[{"text_idx": "#000005", "text": "\u201cThey left the tomb quickly, with fear and great joy.\u201d (Matthew 28.8)"}, {"text_idx": "#000006", "text": "\u201c...dyma\u2019r gwragedd yn rhedeg ar frys o\u2019r bedd i ddweud wrth y disgyblion. Roedden nhw wedi dychryn, ac eto\u2019n teimlo rhyw wefr.\u201d (Mathew 28.8)"}, {"text_idx": "#000007", "text": "It is clear from the Gospel stories that the Resurrection of Jesus took the disciples by surprise. The stories in the four Gospels read slightly differently, but a common thread is the chaotic and shambolic response of the disciples: confusion, hope, faith, disbelief, and here in Matthew\u2019s Gospel, \u201cFear and great joy.\u201d"}, {"text_idx": "#000008", "text": "Mae hi\u2019n glir o\u2019r hanesion yn yr Efengylau bod Atgyfodiad Iesu wedi dal y disgyblion yn ddisymwth. Mae\u2019r straeon yn y pedair Efengyl ychydig yn wahanol, ond un dolen-gyswllt rhyngddyn nhw ydy ymateb dryslyd ac anniben y disgyblion: anobaith, gobaith, ffydd, anghrediniaeth, ac yma yn Efengyl Mathew, \u201cdychryn... a gwefr.\u201d"}, {"text_idx": "#000009", "text": "Key women disciples went to the tomb early on Easter morning intending to finish the embalming process and expecting to have to find a way to tackle the heaviness of the stone sealing the tomb; they came away, having experienced the emptiness of the tomb and the presence of strange angelic figures who communicated the message of resurrection. This filled them with hope, but also bewilderment, not sure what they believed."}, {"text_idx": "#000010", "text": "Aeth rhai o\u2019r gwragedd allweddol at y bedd yn gynnar ar fore\u2019r Pasg, gan fwriadu gorffen y broses o be\u0302r-eneinio a disgwyl gorfod canfod ffordd i fynd i\u2019r afael a\u0302\u2019r dasg sylweddol o symud y garreg oedd yn selio\u2019r bedd; fodd bynnag, dychwelyd wnaethon nhw wedi profi golygfa\u2019r bedd gwag a phresenoldeb angylaidd fu\u2019n cyfleu neges yr atgyfodiad. Fe blannodd hynny obaith yn eu calonnau, ond hefyd penbleth llwyr, gan eu gadael heb wybod yn iawn beth i\u2019w gredu."}, {"text_idx": "#000013", "text": "The central message of the visit to the tomb is that God takes the heaviness of the stone sealing the tomb and dislodges it with his action of raising Jesus from the dead. He wishes to take our heaviness away and imbue in us instead the joy of new life and hope. It is not so much that God will magically remove the challenges, but calls us to see them in a new perspective, in which the power and promise of the Resurrection tells us that in God, there is a victory to be won."}, {"text_idx": "#000014", "text": "Neges ganolog yr ymweliad a\u0302\u2019r bedd ydy mai Duw sy\u2019n cymryd pwysau trwm y garreg sy\u2019n selio\u2019r bedd, gan ei symud trwy ei weithred yn codi Iesu o farw\u2019n fyw. Ei ddymuniad ydy cymryd yr hyn sy\u2019n pwyso\u2019n drwm arnon ni a\u2019n llenwi ni a\u0302 llawenydd bywyd a gobaith newydd. Nid bod Duw trwy ryw hud a lledrith am symud yr heriau, ond yn hytrach yn ein galw i\u2019w ystyried trwy bersbectif newydd, lle mae grym ac addewid yr Atgyfodiad yn datgan bod buddugoliaeth, yn Nuw, i\u2019w gael."}, {"text_idx": "#000015", "text": "The question is whether we will allow God to work the changes needed in our hearts, and orient us towards joy. Now that we have celebrated a virtual Easter, there comes the reminder that the Resurrection is not only about what happened then, but how Jesus seeks to bring new life into our situations now. We may well be embarking on the coming weeks with a sense of fear \u2013 the chance of infection coming our way is still high \u2013 but God wants to encourage us to go forward in joy also, knowing that Jesus has won the victory over the perils of evil, suffering and death to become a source of life, of strength and of hope."