Easter 2020 was unlike any other, celebrated in mostly empty cathedrals and churches throughout Australia, lived streamed to parishioners in lockdown around the country. The sermons and pastoral letters of the bishops of Australia at that time have an enduring value as they capture a time of strangeness, deprivation and isolation, pierced by the joyful good news of Christ’s resurrection.

A collection of messages from Australian Catholic Bishops from the first COVID-19 lockdown has been published by St Pauls Publications. The book is called 'Streams of Light:Easter Messages from Australian Bishops During Lockdown 2020'.

The book was endorsed by Greg Sheridan who said, “Easter is the pivot of history. In direct and accessible language, these homilies and messages lead us to Easter’s grandeur, and its gracious embrace.”

Virginia Bourke, Chair of Mercy Health said, “This collection is a gift to us all: we find words of comfort and solidarity, words to anchor us in hope and to offer us new possibilities.”

The editor, Nigel Zimmermann, said, “The pandemic story involves suffering, fears and deprivations. But the centre of the Christian story is the Resurrection, and I am delighted to share the way our Australian Bishops stepped up to the challenge of Covid-19 and met it with all the conviction and faith of the Easter message.”

The book is available from St Paul's Publications.