Rev Rosie writes April 2025

Rev Rosie Bunn
Rector of All Saints Church, Belton
and
St Peter & St Paul Church, Burgh Castle

What does Easter mean to you?

If I ask the children at school, the answer from most will be Easter Eggs – chocolate!  For some they might say holidays, and others?  Remembering what they had learnt and enjoyed at the Easter workshops in the church the week before, and bearing in mind the person asking the question (me!), I might have got something of the Easter story – quite likely, actually
 
For me, Easter is all about Jesus.  Just like Christmas, and as important, if not more so, as Christmas.  As a Vicar, Easter is always much harder work as the story changes from day to day, unlike Christmas, when we remember the baby born to Mary and Joseph, and the various visitors who come to worship him, and then go and tell of what they have seen
  
The Sunday before Easter is known as Palm Sunday.  It is the day on which the account of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, is read, and we begin to think of all that will happen in the coming Holy Week.  Jesus is welcomed by cheering onlookers, waving palm branches from the trees, and spreading their cloaks on the ground.  It was a joyous event, full of excitement and expectation for some, and yet disappointment and annoyance from others.  Was Jesus the long awaited Messiah? Or was he an imposter?  Some expected the Messiah to ride in on a strong horse, like a conquering hero, to overthrow the Romans who ruled Israel and Jerusalem at the time.  But Jesus wasn’t the Messiah they expected!  And later that week the crowd would turn on him and call for Jesus to be crucified
 
Jesus, God’s Son, came to help us understand what God had intended for human beings; in terms of living life knowing that we are loved and precious, free from carrying the burdens of guilt, knowing forgiveness and God’s peace and joy in life, as well as knowing God himself.  Jesus came to show us how to live and to make it possible for us to know God, personally.
 
This Easter will be a little bit different for many, as Easter Sunday is my last Sunday as Rector of Belton & Burgh Castle.  I know that Tim and I will experience sadness as our time here comes to an end; but we are grateful for the 14 years we have been here.  The joyful celebration of Easter will be tinged with sadness.
 
Early on Easter morning, as we gather in the east gate of Burgh Castle Roman Fort, we will be celebrating and remembering Jesus’ risen from the dead.  This year, the Bishop of Thetford, the Right Reverend Ian Bishop, will be with us, and leading the service.  There is something very special in gathering in the half-light, before the sun has come up.  It always helps me to understand something of what the women who came to Jesus’ tomb early in the morning might have experienced; except for them there was horror at finding the stone covering the doorway, rolled away, the tomb empty and no sign of Jesus.  Thankfully, we know that Jesus is risen, but that first Easter Day it took some time for them to discover the good news that Jesus was alive. For some, the pain and confusion lasted until the evening 

I am hoping that the churches can focus on the celebration of Easter Day at all the morning services, and then gather in the afternoon at 4pm to say our thank yous and farewells.  If you would like to join us over Easter or for the farewell service, please do.  The details of all the services are in the Village Voice magazine

Rev Rosie Bunn

images courtesy of Rev Rosie