An Easter message from the Vicar of Halifax Hilary Barber

Easter, like Christmas, is a Holy time of the year for the Abrahamic Faiths: for Christians it’s the Festival of Easter when we remember Jesus’ death on a cross on Good Friday, and then his resurrection from the dead on Easter Sunday; for the Jewish Community its Passover when they commemorate the Hebrews’ liberation from slavery in Egypt; and this year it’s also Ramadan for the Muslim community, the month when many Muslims choose to fast from dawn to dusk, as part of the fourth of the five Pillars of Islam.

At dusk many families come together to break the fast and across Calderdale we have seen numerous community Iftars, bringing communities together over delicious food.

Food brings whole communities together whether to enjoy chocolate easter eggs or hot cross buns, kosher food or South Asian food at Eid ul Fitr.

This year Calderdale Interfaith is organising an event at Heath URC church to bring all the faith communities together to celebrate these three festivals.

It’s on Thursday, April 4. Check out Calderdale Interfaith website for more information.

There are enough horrible things going on in the world at the moment, so these festivals of faith provide a window of opportunity to bring people and communities together, to share food, make new friends, and to realise we have so much more in common with each other as human beings, than those things which can divide and hurt us.

It’s also one of the distinctive marks of Calderdale that we have strong faith communities who like each other and get on well, so any chance of a party, is always going to be well received.

Learning about other faiths helps me feel more secure in my own faith, and cements what I really believe. It also means that I can understand my neighbours better and can celebrate with them their own times of celebration – which seem to consistently overlap with mine!

Happy Easter everyone!