}, {"text_idx": "#000016", "text": "Y cwestiwn ydy p\u2019un ai a wnawn ni ganiata\u0301u i Dduw weithio\u2019r newidiadau sydd eu hangen ar ein calonnau, a throi ein gogwydd tuag at lawenydd. Gan ein bod bellach wedi dathlu Pasg rhithiol, cawn ein hatgoffa nad hanes yr hyn ddigwyddodd bryd hynny yn unig ydy\u2019r Atgyfodiad, ond sut mae Iesu\u2019n ceisio dod a\u0302 bywyd newydd i\u2019n sefyllfaoedd heddiw. Mae\u2019n ddigon posib ein bod yn wynebu\u2019r wythnosau sydd i ddod gydag ymdeimlad o ofn \u2013 mae\u2019r posib inni ddal yr haint yn dal yn real iawn \u2013 ond mae Duw am ein hannog i fynd ymlaen mewn llawenydd hefyd, gan wybod fod Iesu wedi ennill y fuddugoliaeth dros beryglon y drwg, dioddefaint a marwolaeth i ddod yn ffynhonnell bywyd, nerth a gobaith."}, {"text_idx": "#000017", "text": "I am grateful to all my clergy who have been finding new ways to bring help and succour to you, and inventive ways to invite you into worship and faith at this time. Most of what I have seen has been of a very high standard, and makes me think that we are learning a new way of being virtual Church which will impact on us in a permanently different way of engaging with faith and worship in the future. As we move into the fifty days of Easter, let us resolve to discover how God\u2019s message of new life in Resurrection can assist us to discover new things in life and the journey of faith which we can carry into the future \u2013 not just ways of worship, but life-changing decisions about our discipleship which will bring us closer to the Risen Lord and open our hearts more fully to the grace and strength and faith which he longs to impart to us."}, {"text_idx": "#000018", "text": "Rydw i\u2019n ddiolchgar i bob un o\u2019m clerigwyr sydd wedi bod yn canfod ffyrdd newydd o ddod a\u0302 chymorth a chysur ichi, a ffyrdd dyfeisgar i\u2019ch gwadd i addoli ac at ffydd yn yr amser hwn. Mae\u2019r rhan fwyaf o\u2019r hyn dwi wedi\u2019i weld o safon eithriadol, gan wneud imi ystyried ein bod yn dysgu dull newydd o fod yn Eglwys rithiol a fydd yn gadael ei o\u0302l mewn modd gwahanol a pharhaol o ymgysylltu a\u0302 ffydd ac addoliad yn y dyfodol. Wrth inni symud i mewn i hanner can niwrnod y Pasg, dewch inni benderfynu darganfod sut y gall neges Duw am fywyd newydd trwy\u2019r Atgyfodiad ein helpu ni i ganfod pethau newydd mewn bywyd a thaith y ffydd fydd yn gwmni inni i\u2019r dyfodol \u2013 nid yn unig ffyrdd o addoli, ond penderfyniadau trawsnewidiol am ein siwrne fel disgyblion a ddaw a\u0302 ni\u2019n agosach at yr Arglwydd yr Atgyfodiad ac agor ein calonnau fwyfwy i\u2019r gras a\u2019r nerth a\u2019r ffydd y mae\u2019n dyheu i rannu a\u0302 ni."}, {"text_idx": "#000019", "text": "Dear friends, keep well and keep safe at this time, and may the Risen Lord sustain you in unexpected ways, to lift the heaviness of fear with the light of his love,"}, {"text_idx": "#000020", "text": "Annwyl ffrindiau, cadwch yn iach a chadwch yn ddiogel yn ystod y cyfnod hwn, a boed i\u2019r Arglwydd Atgyfodedig eich cynnal mewn ffyrdd annisgwyl, i godi llethdod ofn trwy oleuni ei gariad,"}, {"text_idx": "#000021", "text": "Bishop of St Asaph Esgob Llanelwy"}, {"text_idx": "#000023", "text": "Please click the link above to go to the article."}, {"text_idx": "#000027", "text": "I am already feeling disappointed that the lockdown means that celebrations of Easter, the Queen of Feasts, will be muted this week. Just when I would be preparing for the moving ceremonies of the Chrism Eucharist and Easter Vigil, not to mention Good Friday, I am conscious of the need to minister to a scattered family, where the future is more unclear than ever before. At the same time, I am given a huge privilege and opportunity, with the help of colleagues, to speak to all of you through the recording of liturgies (see ), so that services will be available for the Triduum \u2013 the three great days of the liturgy of the Passion) and also through this pastoral letter, with the opportunity to proclaim the Good News of our Salvation in Jesus Christ."