Ascension of the Lord

This Sunday  we celebrate the feast of Ascension.  In our lives we have seen the departure of so many people, Perhaps it is a son or daughter leaving for university or maybe it was someone leaving to go to another country or the hardest departure of all someone close to us dying. Our lives are made up of so many different times and places of departure or leave-taking and that is what Ascension is really about as Jesus returns to the Father. Jesus leaves us but remains with us through the gift of the Spirit that came at Pentecost.  The readings for the  Ascension of the Lord encourage us to be open to the Holy Spirit and be willing to spread the Good News.  In the first reading from the Acts of the ApostlesJesus, after His resurrection, instructed the apostles to await the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem, promising them power to witness globally. He then ascended into heaven, affirming His eventual return. In the Second Reading Saint  Paul prays for believers to receive wisdom and revelation to know God fully, understanding their hope, inheritance, and the immense power granted to them, the same power that raised Christ.

The words of the Gospel for Ascension day strike me in a particular way Jesus tells us ‘go therefore make disciples of all the nations and know that I am with you to the end of time.  Jesus has called the ragged, group of disciples, scattered after his crucifixion, back to himself to form them, fragile and doubtful as they are, into a community for mission in the name of God. The task of the historical Jesus is complete; the task of the church as the living Body of Christ has just begun. It is comforting to recognise that Jesus doesn’t insist on perfection before he calls us and entrusts us with his mission. Jesus is definite about what he has to say when he speaks and calls his disciples to be the first missionaries. This is in sharp contrast to the fact that, their feelings were varied. Some of them worshipped him, while some of them still doubted.  Jesus didn’t seem to have any great problem with that, because he knew that, when the Spirit came, all of those doubts would be ended. It would seem, indeed, that he was in a hurry to take his leave of them, so that the next  part of his salvation plan could get underway.  The mission of the apostles was simple to understand; difficult to carry out. It was to teach others all that Jesus had taught them.

Just as he asked his disciples to follow him, they were to ask that others would follow him and was so hard for them then and it is hard for us to do in the world of today.  So many things have changed in the Church and society. However the two things that have not changed are Jesus himself and his message as they are always new for each generation.  Again and again we need to ask ourselves what we are doing to make disciples of the people around us . The feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost help us to realize that we are part of a long tradition of faithful people who have taken up the challenge to pass on the faith . We have our faults and failings, but our call is to witness to and teach the way of Jesus by the kind of people we are, the values and attitudes we hold, in thought, word and deeds our calling is to be the living presence of God in the world where we are today.

6th Sunday of Easter

This Sunday is the 6^th Sunday of Easter. it is also the beginning of the month of May. May is the month in  which we venerate the Mother of Jesus in a special way and in our parish we are hosting the annual Novena to our Lady of Perpetual Help.

In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we see a remarkable event where Peter, a Jew, realizes that God does not favour one group of people over another. As Peter spoke to a gathering that included both Jews and Gentiles, the Holy Spirit came upon everyone present. This was a clear sign that God’s love and salvation were available to all, not just a select few. Moved by this understanding, Peter baptized the Gentiles, officially welcoming them into the Christian community. This passage teaches us that God’s love knows no boundaries and that we, too, are called to transcend our prejudices and share God’s love with all.

The second reading, from the first letter of John, tells us straightforwardly: “God is love.” This profound truth is at the heart of Christian life. It means that loving others is not just a command from God, but a reflection of God Himself. When we love one another, we are participating in God’s own life.John goes on to explain that God showed this love most clearly by sending His Son, Jesus, to save us from our sins. This act of sending His only Son as a sacrifice is the ultimate example of love. Every act of love we show to others is a reflection of God’s love for us and an encounter with Him. In the Gospel for this Sunday Jesus tells us ‘As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain in my love. This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you.  The teaching about love is not a recent innovation, or a new-age trend as many people seem to think. Jesus does lay down a commandment for us today, but he does so, not as the master talking to servants, but as a friend speaking intimately  to other friends. Servants follow rules, their lives are dictated by the one who holds authority over them. Jesus’ religion isn’t based on such a model though many in the church today seem to think otherwise. Instead, love is the foundation of our faith. Jesus is asking us to live out of the realization of that love. We are his friends, he tells us, so now we are asked to go out and live like friends with one another. “Friends,” in this context, means “beloved ones.” We need to live out of that description for we are the beloved disciples. The instructions that Jesus gives are valuable  lessons by which we will master the love of God our Father in what we say and what we do. Jesus chose his followers to carry out God’s plan of salvation in every age he chooses us today in our turn to do the same.  

