CADBURYS replaced the word Easter with their own brand name and Tesco, in a ruse to flog cheap beer, declared “Good Friday just got better”.

I found myself hauled onto local radio to sound suitably outraged that the country was going to the dogs and no one knew what Easter was about anymore, except as a marketing opportunity.

But when I found one of my son’s friends bemused that he had been sent a picture of a hot cross bun above the greeting ‘Happy Easter’, and clearly had no idea what the cross referred to on this sugar bun, I thought it churlish to feel angry with the advertisers for wanting to make a fast buck.

First of all there are far more serious things to get outraged about - like child trafficking, or young people homeless on our streets, or the widening gap between rich and poor, and a fragile world fuelled by the fake news of a post-truth society where those who shout persistently and loudly seem to get their way.

And, secondly, if people don’t know the Christian story and don’t know what Easter is about, then we in the Church should not look to blame anyone but ourselves.

The message of Easter is one of steadfast love and astonishing forgiveness. God shares in the suffering of the world, forgives those who rise up against him, and offers us a different version of what it is to be human, one where compassion, forgiveness and acceptance rule the day.

So I’m not hot and cross about the ways the world fails to acknowledge what Easter is about, but I do want to share this message for it is what the world needs more than anything else.