There is a cartoon that is quite popular among Christians during this pandemic period: God and the Devil looking together at the Earth. The Devil says with a smile: “With COVID-19, I closed your churches!” God responds with an even bigger smile: “On the contrary, I just opened one in every home!”

There are so many creative ideas about how to keep our spiritual life flourishing in these difficult times. Celebrations and prayer meetings, retreats and spiritual workshops – everything online. In Brussels, where different nationalities and confessions coexist, each community found its own way to celebrate Easter. However, people wanted to get beyond their own communities and confessions and were eager to share the message of support and hope with others. At the same time, they were curious: how do the others celebrate? They knew that not all communities celebrate Easter in the same way or at the same time. For example, Orthodox Christians celebrated it one week later this year.

The idea of sharing ecumenical hope and solidarity was behind the project  Colours of the Resurrection, the fruit of pastors from the Protestant, Anglican, Evangelical, Orthodox and Catholic communities getting together. Five short testimonies on What hope does the Resurrection give you and your community these days? What signs of the Resurrection do you see in your surroundings? were sent to the people virtually connected to the Chapel for Europe (each was opened by more than 500 people), and were also shared with other Christian communities.

Five different confessions, one faith in the Risen Christ. Five personal stories accompanied by meaningful photos personally chosen by the authors. A few samples: “Life pushed me, persistently. Life carried me where I felt incapable” (Protestant). “What lessons will stay with us this side of Easter? Have we not re-discovered who our neighbour is?” (Anglican). “Easter is for every day. Every-day Easter. I feel like waiting a couple weeks and then randomly wishing people ‘Happy Easter!’ on 14 May. Or 9 June. Or 24 August” (Evangelical). “May this year remain forever engraved in our present generations so that they can draw the necessary consequences, find the strength to change, and climb back up from the ravine where we fell, on Your path!” (Orthodox). “I admire the generosity of people. Their generosity is for me the first sign of the Resurrection in everyday life” (Catholic).

This ecumenical sharing will be continued. Another idea of the Chapel for Europe is taking shape: our weekly Ecumenical Prayer Lunches will go online. About half an hour of prayer, led each time by a different Christian community, followed by informal and joyful sharing. There is only one issue: no real lunch together. However, a “big fat lunch”  is planned once the confinement is over for good.  

The series Colours of the Resurrection is to be found on the website: https://chapelforeurope.eu/