Love is the best way to become his “co-worker,” since it reveals the reason he made the world and affirms our friendship with the creator. Love changes everything it touches. It tells us to stop bragging about this or that. It enhances our reputation. It denies the power of position and wealth which we sometimes feel is ours by right, it raises us up as true leaders. It connects us to God and to one another. Divine love transcends mere emotion. It becomes our lifeline to God. And it forms the basis of real community where everyone is valued and none are left out. It is inexplicable in theory, yet easily seen in action. Wherever God loves, he acts. Wherever he acts, he is there with us. HE IS WITH US simply because he loves us and the love of God knows no bounds; we remember the love that God has for each and every one of us each time we look at the Cross. There was no greater love than the Cross of Good Friday. We are called to bring the love of God into our own lives as well as the lives of those around us remembering that the Love of God lasts forever.Jesus assures us that whatever we ask the Father in His name will be granted, emphasizing the power of living in accordance with His command to love. We experience God’s presence through the love we give and receive in our everyday interactions. Through His words and example, Jesus has equipped us to bring this divine love into the world.

As followers of Christ, we are called to live out the love of God in a real way, showing love to everyone we meet without partiality. When we show love genuinely, we make the truth that “God is love” visible and active in the world. Let us strive to embody this love in all that we do, bringing the light of Christ into every corner of our lives and our world.

5th Sunday of Easter

This Sunday we hear the gospel  story of the Vine and the Vinedresser. Jesus uses the  Old Testament image of the vine and branches to help his disciples to understand the closeness of their relationship with him and the necessity of their maintaining it.  They are not simply teacher and disciples.  Their lives are mutually dependent as close as a vine and its branches.  In fact, in using this image, Jesus is explaining to them and to us what our relationship with him should become. The first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, testifies to the abundance of spiritual fruits yielded by the apostles because of their close bond with the risen Lord.  The reading tells us how the Lord pruned the former fanatical Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus, who had persecuted the Church, to produce a fruit-bearing branch called Paul the zealous Apostle to the Gentiles, a man now entirely dedicated to the proclamation of the Gospel.  Even Paul’s forced return to Tarsus for a brief period is an example of God’s pruning of the vine to bring forth a greater harvest, namely, the mission to the Gentiles.

In today’s second reading, John, in his first letter to the Church, explains that only if we remain united with Christ by putting our Faith in him and drawing our spiritual strength from him, will we be able to obey God’s commandments, especially the commandment of love.  In our Gospel this Sunday we hear the story of the vine and the vinedresser of course Jesus is the vine and the Father is the vine dresser and we are the branches of the vine. If we remain in him with him in us we will produce much fruit. The sound of the pruning shears does not sound very pleasant, in fact, it sounds quite threatening. From the time of Moses, the Hebrew people thought of their nation as a vine which God had taken from Egypt and transplanted into Palestine. There in the fertile valleys the nation thrived and grew, as does a vine that is well tended. Every vine dresser knows the importance of pruning away branches that will not bear fruit. Those branches rob the vine of its vitality and diminish the amount of grapes produced Of course, we are using the language of analogy here; we are not talking about a harvest of actual grapes. When Jesus says I am the vine’ he is clearly meaning a vine of a heavenly order. The fruit, is therefore surely also of a heavenly order. We realise that the harvest is one of souls for heaven.