}, {"text_idx": "#000028", "text": "Rwyf eisoes yn teimlo\u2019n siomedig fod y cyfyngiadau symud yn golygu y bydd dathliadau\u2019r Pasg, Brenhines y Gwyliau, yn dawelach yr wythnos hon. Ar yr union adeg pan fyddwn ni\u2019n paratoi ar gyfer y seremoni\u0308au teimladol Ewcharist y Crism a Noswyl y Pasg, heb so\u0302n am Ddydd Gwener y Groglith, rwy\u2019n sylweddoli fod angen gweinidogaethu i deulu sydd ar wasgar, a hynny pan mae\u2019r dyfodol yn fwy aneglur nag erioed o\u2019r blaen. Ar yr un pryd, rwy\u2019n cael y fraint a\u2019r cyfle anferth, gyda chymorth cydweithwyr, o siarad gyda phob un ohonoch trwy recordiad o\u2019r litwrgiau (gweler ), er mwyn i\u2019r gwasanaethau fod ar gael ar gyfer y Triduum \u2013 tri diwrnod mawr litwrgi\u2019r Dioddefaint), a hefyd trwy\u2019r llythyr bugeiliol hwn, gyda\u2019r cyfle i gyhoeddi Newyddion Da ein Hiachawdwriaeth yng Nghrist Iesu."}, {"text_idx": "#000032", "text": "My Saviour\u2019s Love to me,"}, {"text_idx": "#000037", "text": "It might be said that these coming three days teach us all we need to know about Love. Tomorrow is Maundy Thursday, when we remember the \u201cMandatum\u201d, the command of Jesus: \u201cLove one another, as I have loved you.\u201d He demonstrated that love symbolically by washing the feet of the disciples at the Last Supper. He, who was Rabbi and Master, attended to the most basic needs of the disciples in caring for their tiredness, dustiness, and weariness. It is the nature of Love to care for the needs of the beloved. Love is more than emotion, it is an act of will, an act which \u201ccherishes\u201d."}, {"text_idx": "#000038", "text": "Mae\u2019n bosibl dweud fod y tri diwrnod sydd ar ddod yn dysgu popeth y dylem ni wybod am Gariad. Yfory yw Dydd Iau Cablyd, pan fyddwn ni\u2019n cofio\u2019r \u201cMandatwm\u201d, gorchymyn Iesu: \u201cCarwch eich gilydd fel y cerais i chwi.\u201d Dangosodd y cariad hwnnw\u2019n symbolaidd drwy olchi traed y disgyblion yn y Swper Olaf. Fe, a oedd yn Rabbi ac yn Feistr, yn talu sylw i anghenion mwyaf sylfaenol ei ddisgyblion wrth ofalu amdanyn nhw yn eu blinder a\u2019u budreddi. Natur Cariad yw gofalu am anghenion yr anwylyd. Mae cariad yn fwy nag emosiwn, mae\u2019n weithred o ewyllys, gweithred sy\u2019n \u201canwylo\u201d."}, {"text_idx": "#000039", "text": "On God\u2019s Friday we see the cost of love \u2013 God gives himself up entirely for the pain and sin of the world. There are versions of the Christian faith that somehow manage to make God look sadistic \u2013 a vengeful father determined to inflict pain on someone, anyone so that the price of sin might be paid \u2013 but let us remember that in the Christian faith it is God himself incarnate in Christ who is crucified: God takes on to himself the pain, the hurt, the cost of sin. It doesn\u2019t matter how intolerable the burden of the brokenness of the world is, God takes it on his own shoulders. \u201cHe has forgiven you all your sins: Christ has utterly wiped out the damning evidence of broken laws and commandments which always hung over our heads, and has completely annulled it by nailing it over his own head on the cross.\u201d (Colossians 2.13-15, Philip\u2019s Translation)"}, {"text_idx": "#000041", "text": "On Easter Eve, running into Easter Day, we see the prize of Love, which is new Life. \u201cThanks be to God who gives us the victory in Our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d (1 Corinthians 15.57) It is impossible for darkness, sin, death and evil to hold God down, and Christ is raised from death, the firstborn of many children (Romans 8.29), for his love is shown to us \u201cthat we might lovely be.\u201d God\u2019s love recreates the universe, and we are invited to the party at the end of time."}, {"text_idx": "#000042", "text": "Ar noswyl y Pasg, ychydig cyn Sul y Pasg, rydym yn gweld gwobr Cariad, sef Bywyd newydd. \u201cOnd i Dduw y bo\u2019r diolch, yr hwn sy\u2019n rhoi\u2019r fuddugoliaeth i ni trwy ein Harglwydd Iesu Grist.\u201d (1 Corinthians 15.57) Mae\u2019n amhosibl i dywyllwch, pechod, marwolaeth a drygioni gadw Duw i lawr, ac mae Crist wedi codi o farw\u2019n fyw, y cyntafanedig ymhlith brodyr lawer (Rhufeiniaid 8.29), oherwydd mae ei gariad wedi dangos i ni \u201cmor hawddgar y gallwn ni fod.\u201d Mae cariad Duw yn ail greu\u2019r bydysawd ac rydym ninau\u2019n cael gwahoddiad i\u2019r parti ar ddiwedd amser."