Dear Friends,
Today we enter into the wonderful celebration of Holy Week. In the richness of Christian worship and celebration, we walk in Jesus’ steps from joyful entry (today), to controversy, betrayal and farewell (Monday to Thursday) to death (Friday) and to resurrection (Saturday night and Sunday).
Palm Sunday celebrates the entry of Jesus to Jerusalem to confront the authorities. We mark this today with the procession from the school atrium to the church, and then the reading of the Passion according to Luke.
Remember that walking with Jesus during this Holy Week is possible only because Jesus walked with us. We can follow in his footsteps only because he stood in our shoes and knows our pain, our grief, our fears and even the darkness of death. Yet we are confident that the journey is worth taking. We know how the week will end. God raises Jesus from the dead, exalts him to be our living Lord, and enables us to rise along with him to eternal life. In the meantime we need not hasten through the week to find the good news. It is already good that God has provided for us a living Lord who knows our sorrows and is present with us in the darkness of our lives.
Our liturgical programme for this week is carefully prepared, very full, and very rich. I hope that you can participate fully in it and that it will be a blessing for you. I also hope that you will invite others to take part. We welcome visitors from near and far, and trust that all will feel at home in this community of faith.
Our whole celebration will be enriched with wonderful music from our choir and organist, and with the participation and hard work of so many in all kinds of ways. Next Saturday morning there will be a great deal of activity in the church, with many of you involved in servers’ rehearsals, brass cleaning, and flower arranging. On Saturday evening after the Easter Vigil and Mass there will be an Easter party. It would be appreciated if you could bring some light nibbles or a drink to share.
Above all, let us enter this week with prayer and with deep yearning for God’s way of righteousness and peace to be evident among us.
May God bless you all.
Fr Peter Williams
Readings for Holy Week
Monday Isaiah 42: 1–9 John 12: 1–11
Tuesday Isaiah 49: 1–7 John 12: 20–36
Wednesday Isaiah 50: 4–9 John 13: 21–32
Thursday Exodus 12: 1–14 1 Corinthians 11: 23–26 John 13: 1–35
Friday Isaiah 52: 13–53: 12 Hebrews 4: 14–16, 5: 7–9 John 18 & 19
Saturday Exodus 14: 15–15: 1 Romans 6: 3–11 Luke 24: 1–12