Our task is in fact to continue the work of Christ in the world. In order to know what to do we must look at his life and imitate him as best we can.  He taught the truth, he spoke words of comfort, he healed the sick, he brought sight to the blind, he spent much time in prayer in communion with the Father. And ultimately he laid down his life for our salvation. We must find ways to translate his actions and his words into our actions and our words We are meant to live in the peace and joy of the Easter gospel not in fear and uncertainty. “Without me you can do nothing,” Jesus tells us. But with him we can do everything. If we remain in his love, we can ask anything of the Father in his name and it will be given to us. The life of faith in Christ and what he teaches us  is a gift freely given and accepted by we also have the freedom to reject the life of faith  and the  love of Christ.  God calls us through Jesus his Son to make His message real in the world he asks us to make his actions and words our own as we bring His Love to the world wherever we are within it.

4th Sunday of Easter

This weekend we celebrate the 4^th Sunday of Easter also known as Good Shepherd Sunday. The image of the good shepherd is a deep revelation of Christ’s sacrificial love and commitment towards us. Unlike the hired hand who might flee at the first sign of danger, Jesus stands firm, ready to lay down His life for His sheep. This act of ultimate sacrifice is a testament to the depth of His care and concern for us you only have to look at the cross to realise this it’s a love that goes beyond duty or obligation. Jesus wants to be our shepherd, guiding us, protecting us, and leading us to pastures of eternal life.  In the Old Testament, the shepherd was a metaphor for the leaders of the  people of God. Most often those leaders failed in their responsibilities and many were corrupt. God excoriates the incompetent and sinful leaders who were appointed to shepherd the people which they did not do. With the failures of the leaders of the people, God decided to take on the shepherding role. “For thus says the Lord: I myself will look after and tend my sheep. (Ezekiel 34:11).

In the First Reading – from the acts of the Apostles Peter declared the healing of a man came through Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom they crucified but God raised. He emphasized that salvation can only come through Jesus, the stone the builders rejected that became the cornerstone.  In the Responsorial Psalm we acknowledge God’s unfailing kindness, we find solace in His shelter, surpassing human reliance. The once-rejected stone now underpins our faith, a divine act that fills us with awe. Blessed by God’s response and rescue, we celebrate and give thanks for his eternal love and mercy. In the Second Reading we are told that  we are already God’s children, loved deeply by the Father. The world doesn’t know us, as it didn’t know Him. In the future, we’ll fully become like Him, seeing Him as He truly is. In this Sundays gospel Jesus likens Israel’s corrupt shepherds to the “hired man who deserts the sheep when danger approaches, leaving them in peril. The hired shepherd may leave the sheep behind but Jesus the Good shepherd the Son of the Father does not leave his sheep. One of the most comforting Psalms which is also a hymn begins with the line: “The Lord is my shepherd.”

It ends with this line: “Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” Goodness and mercy, in the person of Jesus the good Shepherd are with us even now. The Gospel of the Good Shepherd teaches us how to embrace the gift of redemption by hearing and recognizing the voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd. There are numerous voices calling us to believe and practice things that might seem nice, but those voices are not of or from the Lord. We need to tune our ears and hearts into recognizing the voice of truth that comes from the Good Shepherd through the preaching and teaching of the Church. We are his people the sheep of his flock means that we are people who are able to recognize the voice of the Lord and faithfully follow him.  On Good shepherd Sunday the Church also invites us to think about and pray for vocations. We pray in a special way for all those young and not so young who have a vocation to the priesthood, Permanent diaconate or the religious life. We pray that in their lives they may be like Christ the Good shepherd who came to give his life as a ransom for many shepherding  his people into the sheepfold of God the Father  .

3rd Sunday of Easter

This weekend we celebrate the third Sunday of Easter. As we journey through the Easter season, the readings for the 3rd Sunday of Easter invite us to reflect deeply on the themes of repentance, forgiveness, and the power of the Resurrection. The call to turn back to God and the assurance of His forgiveness are central messages that resonate throughout the readings, offering us a path to renewal and hope. In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter addresses the people with a powerful message of repentance. He acknowledges that both the people and their leaders acted in ignorance when they rejected Jesus and chose a murderer instead. However, Peter’s words are not of condemnation but of invitation. He invites his listeners to repent and turn back to God so that their sins may be wiped out. This passage highlights a fundamental truth of the Christian faith: God’s mercy is greater than our sins, and His desire is always to bring us back into full communion with Him.

