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The Diocese of Arundel & Brighton is a Fairtrade Diocese – 50% of our churches are certificated as meeting the Fairtrade Foundation’s criteria for Fairtrade churches and agree to use products with the FAIRTRADE mark.  The A&B Fairtrade Group ensures that goals continue to be met and aims to raise awareness about Fairtrade labelled products – including those sold by Traidcraft – which support fair terms of trade, decent working conditions and local sustainability for farmers and producers in the developing world.  The Group needs more members from across the Diocese and would welcome enquiries from interested people. The Group meets three times a year. Please contact Sue Joy, Convenor. email: [email protected]  01342 835190.  Thank you.

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]

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.