Christians celebrate Easter across Long Island

The resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion was celebrated Sunday morning on the damp sands of Jones Beach and other places across Long Island.

Crowds of people huddled at Jones Beach around the Rev. Thomas A. Goodhue, an ordained United Methodist clergyman whose sermon was titled “Touch the Wounds.”

He told the story of how many had witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus and wouldn’t believe he’d risen from the dead three days later unless they had the chance to touch his wounds.

So Jesus did just that, allowing those to touch his side, where he had been fatally pierced with a spear, said Goodhue, the Long Island Council of Churches executive director emeritus. The council hosted the service.

More than 300 worshippers from across Long Island came out for the early morning Easter tradition.

An hour before sunrise, a light drizzle fell over the beach. Some took it as Jesus weeping, others saw it as an unusual day to rain.

Bill Severin, 59, stepped away from the service to stand at the tip of the beach, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. “I connect with the ocean,” he said.

While Severin thought about life, the minister pondered death.

“We all grow old and die but the good news is God is stronger than death, God can raise Jesus to new life, he can raise us to new life, too,” Goodhue said.

In Rockville Centre, Bishop John Barres presided over the 11 a.m. Mass at the parish of St. Agnes Cathedral.

Speaking before the service, he cited the messages of Pope Francis and his “constant appeal for a concern for children of the world, a concern for war-torn areas, places of poverty and hunger, places where human rights and the sanctity of human life are violated.”

“We, here at the Cathedral at St. Agnes, we’re here at Rockville Centre in New York, but we have that global Catholic heart,” Barres said.

Barres said that Easter is a time to reflect on the wounds of Christ and link his suffering to the pain in our own lives and use that to connect more deeply with the suffering of others around the world.

“When we allow the risen Lord to touch the wounds of our life, the wounds of sin, the wounds of painful experience, the wounds of traumas, the wounds of failures and disappointments, those wounds become birthplaces of great compassion and sensitivity and great mission,” Barres said. “It’s a great message of hope today.”

In Glen Cove, there were far more ski hats and scarves than Easter bonnets at Morgan Park, but the chilly breeze off Hempstead Bay did not blow away the anticipation of resurrection and new life Sunday at the city’s second annual Bilingual Community Easter Dawn Service.

Clergy and lay leaders from Glen Cove-area Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist and evangelical churches, standing in a semicircle in front of a large crucifix with purple bunting draped across it, led prayers and hymns in English and Spanish.

The Rev. Craig J. Wright told the approximately 150 worshippers from eight local churches who gathered before sunup for the service that Christ’s death and resurrection freed believers to embrace love and life.

“The stone was rolled away,” he said, referring to the tomb-sealing stone the Bible says was moved after the resurrection. “There is nothing stopping us from loving each other.”

Worshippers said they were moved by the diversity of people at the gathering.

“Different colors, different cultures, different languages, but one thing is the same,” said Marlene Flores of Glen Cove. “We all believe in Jesus Christ. He doesn’t see color. He doesn’t see differences in our languages.”

With Valerie Bauman and Michael O’Keeffe