The apostles on the road didn’t recognize him at first, but they did after he opened the Scriptures and broke bread with them. After their encounter they returned to the community in Jerusalem with the news of what had happened. While they were still speaking to the community, Jesus stood in their midst and said to them peace be with you. He is encouraging them not to be afraid. Then he invites them to touch him. Still more, he asks for food and eats in their presence. The resurrected Christ is present, in the same way he was when they traveled and ate together. He is not just someone who somehow survived what was done to him and escaped. He didn’t experience a near death on the cross he died and rose again as he said he would. Jesus reminds all of us that he is the same, yet there is something very different about him. They knew that he was with them; Yet, the disciples needed more in order to accept his new presence with them. What he did for the disciples on the road to Emmaus he does again and again for us through  our priests. He tells us what the Scriptures had said about him in the same way our priests do for us today.

Do we understand what God done  for us as he brings us new life after death? Jesus doesn’t choose just certain Scriptures as proof texts. He tells us as he told the disciples “everything written about me in the law of Moses, and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” What would we be like if Jesus came and stood among us in real flesh and blood, I think that our reaction would be exactly the same as the apostles disbelief. But if we stop and think for a moment Jesus does come amongst us each time  we go to the Eucharistic liturgy, Jesus is there with us on the Altar in the elements of Bread and wine and in the person of the Priest offering these gifts to the Father on our behalf. We remember the last supper when Jesus gave us himself as an everlasting memorial and we remember that each time we hear the prayers of consecration at Mass that we do this in memory of him. We are Easter people Jesus walks with us and we are called by our baptism to bring the light and peace of Christ  to the world.

2nd Sunday of Easter Divine Mercy Sunday

This weekend we celebrate the second Sunday of Easter also known as Divine Mercy Sunday when we celebrate the mercy of God in a special way. Our first reading from the acts of the apostles tells us that the early believers were united, sharing possessions and resources. The apostles’ powerful testimony about Jesus’ resurrection earned them high regard. They distributed funds meet everyone’s needs, ensuring no one was in need. These days we ask ourselves are we helping to provide for those who have needs in our own places. In the second Reading we see that  Belief in Jesus as the Christ the son of God  shows we are born of God. Loving God and His children means obeying His commandments, which are not burdensome. Our faith in Jesus as God’s Son overcomes the world, affirmed by the Spirit of truth. In the Gospel story Jesus appears to his disciples, offering peace and showing his wounds, which brought them joy. He empowered them with the Holy Spirit and the authority to forgive sins.

The Apostles were huddled together in fear. They weren’t so sure that the women’s report that Jesus had risen was believable. They weren’t singing for joy! Now, a whole week has gone by. They still felt “rocky” about their future and what it would hold for them. Thomas wasn’t the only one who had doubts about Jesus, I think so many were doubtful then as so many are doubtful right here and now. The Apostles were pondering the shocking experience of the week before when all seemed to be lost as Jesus hung on the Cross. But here we are over 2000 years later thinking about how they felt after the events of that first Holy Week.  Jesus had broken through those doors and came to assure them that he was alive and then his message must have troubled them: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”  The disciples  were to go out to  teach, to preach, to heal by announcing the gospel. They were going  to open the eyes of the blind, to give hearing to the deaf, and soften the hardened hearts of man. They were sent to bring the message of Jesus to others and in the same way we are sent out to bring his message to other people wherever we are by what we say and do.

We are asked to bring the mercy and love of God to all those out there who need his healing merciful touch.  We remember the joys the hope, the grief and the anxieties of the people in our time these are the joys and hopes, the grief and anxieties of the followers of Christ. The Apostles felt rocky about their future as many of us do today but god is with us as we go out into the world as his messengers. May all of us be witnesses to the Gospel bringing the mercy of God to the people of our time and place as we go forward into a the future as Easter people with Christ as our light  to help and guide us along the road we travel.

