THIS year's Easter celebrations are steeped in the remembrance of past war and conflict, while the cruel consequences of its modern manifestations, near and far, dominate daily news bulletins.
For Christians, Easter is a time of renewal and of hope.
As we reflect on the final days of Jesus' earthly life, we are reminded that even in the darkest moments of fear and suffering, we find the light of courage, faith and love.
It is a pattern we can see repeated throughout the course of human history.
This hope was evident in the Christian faith of many of those caught up in the battles of 1916.
In Reconciliation, the poet Siegfried Sassoon appeals for a re-discovery of our common humanity, united in grief and loss.
The message resonates as powerfully today as it did then:
"Men fought like brutes; and hideous things were done;
And you have nourished hatred, harsh and blind.
But in that Golgotha perhaps you'll find
The mothers of the men who killed your son."
Dr Nicola Brady
Research Coordinator
Council for Justice and Peace of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference
