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Easter is the greatest and the most important feast in the Church for three reasons: 1) The Resurrection of Christ is the basis of our Christian Faith.  It is the greatest of the miracles, for it proves that Jesus is God.  That is why St. Paul writes: “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain; and your Faith is in vain”. It is important to note that the founder of no other religion has an empty tomb as Jesus has.  2) Easter is the guarantee of our own resurrection.  Jesus assured Martha at the tomb of Lazarus: “I am the Resurrection and the Life; whoever believes in Me will live even though he dies”. 3) Easter is a feast which gives us hope and encouragement in this sorry world of ours. There is so much pain, sorrow and tears around us.  This feast reminds us that life is worth living.  It is our belief in the Real Presence of the Risen Jesus in our souls, in His Church, in the Blessed Sacrament, and in Heaven that gives meaning to our personal as well as our communal prayer. It gives us the strength to fight against temptations, and freedom from unnecessary worries and fears.

According to an ancient Russian Orthodox tradition, the day before Easter was devoted to telling jokes. Priests would join the people in telling their best jokes to one another. The reason was to reflect the joke God pulled on the devil in the Resurrection. Satan thought he had won on Friday, but God had the last laugh on Easter Sunday.)

May the Risen Lord be a living experience to you, pervading every area of your life,  blessing you, strengthening you, inspiring you, guiding you and supporting you in all you do. I wish you all a happy and holy Easter.

Holy Week Masses:  If you have booked a Mass at St George’s and St Wilfrid’s over the Holy Week and not had confirmation of a place.  Please contact Margaret for St George’s on 870990 and Jackie for St Wilfrid’s on 841504.  Thank you.

St Wilfrid’s Church still has a few remaining places available for the Saturday Easter Vigil.  If you would like to attend this service please ring 841504 or email [email protected]

Fr Rory Writes:                         Stations of the Cross continued:

The Twelfth Station:  Jesus dies at the Cross.  “We adore thee O Christ and we praise thee, because by your Holy Cross you  have redeemed the World”.

It is accomplished Jesus bows His head and dies – but there is no magic.  His Divine intervention which was essential for our salvation has accomplished its purpose.  God’s salvation for all of mankind.  On a number of times during our years in our seminary,  in preparation for priesthood, at retreats and lectures I have heard some great teachings on the focus of what was accomplished upon the cross, and how God could have restored to us  all that was lost under Adam’s fall.  Through one man, Adam, sin entered our world, but Jesus came down from heaven to put an end to sin and death.  The love through which He accomplished this has been entrusted to us.  Our purpose is to become the church working to bring God’s salvation into a broken sinful world.  So this is the privilege offered to us – to work with Him to bring forgiveness, healing and a loving presence into people’s lives to restore God’s Kingdom – The Kingdom of Heaven.

One our Father, one Hail Mary, one Glory be to the Father.

The Thirteenth Station:  Jesus is taken down from the Cross.  “We adore thee O Christ and we praise thee, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the World”.

The work of the church has commenced.  The evil, the enemy is as active as ever.  So the ministry of the scared, the very scariest one run away from the scene, naked and afraid.  The soldiers have not been disbanded and the work of the Sanhedrin continued.  Preparation by God’s providence for the burial could take place,  as Joseph of Arimathea became God’s instrument.  Permission was granted and a tomb, newly hewn from rock, prepared.  Nicodemus came as well, and he brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about 100 pounds.  They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices, following the Jewish custom.   The work of salvation will go on until the fullness of time.  We are privileged people.

One our Father, one Hail Mary, one Glory be to the Father.

Fourteenth Station:  Jesus is laid in the tomb.   “We adore thee O Christ and we praise thee”. 

The body has been embalmed.  The enemy is still on the job, guards are posted.  Growing up on a farm I was involved with the burial of animals from a very young age.  This brings death home.  So for me a Christian funeral is profoundly different.   We have the greatest symbol presented to us by Jesus.  “Unless a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies it remains a single grain, but if it dies in the ground it produces one hundred fold”.  This comes homes to me at the altar for Mass as the consecration takes place.  Holy Week is on our doorstep.  Let us bring our greatest care and attention to these events: The Resurrection, The Ascension, and above all Pentecost.   From these we might receive strength and joy – a new Pentecost – new fruits that will last, and please God, we can move on from the coronavirus.

One our Father, one Hail Mary, one Glory be to the Father.

A reminder – The Easter Offerings are for our Parish Priest.  Please contribute through the church accounts in the normal way, so the Parish can benefit from Gift Aid.  Direct payments to him cannot accrue this benefit.

Dorothy Blake RIP. The Requiem Mass for Dorothy will be offered on Tuesday 13 April at 12 noon, preceded by the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at 11.45. If you would like to attend please contact Jean 842824 or Bob 847014, as only 30 people can be present.  Burial afterwards at Hailsham Cemetery.

The following is adapted from an article by Greg Kendra who is a Deacon in the States.

This Sunday is Passion Sunday or Palm Sunday and is a day in which we need to remember. Remember that the crowd that cheered Jesus also condemned him. Remember that the voices praising him also called for his death. Remember that those who loved him and promised loyalty also abandoned him, denied him, and betrayed him.

Christ’s Passion goes on today. Our betrayal of him continues, in ways large and small. How often do we praise God on Sunday…and cast Him aside on Monday? How often do we shrug Him off when things become too difficult or the rules too hard or the demands of the Christian life too taxing? How often do we treat love as just a sentiment for greeting cards, and not a command for living? How often do we see suffering in the faces of those in need, and simply turn away?

Christ continues to bleed and weep and cry out, “Why have you abandoned me?” He cries out today to us. Whatever you do to the least of these, he said, you do to me.

What do we do? We encounter him on the pavement, and go out of our way to avoid him. We ignore so many people who need us.

Remember: He is everywhere there is someone who is small, or neglected, or disrespected, or discarded. He is with the unwanted and unloved, the bullied and abused.

Remember: We have said, “Give us Barabbas.” 

Remember: We have said, in effect, “Crucify him.”

The palms today have a two fold purpose: First, they remind us that we are called to be heralds of Christ – to celebrate him the way they did that day in Jerusalem. Secondly, and importantly they challenge us to keep crying “Hosanna,” to keep proclaiming the Good News – even when the world tempts us to do otherwise, even when it seems like it would be easier to go with the crowd and simply choose Barabbas. The palms challenge us to not turn our back and walk away.  They challenge us not only to remember what we have done to him, but what he has done for us.

That is what Holy week is about.

Please be a friend to unborn babies and their mothers.  In March 2020 the government used temporary Covid-19 rules to permit home abortion.  Both doses of abortion pills can now be taken at home without medical supervision.  This is very dangerous and traumatic for the mother.  The number of unborn babies killed under the DIY abortion scheme has risen.  Please support our campaign to ask the Prime Minister to stop home abortion in our country by filling in your White Flower postcard.  Thank you.

The readings for the 5th Sunday of Lent concentrate on the approaching death of Jesus which Paul considers a priestly sacrifice and John considers the moment of Jesus’ “exaltation” and “glorification.” We are all offered a challenge by these readings. If we are to achieve our goal of heaven we must stop thinking of ourselves and instead live lives of giving of ourselves to others through our actions. Think for a moment of some everyday events such as lighting a candle – it will emit light from it’s burning wick until all the wax is consumed. Similarly salt does nothing until used in cooking to provide taste. Parents show their love for their children through sacrifice – home schooling during the Covid lockdown has called for a huge effort by parents, often in limited accommodation and trying to balance work with helping and supporting their children. Think of Mother Teresa who gave up her comfortable teaching career, and with just 5 rupees (13p) in her pocket began her challenging life for the “poorest of the poor” in the crowded slums of Calcutta. Let us do the same and think of others. Pick up the phone and call someone who is unable to go out and possibly lonely. Write a letter to someone, perhaps someone living alone or is unwell. Make a difference in the life of someone. 

There is story with the title: “I made a difference for that one.” (Adapted and condensed from “The Star Thrower” – a story by Loren Eiseley (1907-1977), from the book Unexpected Universe): One day, a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?” The boy replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going down. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.” “Son,” the man said, “don’t you realise there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!” After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said, “See, I made a difference for that one.”  Surely that tells of the power within each one of us to make a difference in the lives of others. 

The Tenth Station:  Jesus is stripped of His garments.  “We adore thee O Christ and we praise thee, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the World”.

When we began the Way of the Cross it was with great awareness that Jesus came down from heaven to bring God’s salvation to our world.  To this end He became like us in all things but sin.  He is now stripped of all His garments.  This in a very real way is what the coronavirus is doing.  As with Jesus it is happening with the help of the powers that be, for Jesus it was the Sanhedrin and the Roman Army.  As I listen to people in the very limited windows that are open to us; I cannot but echo how much our lives have been stripped by the virus.  One echo that I could identify with, was one persons desire never to listen to the media in the morning.  It is just shocking the length they go to gather the worst news they can find.  Also, the deep, deep affliction of those isolated by the virus left abandoned and in pain as death draws closer.  As He is stripped of His garments we are stripped of our comforts, and our distractions, while especially our children were stripped of their school, their supports, their access to life and friends.  For others the opportunity to find work and also to access the life of the sacraments.  Jesus is stripped.

One our Father, one Hail Mary, one Glory be to the Father.

The Eleventh Station:  Jesus is nailed to the Cross.  “We adore thee O Christ and we praise thee, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the World”.

Options and choices are now so limited.  The sponge and the vinegar are galling and yet offered as a comfort.  Our lives can echo these realms of loss.  The memory of my dad with his constant pain, ministering as a priest opens ones eyes to deep afflictions.  The nails signify His abandonment, there is no way He could crucify Himself – yet He is God.   He could put a stop to it .  So often the afflictions in our lives as in the Gospel reading today are so self afflicted.  In the Gospel of St John 5: 1-3, 5-16.  Jesus heals the man on the sabbath and tells him to take up his mat and walk.   The powers that be, and they are the religious ones, are down to him.  He is breaking the sabbath.  The flow out of the vaccine is a very important element to us returning to a stable life.  Interruptions are a challenge and this to my family in Ireland at the moment has become a disturbance.  With the help of Him who loves us and died for us, obstacles will be overcome.        Jesus bows His Head and dies.    Father,    Son     and Holy Spirit.

One our Father, one Hail Mary, one Glory be to the Father.