HOLY SATURDAY & EASTER SUNDAY

The cross is empty now Jesus lies in the tomb and everything around us is still.’ The heavens and the earth cry out with longing for the sinless one who is not to be found, if we stop to think for a moment we remember that Jesus died and rose again on the third day. We wait, as mourners beside a grave, unsettled, ill at ease, almost not knowing what to do with ourselves. The Church has only one thing to do today: to pray through the emptiness of Holy Saturday. Holy Saturday then is the day when we experience watching and waiting at the tomb as we await the celebration of the Resurrection which we celebrate in the Easter Vigil and the season of Easter. The Jewish people have been celebrating Passover annually for thousands of years, commemorating the night in which God brought them out of slavery in Egypt to begin the journey to the promised land. At the Last Supper, Jesus also celebrated the Passover but gave it a new meaning. No longer a remembrance of passing from slavery to freedom, but through his own passion, death and resurrection we too pass from death to life with him. Until the fourth century, Easter was the only feast of the Church’s year, and to this day it remains the most important. As the Catechism says: “Easter is not simply one feast among others, but the ‘Feast of feasts’, the ‘Solemnity of solemnities’.” Every Sunday Eucharist echoes the Sunday of the Resurrection and Easter.

EASTER SUNDAY

Though  it isn’t now an obligation, the early Church continued to fast through Saturday. Our anticipation has not ended with the memory of Christ’s death. In fact, our anticipation increases as we wait to celebrate the Resurrection. Some may think of the Easter Vigil as just a longer Mass which it is in many respects however this is only part of the story. There are things we do at the Easter Vigil that we do not  do at any other time in the church year.

We light the new Easter Candle from a large fire outside to remind us that Jesus is our light in the darkness, we then process into the darkened church. We hear the great hymn of praise called the ‘Exultet, in which we praise Christ for saving us. The hymn says that we would greatly prefer a fallen universe with Christ to a perfect one without him. “0 Happy fault which deserved so great a Saviour.” We hear more readings than usual on this night, recounting the history of our salvation. Most significantly we welcome new members into the Church and our parish. With them we all renew our Baptismal promises. At Easter, we celebrate joy, the kind  of joy that each of us longs for, when every tear is wiped away, and there is no sorrow any more no more suffering from weather or hunger or hurtful human beings. As we sing in the much-loved hymn by Fr. John Foley, S. J., at Easter, “the cross and passion past, dark night is done, bright morning come at last!” 

When we ourselves rise to meet our risen Lord, in that bright morning we will hear him say, “Come away, beloved. The winter is past; the rain is gone, and the flowers return to the earth” (Song of Songs 2:10-12). In the loving union of that encounter, all the heart brokenness of our lives will be redeemed. That will be perfect joy. So in that same vein of perfect joy we say “this is the ‘day which the Lord has made.’ Alleluia!  let us take fresh hope,  with Christ our Passover everything is possible! Christ goes forward with us in our future!” Let us go forward together as Easter people rejoicing in the Resurrection. We need time to do all of these things well, so we begin a fifty day season of feasting with a long liturgy that is packed with all the riches the Church has to offer.

THE SEASON OF EASTER

It can seem that once Easter Sunday has passed Easter is finished, but the’ celebration continues for fifty days. The next Sunday of Easter day  is traditionally known as Low Sunday or Dominica in Albis (White Sunday) which refers to the white baptismal garment of the newly baptised. Divine Mercy Sunday is a new feast also celebrated on this day. It comes almost as an opportunity in which anyone who missed out on celebrating the mercy of Christ in Holy Week has another chance. After forty days we celebrate the feast of the Ascension of Christ who returns to the Father to send us the Holy Spirit.  We spend the novena (nine days) between the Ascension and Pentecost praying for the Spirit like Mary and the apostles in the Upper Room. On the fiftieth day (which is the literal meaning of the word “Pentecost”) Easter ends. On that day “Christ’s Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit” (CCC 731). Our celebration of Easter resonates throughout the rest of the year: full of gratitude for Christ’s passion, joy in his resurrection and, strengthened by the Spirit, we continue our Christian journey.

