Read this week's message from Father Don
Dear parishioners
Our Holy Week celebrations at All Saints were wonderful. Thank you to all the parishioners who assisted with them.
Which was your favourite celebration: processing from the gym on Palm Sunday, the washing of the feet and adoration on Holy Thursday, Children’s Stations of the Cross and the Passion liturgy on Good Friday? My personal favourites were the solemn Easter Vigil and the lively brunch with kids’ activities on Easter Sunday morning. The Risen Lord blessed us generously throughout the week.
We have now entered the powerful season of Easter, 50 days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost, in which we reflect upon the mysterious appearances of the Risen Lord, the growth of the Church and the dynamic presence of the Holy Spirit in the world.
It is a season for new things, Jesus acting in a new way and his followers opening themselves to renewal. The words of the Risen Lord to Mary Magdalene “Do not cling to me (John 20.17),” challenge us to let go of old established ways of thinking and acting so the Holy Spirit can do something new in us.
Easter is a season for personal growth and for believing that great things are possible. It is a season for spirit-led change in the Church, adjusting our ways of seeing and acting so as to be more effective in sharing the love of Jesus Christ with our non-believing neighbours.
In the Early Church, whose history we hear recounted in numerous mass readings from the Acts of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit was constantly moving Christians to act in new and creative ways. The first reading this Sunday describes one of them: the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common…. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned land or horse sold them and brought the proceeds to… the apostles who distributed to each as any had need (Acts 4.32-35).
From this and countless other passages in Acts, it is clear the early Christians felt the faith had to be put into action. For them, it was not sufficient to meet with their fellow believers for an hour on Sunday and then go back to their private lives. They had been radically changed by a personal encounter with the Risen Lord and committed themselves to actively supporting the Church and sharing the faith with their non-Christian neighbours.
In our day, the parish and the universal church, stand in need of Catholics with this same zeal and passion for the spreading of the Good News. May this Easter season lead each of us to greater Christian commitment and love for Jesus Christ crucified and risen.