Easter 2011

On this Easter Sunday we hear the great and glorious news that our Saviour is Risen! The pain of the passion, cross and death of Jesus, while not forgotten, has now been overwhelmed with an unbelievable outpouring of God's love for all humanity made visible through the gift of his Son. The Resurrection now becomes reality. The hope and promise of everlasting life with God has been given to us. We are now a new creation, called to go forth and proclaim the truth of the Resurrection.

We now begin the fifty days of Easter. For the next fifty days our liturgical readings will remind us and show us how we are to be the light of Christ to the world. Easter, just like Lent, will place before us new challenges to meet as we journey towards full discipleship. To be Mandatum to the world is to carry the light of Christ always, and to be nourished on this journey with the gift of Eucharist. In the glow of the Easter Candle let us now begin our new journey, the journey of Easter towards the celebration of Pentecost. May this Easter Season be a time of great blessings for you.

Happy Easter to all !

Good Friday

V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
R/. Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34).
At the height of his Passion, Christ does not forget man, especially those who are directly responsible for his suffering. Jesus knows that more than anything else man needs love; he needs the mercy which at this moment is being poured out on the world.
“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk 23:43).
This is how Jesus replies to the plea of the criminal hanging on his right: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Lk 23:42).
The promise of a new life. This is the first fruit of the Passion and imminent Death of Christ. A word of hope to man.
At the foot of the Cross stood Mary, and beside her the disciple, John the Evangelist. Jesus says: “Woman, behold your son!” and to the disciple: “Behold your mother!” (Jn 19:26-27).
“And from that moment the disciple took her to his own home” (Jn 19:27).
This is his bequest to those dearest to his heart. His legacy to the Church.

The desire of Jesus as he dies is that the maternal love of Mary should embrace all those for whom he is giving his life, the whole of humanity.
Immediately after, Jesus cries out: “I am thirsty” (Jn 19:28). A word which describes the dreadful burning which consumes his whole body.
It is the one word which refers directly to his physical suffering.

Then Jesus adds: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Mt 27:46; cf. Ps 22:2). These words of the Psalm are his prayer. Despite their tone, these words reveal the depths of his union with the Father.
In the last moments of his life on earth, Jesus thinks of the Father. From this moment on, the dialogue will only be between the dying Son and the Father who accepts his sacrifice of love.
When the ninth hour comes, Jesus cries out: “It is accomplished!” (Jn 19:30).
Now the work of the redemption is complete.
The mission, for which he came on earth, has reached its goal.
The rest belongs to the Father:
“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Lk 23:46).
And having said this, he breathed his last.
“The curtain of the temple was torn in two...” (Mt 27:51).
The “Holy of Holies” of the Jerusalem Temple is opened at the moment when it is entered by the Priest of the New and Eternal Covenant.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ,
in the moment of your agony
you were not indifferent to humanity’s fate,
and with your last breath
you entrusted to the Father’s mercy
the men and women of every age,
with all their weaknesses and sins.
Fill us and the generations yet to come
with your Spirit of love,
so that our indifference
will not render vain in us
the fruits of your death.
To you, crucified Jesus, the wisdom and the power of God,
be honour and glory for ever and ever.

Amen.

--Pope John Paul II
Meditations for the Via Crucis
Good Friday 2000

Holy Week

HOLY WEEK MASS SCHEDULE

HOLY THURSDAY (April 21, 2011)7:00 p.m. - Mass celebrated by Bishop Matthew Ustrzycki followed by Procession of the Blessed Sacrament to the Repository with Adoration until 11:00 p.m.

GOOD FRIDAY (April 22, 2011)11:00 a.m. - Solemn Liturgy adapted for children
3:00 p.m. - Solemn Liturgy of Good Friday
7:00 p.m. - Stations of the Cross

HOLY SATURDAY (April 23, 2011)1:00 p.m. - Blessing of Easter Food
7:00 p.m. - Solemn Easter Vigil (This fulfills your Sunday obligation)
(There is no 5:00 p.m. Mass or Confessions today)

EASTER SUNDAY (April 24, 2011)8:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m.


“Christ Has Died, Christ has Risen, Christ will come again”

The Easter faith of the Church is summarized in the above acclamation. To proclaim that Christ is risen is to say that God is alive, that God is with us, that God will never leave us. At a time when so many people are experiencing the devastating consequences of war and poverty, when people are carrying the cross of sickness and when family members are seeking to be reconciled with each other, we pray for the gift of peace: the peace of the Risen Lord.

As a parish family we celebrate and seek this peace during the Easter Triduum called Holy Week. In this festival of days, Christ's saving work is commemorated by the Church with the utmost solemnity. Through the liturgy of the Triduum, the church is intimately united with Christ and shares in His passage from death to life. The liturgies of the Triduum are the way we publicly celebrate the Easter Peace. They commemorate not only the historical events, but celebrate and make present their saving effect for us.

I invite you to come with your family to the celebrations of Holy Week. May our common celebration bring to each one of us a true and lasting sense of peace.

Together in the Lord’s Service

Father F. Freitas
Pastor



“We are connected to our past, committed to our future and compassionately focussed on being a Family of Faith, a place, with something for everyone”.