First of all, I want to thank all those who helped make our Easter celebrations be wonderful worship of Our Risen Lord. The Churches looked resplendent and the worship was very well prepared and executed with much participation, solemnity and lively joy. I think we had record numbers of people coming to most of the ceremonies and on Easter Sunday we well packed out at almost all Masses; wonderful witness!
Your contributions to the special collections on Holy Thursday for Catholic Worker was around $900 and the collection for the Holy Places on Good Friday raised $1200. Thank you again for your exemplary charitable giving to these great causes.
This weekend we again focus upon the Mercy of God. Last year we kept a focus on mercy for the Holy Year but mercy isn’t a one off special focus, no, it must be for us all a daily commitment to act in the way our risen Lord did when he walked amongst us and to put into effect the whole point of Easter. Easter is the festival of God’s mercy. He loves us, his wayward creation, so much that he sacrificed himself in his son that we might have the perfect example of love and mercy in action.
Easter is also not just a day long feast it is a 50 day long festival. The gospels follow the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus, then his Ascension to glory and ending with the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (50th day). So let us do two things; redouble the efforts we make to be merciful and to carrying on feasting and festivities over the next few weeks.
God bless you in the risen Lord,
Fr Aidan Peter CJ
May God bless you, your families, and the week ahead,
Fr Aidan Peter