Fourth Sunday of Easter (Good Shepherd Sunday)
Jesus the Good Shepherd defends, knows, and above all loves his sheep. And this is why he gives his life for them (cf Jn 10:15). Love for his sheep, that is, for each one of us, leads him to die on the cross because this is the Father’s will – that no one should be lost. Christ’s love is not selective; it embraces everyone. He himself reminds us of this in today’s Gospel when he says: “And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd” (Jn 10:16). These words testify to his universal concern: He is everyone’s shepherd. Jesus wants everyone to be able to receive Father’s love and encounter God. Pope Francis, homily, Fourth Sunday of Easter 2021
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The ‘Resurrection’ to which [the Apostles] bore witness was, in fact, not the action of rising from the dead but the state of having risen; a state, as they held, attested by intermittent meetings during a limited period (except for the special, and in some ways different, meeting vouchsafed to St Paul). This
termination of the period is important, for, as we shall see, there is no possibility of isolating the doctrine of the Resurrection from that of the Ascension. The next point to notice is that the Resurrection was not regarded simply or chiefly as evidence for the immortality of the soul. It is, of course, often so regarded today: I have heard a man maintain that ‘the importance of the Resurrection is that it proves survival’. Such a view cannot at any point be reconciled with the language of the New Testament. On such a view Christ would simply have done what all men do when they die: the only novelty would have been that in His case we were allowed to see it happening. But there is not in Scripture the faintest suggestion that the Resurrection was new evidence for something that had in fact been always happening. The New Testament writers speak as if Christ’s achievement in rising from the dead was the first event of its kind in the whole history of the universe. He is the ‘first fruits’, the ‘pioneer of life’. He has forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man. He has met, fought, and beaten the King of Death. Everything is different because He has done so. This is the beginning of the New Creation: a new chapter in cosmic history has opened. Taken from ‘Miracles’, Chapter 16, by C.S. Lewis Divine Mercy Sunday
This Sunday is known as Divine Mercy Sunday and is so named in order to highlight the Message of Divine Mercy as proclaimed by Sister Faustina Kowalska and promoted by Pope John Paul II. The faithful are encouraged to spend time to discover more about the mercy of God, to learn how to trust in Jesus, and to respond to the invitation to live lives which are as merciful to others as Christ is merciful to us. The faith of the first community of believers [in the Resurrection of the Jesus Christ] is based on the witness of concrete men known to the Christians and for the most part still living among them. Peter and the Twelve are the primary "witnesses to his Resurrection", but they are not the only ones - Paul speaks clearly of more than five hundred persons to whom Jesus appeared on a single occasion and also of James and of all the apostles (1 Cor 15:4-8; cf. Acts 1:22.).
Given all these testimonies, Christ's Resurrection cannot be interpreted as something outside the physical order, and it is impossible not to acknowledge it as an historical fact. It is clear from the facts that the disciples' faith was drastically put to the test by their master's Passion and death on the cross, which he had foretold (cf. Lk 22:31-32). The shock provoked by the Passion was so great that at least some of the disciples did not at once believe in the news of the Resurrection. Far from showing us a community seized by a mystical exaltation, the Gospels present us with disciples demoralized ("looking sad”, (Lk 24:17; cf. Jn 20:19) and frightened. For they had not believed the holy women returning from the tomb and had regarded their words as an "idle tale" (Lk 24:11; cf. Mk 16:11,13). When Jesus reveals himself to the Eleven on Easter evening, "he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen” (Mk 16:14). Even when faced with the reality of the risen Jesus the disciples are still doubtful, so impossible did the thing seem: they thought they were seeing a ghost. "In their joy they were still disbelieving and still wondering” (Lk 24:38-41). Thomas will also experience the test of doubt and St. Matthew relates that during the risen Lord's last appearance in Galilee "some doubted” (Cf. Jn 20:24-27; Mt 28:17). Therefore, the hypothesis that the Resurrection was produced by the apostles' faith (or credulity) will not hold up. On the contrary their faith in the Resurrection was born, under the action of divine grace, from their direct experience of the reality of the risen Jesus. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paras. 642 - 644 The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark Palm Sunday tells us that it is the Cross that is the true tree of life Easter Ceremonies St Alphege Tuesday of Holy Week (Reconciliation Service) ..19.00 Maundy Thursday ………………………………….19.00 Good Friday (Children’s Stations of the Cross) …10.30 Good Friday …….…………………………………..15.00 Easter Vigil ………………………………………….19.00 Easter Sunday …………………………………….. 11.00 This Sunday is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. The 11 o'clock Mass will start in the parish hall for the commemoration of the Lord's entrance into Jerusalem. The palms (provided) will be blessed and then we will process to the church. The Passion of the Lord according to St Mark will be read in three parts. RECONCILIATION SERVICE at 7pm on Tuesday 26 March in preparation for the Easter Tridium. Everyone is encouraged to come. Maundy Thursday and Easter Vigil: Please do bring a bell with you which you are invited to ring during the Gloria. There will be a Children's Stations of the Cross on Good Friday at 10.30am in the Church. All are welcome. Easter Ceremonies 2024
Palm Sunday 24th 11.00 Mass & Blessing Palms Tue of Holy Week 26th 10.00 Mass Maundy Thursday 28th 19.00 Mass (watching at Altar of Repose until 10 pm) Good Friday 29th 15.00 Easter Vigil 30th 19.00 Easter Sunday 31st 11.00 (Remember the clocks go forward!) No 6 pm Mass Easter Monday 1st No Mass Tuesday 2nd 10.00 Next Sunday is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. The 11 o'clock Mass will start in the parish hall for the commemoration of the Lord's entrance into Jerusalem. The palms (provided) will be blessed and then we will process to the church. The Passion of the Lord according to St Mark will be read in three parts. Maundy Thursday and Easter Vigil: Please do bring a bell with you which you are invited to ring during the Gloria.
Christ and Nicodemus, Crijn Hendricksz Volmarijn, 1604–1645
The Cleansing of the Temple
This is a very dramatic and startling episode in the Gospel narrative. The image of meek and mild Jesus is put into the shade by this driving out of the traders with a whip. Our Lord of course is totally justified. The commerce going on in the courtyard was supposed to be to enable people to buy animals for the ritual sacrifice commanded by God in the Law of Moses but the sellers had lost sight of the goal and turned it into a purely money-making enterprise. As Temples of the Holy Spirit each one of us also has a duty to make sure that our own 'house is in order'. The season of Lent gives us a focused opportunity to cleanse the sanctuary of our souls. We can ask ourselves what things in our life stop us from being God's Temple? What things do we let block our hearts from God and his spirit? During this season we should all take stock and if needed clear out all that stops us from being flourishing member of the Church. Father Alex McAllister The Transfiguration
The Transfiguration is one of the few Gospel narratives that is repeated more than once throughout the liturgical year. It has its own feast day in August. Why then do we hear it again during Lent? One reason is that it points towards the whole aim of the penitential season of Lent: it gives us a glimpse of the Resurrection. Jesus permits the select group of disciples to see his future glory. We are given this text about the Transfiguration to sustain us as we do penance and give us sight of the Easter victory that we are preparing to celebrate. The glory shows us that Jesus is God. The appearance of Moses and Elijah tells us that Christ himself is the fulfilment of the whole of Salvation History. It is these facts that we should not lose sight of. Whilst the solemnity of the season of Lent is important; it loses all its potency of we forget that it leads us to the glory and joy of Easter. Father Alex McAllister To Keep a True Lent
Is this a fast, to keep The larder lean? And clean From fat of veals and sheep? Is it to quit the dish Of flesh, yet still To fill The platter high with fish? Is it to fast an hour, Or ragg’d to go, Or show A downcast look and sour? No; ’tis a fast to dole Thy sheaf of wheat, And meat, Unto the hungry soul. It is to fast from strife, From old debate And hate; To circumcise thy life. To show a heart grief-rent; To starve thy sin, Not bin; And that’s to keep thy Lent. Robert Herrick 1648 |
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