GOOD FRIDAY

On this day in the liturgy we read St. Johns account of the passion, we pray for the needs of the Church and the world, we venerate the Cross and we receive the blessed Eucharist.  In the First Reading we listen to A prophetic passage from the Hebrew Bible that describes the suffering of a righteous servant who is despised and rejected by many but ultimately bears their sins and brings healing through his sacrifice. The passage is often interpreted as a foreshadowing of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and is considered a central text in Christian theology. In the Second Reading we hear that Jesus is the ultimate high priest who sympathizes with human weakness and has made a perfect sacrifice for sin, thus providing a way for humanity to approach God with confidence. The passage urges all of us  to hold fast to our  faith in Jesus, who has been appointed by God as the source of eternal salvation.

In the Gospel reading Jesus, after being betrayed by Judas, was arrested and faced trials before Jewish and Roman leaders, culminating in his crucifixion. Despite Pilate’s hesitation, pressured by Jewish authorities and a manipulated crowd, he consented to Jesus’ death. Jesus was crucified at Golgotha alongside two others. Before his death, he ensured care for his mother and declared his mission fulfilled. His side was pierced, verifying his death. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus buried Jesus in a new tomb, marking the preparation day’s urgency. When we think about  the death of Jesus on the cross, his death was a result of the courage of his convictions. He lived his life with a message of compassion and love, Jesus was often critical of those who lorded it over those who were less well off or who had little or even nothing at all. The cross of Good Friday that we venerate is a sign and a symbol that all of us recognise, it is a sign of the completeness of the love that God has for each one of us faults with all faults and failings included. It is not accidental that the Passion according to John is always read on this day.  This account shows Jesus always in charge, in total command of his situation. 

John’s Passion is an extended commentary on an earlier statement of Jesus found in John 10:17-18:  “I lay down my life that I may take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.”   The focus of the liturgy of Good Friday, is not primarily a meditation on Jesus’ pain, nor on our sinfulness, nor on our imitation of Jesus’ humility on their own.  Rather the focus is a reminder to us that we are beneficiaries of this event, and so we call the Friday “Good” by thanking God for what God has done for us in Jesus his son.  The final words of Jesus from the cross say it all for us, “Is is accomplished!”  Jesus is not overcome.  On the contrary!  He has overcome! When we go up to venerate the cross on Good Friday we should allow the cross to move us to be better people. Consoling, comforting and challenging the people we meet with the values of Jesus and the Cross.

HolyThursday

On this day  we recall Jesus’ commandment to love one another, his washing of the disciples’ feet and the breaking of the bread. The liturgy on Holy Thursday is a meditation on the essential connection between the Eucharist and Christian love expressed in serving one another. In the 1^st Reading we hear  The Lordcommands Moses and Aaron to mark the new year and prepare for Passover. Each Israelite family is to select a flawless lamb, share as needed, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The lamb’s blood will protect them from the impending plague, signifying the LORD’s mercy as He strikes Egypt but spares His people, establishing an eternal commemoration. The Second Reading tells us  how Jesus established the Eucharist.Breaking bread, He offered it as His body, and the cup as the new covenant in His blood, instructing us to commemorate His sacrifice in this act until He comes again.

The Gospel  tells us that Before Passover, aware of his imminent departure, Jesus demonstrated his love by washing his disciples’ feet, a task for servants. Peter initially resisted but accepted upon understanding its necessity for fellowship with Jesus. Jesus used this act to teach humility and service, emphasizing that followers should emulate his example of serving others. Christ is not only present in the Eucharist but also in the deeds of loving kindness offered to others through us. We are the ones who make ‘real’ the presence of Jesus in the world today in what we do and say as Christians. The theme running throughout this day is one of humble service of God and his people.  The Evening Mass commemorates the Last Supper with the theme of service and sacrifice both of these are aspects of the same mystery.  We see Jesus as one who serves, who gives himself.  Just as he freely gives himself in washing the feet of his disciples, so too he gives himself  in the bread and wine he takes, blesses and hands to the disciples.  

