Holy Week & Easter 2018

W e remember the things, that our Lord Jesus did and said, the night before he went to his passion and to his death.

We walk with our Lord through these three days. The Church invites us to stay with the story, until it finishes.

So over the three days we are called to walk with the whole awfulness of the story with Jesus, reacting in similar ways to the disciples and to Mary. The Church invites us to be present and to be close to Jesus, to take the story and the mystery with us, to relive it in our own daily lives.

The Lord has many messages for us. We hear about betrayal.

We watch as Jesus gets up from the table and washes the feet of those he calls friends. We learn from Jesus what it means to wash one another’s feet.

Time is quickly running out for Jesus, as his hour approaches: meaning, that right up and until the end Jesus is trying to teach us how to truly be Christian.

We are all called to wash the feet of one another. This act of service is truly a Gospel imperative.

We are called to build the kingdom of God through acts of kindness, of simplicity and of service. These acts of generosity are the essence of the kingdom of God.

None of us is too great, too mighty or too good that we dare excuse ourselves from what the Lord wants.

Let us consider how we can best serve our neighbour, how we can show our love and concern.

Not only for our family members and friends, but more widely, as Jesus has taught us.

Let us hear the Lord speak to us:

“You can call me Master and Lord, and rightly; so I am. If, I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you must wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.”

As we come with reverence to venerate the cross with a kiss or with a loving touch, we carry with us our own aches and pains, as well as hidden tears in our hearts. Like Simon of Cyrene, we bear the crosses of others whom we love.

We offer these lives to Christ, who alone can satisfy the longings of the heart, and who offers his prayer, aloud and in silent tears, to the Merciful Father.

We can carry with us those Christians who are suffering for their faith, and who are enduring persecution until death.

We bear the names of our loved ones and of our family members who are sick.

We offer all those people, whose lives have been shattered by tragic events during the last year, and remember their loved ones.

May Our Lady, the Mother of Mercies, intercede for them, so that they may receive the gift of consolation and of comfort.

Holy Saturday, on this most wonderful night of the year, the church celebrates newness, transformation and growth. The light of Christ has spread and the hope of Christ’s resurrection has dispelled fear.

“Having died with Christ we shall return to life with Him.” Christ has risen from the dead and is victorious over suffering, death and sin. AMEN!