Dean’s Easter Message

Dean’s Easter Message

As we gather at the end of term with family and friends to celebrate Holy Week and Easter Sunday, I wish the staff, students, and supporters of the St. Andrew’s Hall community God’s richest blessing as we celebrate the good news of Jesus’ resurrection and promise of life in all its abundance.

Luke 24:1-49

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” (Luke 24:5)

  

In 2018, while leading a pilgrimage tour through the hills of Meteora in Greece, my wife Laura and I got up early to observe one of spectacular cliff‑top monasteries, just as dawn began to break. The sky shifted from deep blue to soft gold, and the rock pillars rose like ancient sentinels around us. Taking in the scene, we could not help but feel like we were literally watching the world wake up.

That moment has stayed with me because it echoes the heart of Easter morning. The women who went to the tomb at dawn expected to be caretakers of death. Instead, they encountered the whole world waking up to a stunning new reality—stone rolled away, angels proclaiming life, and the first light of resurrection breaking into human history.

Luke tells us that the disciples struggled to believe it. Fear, confusion, and disbelief clouded their vision. Yet Jesus kept showing up—on the road, in the room, at the table—opening their eyes to the truth that death had not won. Resurrection was not an idea to ponder but a reality to walk into by grace.

Easter invites us into that same awakening. In a world that often feels weighed down by grief, uncertainty, or exhaustion, the risen Christ meets us with hope that is stronger than despair and life that is deeper than death. Like those first disciples, we are called to witness—to carry resurrection into our conversations, our communities, and our daily lives.

On this Easter morning, may we hear again the angel’s question: Why do you look for the living among the dead? And may we discover today, with joy and wonder, that Christ is already ahead of us—alive, present, and calling us into the newness of resurrection life, by inviting us to join in his ongoing mission of reconciling the world unto himself.  Thanks be to God – Hallelujah!

 

The Reverend Ross A. Lockhart, PhD – Dean of St. Andrew’s Hall

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Risen Christ, thank you for breaking open the tomb and filling the world with new life. Awaken our hearts this Easter morning to your hope, your presence, and your promise. Help us to walk as witnesses of your resurrection in all we do. Amen.