This weekend is the culmination of the holiest of weeks in the Christian calendar, with Easter Sunday and the resurrection of Christ it celebrates the most pivotal or defining moment of the liturgical year.

We understand and respect that not everyone in our region is a practicing Christian – we hope everyone can understand that the lessons of this season go beyond the chronology of the scriptures or the doctrines of churches.

The Easter message calls upon the world to be more compassionate, as Jesus Christ, on the cross, asked God the Father to forgive His persecutors.

The message calls upon the world to reflect on how fickle that world is – the city that welcomed Jesus Christ as a hero on Palm Sunday and within a week demanded his crucifixion – and how our values and principles should withstand the temperaments and temptations of that fickle world.

We believe that message can call upon anyone – believer or non-believer – to reflect on their own fallibility. As Judas betrayed Christ and Peter denied Him, both fell staggeringly short of the beliefs they themselves had professed.

We should all take opportunities to reflect on how we fall short of practicing what we preach and how we can better live according to our principles. Even when those principles are confronted by the impetuousness of this world, and with kindness and compassion for those whose lives have led them to different beliefs, different principles and different fallibilities.

We believe, for believers and non-believer alike, reflection on the messages of Easter can make our communities better places and the world a better place.