Be present,
be present,
Lord Jesus Christ,
our risen high priest;
make yourself known in the
breaking of bread.

These words are taken from the Easter Day Service, and are used as the bread is broken before being shared at Communion. I’m writing this the day after the dreadful bombings on the Madrid railways in the middle of March, which killed around 200 people and injured many others.

And as I write, I’m looking forward to Holy Week and to Easter, and wondering what it will mean for the families of those who have died so tragically to hear the words: Alleluia! Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

In the Service of Holy Communion which we shall celebrate on Easter Day, as on every other Sunday of the year, Christ makes himself known to us through brokenness. To reach the glorious resurrection on Easter Day, Jesus had to suffer the agonies of the cross; to be shared with us the bread has to be broken; to experience the joy of Easter, we have to live through the tragedy of Holy Week.

From Palm Sunday to Easter Day there are Services each morning and evening, in different styles and forms, to help us reflect on the Passion of Christ, to reflect on and pray for the world, and to prepare for Easter.

Quiet Services of Holy Communion or Daily Prayer, Children’s Activities on Wednesday, the Footwashing on Maundy Thursday, the Liturgy for Good Friday, the Easter Vigil, with the wonderful experience of moving from darkness to light - all of these are there to help us in our own journeys towards the experience of the risen Christ at Easter.

Christ was broken for the life of the world, and triumphed over death in a final and radical way on Easter Day.

We can only pray that the families of those killed and injured in Madrid will in some way experience the words of Jesus: ‘Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.’

And somehow know that Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!