In his Easter Day sermon, Bishop Keith Sinclair reminds us that we are known to God by name and asks us today to “listen out for his word of invitation to his new beginning” through Jesus Christ.
Recounting John’s Gospel, and the moment Jesus calls Mary Magdalene by name, Bishop Keith says it is in this moment that a “realisation of a new reality in the universe dawns” on Mary.
Read Bishop Keith's sermon in full here.
Bishop Keith says: “By simply calling her name, Jesus expresses the full meaning of his love for her, even delight in astonishing her, and he enables her to know, that all she imagines as the worst, is over.”
Speaking from home as part of Chester Cathedral’s online Easter Eucharist, Bishop Keith reminds us that the narrative is written so we too may believe: “We are told later that this narrative is written so we too may believe. Is it fanciful then to imagine our names being spoken by Jesus as he extends that same invitation to us?”
Keith asks us today to “listen out for his word of invitation to his new beginning” and “express that same faith, the faith into which Mary came when she heard her name and accepted the invitation.”
“'God has called you by name and made you his own’
“I hope it is our faith, yours and mine, taking our cue from Mary. In Jesus risen from the dead, who comes to us and speaks our name, inviting us into life, life eternal. Amen.”
Read Bishop Keith's sermon in full here.
Watch the Easter Eucharist from Chester Cathedral.