In the same way we receive Jesus in the form of Bread and wine from the hands of our priests. All these acts of self-giving are the same act that of the Son of Man who came ‘not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’ The action of the Church that is our action  as the body of Christ on this night also witnesses to the Church’s respect for Christ’s Body present in the consecrated Host in the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, carried in solemn procession to the  Altar of Repose. No Mass will be celebrated again in the Church throughout the world until the Easter Vigil on Saturday evening when we proclaim the Resurrection of Christ.  As people who are Christians that is followers of Christ We should embrace all those who are in need of any kind as Christ did. We should be leading lives of generous service to all those who need our help wherever they are and there are many people around who may need our help and care.    When we serve our brothers and sisters we are called them that our God is an all-loving and caring father in heaven then the Eucharist whenever we partake of this great sacrament will bring us joy and peace.May we take up the mantle of humble service giving a helping hand to others and not counting the cost to ourselves. Many people over the years have given much at great personal cost and have not failed in their example of humble service and that for me  is what  Holy Thursday is all about  Humble service for others and not being afraid of being the presence of Christ for others in our world.

PALM SUNDAY

During Lent we have been preparing for the celebration of Easter by works of love and self-sacrifice. Today, in union with the whole Church throughout the world we remember Christ’s entry into Jerusalem to complete his saving work as our Messiah to suffer, to die and to rise again. We, enter Holy Week that is called the Great Week in the orthodox tradition. The entrance into Jerusalem is one of the very few events in Jesus’ life which is mentioned in all four gospels.  It is the only time that Jesus accepts and encourages public acclaim as Messiah.  He even goes as far as organising his entrance by telling the disciples to go and fetch the donkey.  The key moment in God’s great plan of salvation is about to begin and Jesus knows exactly how it will unfold. The events of Palm Sunday were foretold thousands of years ago. The first reading from Isaiah, one of the four Suffering Servant oracles written at the time of the Babylonian captivity, speaks of a courageous and obedient messiah-figure, who says,  “I have set my face like flint” against the beatings and scourging that lie ahead, “knowing that I shall not be put to shame.”

The second reading from Philippians reminds us of Jesus’ total emptying out of His divinity in order that He might identify Himself with the lowest criminal being led to His execution, “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” We move towards the heavenly Jerusalem only because Christ himself has already made that journey to the Cross for us and now he offers to make it with us as we bear the crosses that come to us.   The full drama of the Gospel  begins with the crowd’s fickle acclamation of Jesus as King at the beginning of the reading.  It is a foreshadowing of the blasphemous mockery the soldiers will hurl at our thorn-crowned Savior a few days later on Good Friday. And yet, we raise our voices joyfully with the crowd, linking the honor given Him, especially by the children. We wonder and rejoice as the veil is raised to permit a glimpse of Jesus, as the Messiah-King and liberator `who is the suffering servant of god.  The Church is a master of drama in the liturgies of this week. Through the use of readers for the Passion and the voices of the congregation, we all become part of the action. On Palm Sunday we feel embarrassed to cry out “Crucify Him” with the palm branches still in our hands. It reminds us of our own fickle response and our lack of courage in responding to His love and truth. Yet we know that it was our sins that brought Jesus to Calvary. 

Holy Week is a time for us to realize what we’re really like, and to find that the only remedy for our sin is the fathers love for us. Are we ready to join our own pains and fears to the Master’s? Are we ready to add as much love as we can possibly muster to His boundless love? As we recall the Passion story on Palm Sunday and then again on Good Friday we are called to respond and to imitate his life. As God’s family, we are called to be the Church, the Body of Christ in this world.  We are asked to look out for one another. It’s not just about “me myself.”  It’s about “all of us together.”  Christ came to serve and give his life as a ransom for many as a result of this  he points us in the right direction. It is important that we who say we are Christians accept the truth about ourselves that truth  may not always be good and then in our acceptance of the truth we will be able to look at the Cross and recognise the love of God our Father made real through Jesus. As we reflect upon the story of Jesus coming to Jerusalem  we recommit ourselves to Christ and his message of salvation. Over the next few days let us enter fully into Holy Thursday, Good Friday and  Holy Saturday and then we will really be able to enjoy the Easter feast when it comes on Sunday with renewed hearts. So let us go forth in peace to meet the Lord this Palm Sunday and Holy Week.