}, {"text_idx": "#000043", "text": "To be a Christian is to plant ourselves firmly under the banner of Love: to accept what God\u2019s love has done for us in Christ, and to become channels of that love in the world. We are called to love extravagantly because God loved us. \u201cThis is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.\u201d (1 John 4.10) \u201cDear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.\u201d (1 John 4.7)"}, {"text_idx": "#000044", "text": "Bod yn Gristion yw ein gosod ni\u2019n hunain yn gadarn o dan faner Cariad: derbyn beth mae cariad Duw wedi\u2019i wneud i ni yng Nghrist ac i ddod yn ffrydiau o\u2019r cariad hwnnw yn y byd. Rydym ni\u2019n cael ein galw i garu\u2019n afradlon oherwydd bod Duw wedi ein caru ni. \u201cYn hyn y mae cariad: nid ein bod ni\u2019n caru Duw, ond ei fod ef wedi ein caru ni, ac anfon ei Fab i fod yn foddion ein puredigaeth oddi wrth ein pechodau.\u201d (1 Ioan 4.10) \u201cGyfeillion annwyl, gadewch i ni garu ein gilydd, oherwydd o Dduw y mae cariad.\u201d 1 Ioan 4.7:"}, {"text_idx": "#000045", "text": "We may not be able to meet together publicly and physically in the coming days, but I urge you to make the journey of love alongside one another spiritually \u2013 to know that, as you make that journey, the Teulu Asaph makes that journey with you in the same way and at the same time. As we reflect on Jesus\u2019 readiness to lay aside his robes, and gird himself as a slave to wash the feet of his disciples, let us commit to serve the Servant King. As we find a way to explore the desolation of the Cross, let us resolve, in the face of fear or of difficulty, to spend and to be spent in the name of God\u2019s love for the world. In the darkness turned to light which is Easter, let us rise to new life and commitment as followers of the Lord. And let us know that we can do these things because he gives us such grace that this might be so: \u201cFor I am sure that he that began this good work in you will bring it to completion.\u201d (Philippians 1.6)"}, {"text_idx": "#000046", "text": "Efallai na fyddwn ni\u2019n gallu cyfarfod ein gilydd yn gyhoeddus nac yn gorfforol yn ystod y dyddiau i ddod, ond rwy\u2019n eich annog i wneud y daith o gariad gyda\u2019ch gilydd, yn ysbrydol \u2013 yn gwybod, wrth i chi fynd ar y daith honno, fod Teulu Asaph hefyd yn teithio gyda chi ar yr union un ffordd, yn union yr un pryd. Wrth i ni fyfyrio ar barodrwydd Iesu i roi\u2019i ddillad ar naill ochr a gwisgo gwisg caethwas i olchi traed ei ddisgyblion, gadewch i ni ymrwymo i wasanaethu\u2019r Brenin Tlawd. Wrth i ni ganfod ffordd i archwilio trallod y Groes, gadewch i ni benderfynu, yn wyneb ofn neu anhawster, ddefnyddio a chael ein defnyddio yn enw cariad Duw dros y byd. Yn y tywyllwch sydd wedi troi\u2019n oleuni\u2019r Pasg, gadewch i ni godi i fywyd ac ymrwymiad newydd fel dilynwyr yr Arglwydd. A gadewch i ni wybod y gallwn ni wneud y pethau hyn oherwydd mae\u2019n rhoi\u2019r gras i ni fel y gallai hyn fod: \u201cYr wyf yn sicr o hyn yma, y bydd i\u2019r hwn a ddechreuodd waith da ynoch ei gwblhau.\u201c (Philipiaid 1.6)"}, {"text_idx": "#000047", "text": "The woman behind the counter of the shop said to me the other week (I haven\u2019t been out much more recently): \u201cWhat can I do for you, my lovely?\u201d She said it so casually, and yet I am God\u2019s lovely, and you are God\u2019s lovely, and we are God\u2019s lovely, not because of our own loveliness, which may be rather elusive, but because in Christ, our identity is a sure inheritance. \u201cHe who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?\u201d (Romans 8.32)"}, {"text_idx": "#000048", "text": "Dywedodd y wraig y tu o\u0302l i gownter y siop wrthyf yr wythnos o\u2019r blaen (dydw i ddim wedi bod allan yn ddiweddar): \u201cBeth alla i wneud i chi, del?\u201d Dywedodd y peth mor ddidaro, ac eto \u2018del\u2019 Duw ydw i, rydych chi\u2019\u2019n \u2018ddel\u2019 i Dduw, mae pawb ohonom yn \u2018ddel\u2019 Duw. Nid oherwydd ein bod ni\u2019n \u2018ddel\u2019 ynom ni ein hunain, a allai fod braidd yn anodd ei ganfod, ond oherwydd, yng Nghrist, mae pwy a beth ydym ni\u2019n etifeddiaeth sicr. \u201cNi arbedodd Duw ei Fab ei hun, ond ei draddodi i farwolaeth trosom ni oll. Ac os rhoddodd ei Fab, sut y gall beidio a\u0302 rhoi pob peth i ni gydag ef?