reunions are more than just a social event; they are also a way in which the cycle of life is experienced and the bonds between generations are reinforced. In essence, they embody and affirm the core messages of Easter: love, renewal and hope.