\u201d (Rhufeiniaid 8.32)"}, {"text_idx": "#000051", "text": "Jesus Christ, our King, is risen!\nRejoice, O earth, in glory, revealing the splendour of your creation! The Exsultet\nMay the glory of your garden bring hope and joy as Easter dawns afresh and as Love cannot be confined even if we are!"}, {"text_idx": "#000052", "text": "It was very strange not to be able to gather yesterday to remember the final meal Jesus shared with his followers, the Last Supper, and to keep watch for a while recalling the time afterwards when Jesus went with his followers to the Mount of Olives. The Gospel of Luke describes what may well have been Jesus having what we would today call a panic attack caused by anxiety as he asked God whether his sacrifice HAD to happen:"}, {"text_idx": "#000053", "text": "\u2018Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.......\nBeing in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.\u2019 (St Luke 22: 42-44)"}, {"text_idx": "#000054", "text": "His disciples having fallen asleep, Jesus was alone when he most needed support and, if he was sweating at that hour of the night, this was likely to be the cold sweat of fear. But Jesus still found the strength and courage to persevere despite what was happening and his example then may hearten us as we now endure isolation, anguish, and uncertainty caused by the ongoing pandemic."}, {"text_idx": "#000055", "text": "Jesus\u2019 fear was well founded due to his later arrest, trial, terrible suffering and dreadful death. Although the actual place is disputed, the crucifixion probably happened in an awful place where not only criminals were put to death but the bodies of animals sacrificed in the Temple were brought to be burned like rubbish nearby."}, {"text_idx": "#000056", "text": "Some weeks ago, I was sent a crucifix on stained glass which had been thrown away with a lot of rubbish and was fished out by the skip collector who then asked his son to bring it here. It seems appropriate to place it on the bare altar this Good Friday when the death of Jesus outside the city wall of Jerusalem is remembered and when life today has had to be stripped of so much that usually gives us purpose, joy and hope."}, {"text_idx": "#000057", "text": "In the terrible circumstances of the anxiety, suffering, anguish and death being caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, the sacrificial death of Jesus may enable us to find the strength and courage to persevere with the sacrifices being asked of us all this Good Friday. For this is only part of the unfolding story and, despite it all, hope lives on. Doesn\u2019t it?"}, {"text_idx": "#000058", "text": "\u2018Then one of the twelve \u2013 the one called Judas Iscariot \u2013 went to the chief priests and asked, \u201cWhat are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?\u201d So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.\u2019 (St Matthew 26:14-16, NIV)"}, {"text_idx": "#000059", "text": "Today is Palm Sunday and it usually begins in church as a time of rejoicing which marks the day Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey and Holy Week begins. While making breakfast in the kitchen, with the palm crosses that can\u2019t be distributed nearby, I was thinking how strange it seemed to have to celebrate this joyful morning so quietly and in isolation. Suddenly, the sun shone through the window and the image of part of a cross with palm branches was revealed on the wall above the bread bin! (A photo of the image follows \u2013 by the time I had found my iPad, it had faded but is still visible.) It was actually the shadow of the window frame and the spider plants on the window sill but it reminded me that we may not see the full picture but we each have our part in the events that are happening. What it showed me lifted my spirits and changed my perspective as this extraordinary Holy Week unfolds."}, {"text_idx": "#000062", "text": "For the sake of others as well as ourselves, we are now instructed to make preparation and do what is deemed necessary to save lives."}]