Message from Fr. Con

REFLECTION FOR EASTER SUNDAY ( YEAR A),

Week beginning 9TH APRIL 2023

This Sunday, April 9th, we celebrate the greatest Feast of the Church’s Year – EASTER – the Glorious Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. This is the central tenet of our Catholic & Christian Faith. As St. Paul has so stoutly told us, without a bodily resurrection from the dead, the entire edifice of our Faith would come instantly crashing down.
In much more recent times, Pope Saint John Paul 11 stated that, as Catholics/Christians we are an Easter People and our cry i.e. our acclamation is ‘ALLELUIA’ (= “Praise God”).
We return now to singing ‘ALLELUIA’ at Mass. It is our acclamation immediately before the reading of the Gospel. The Alleluia versicle, the middle line, is usually said but the ‘cry’ of ’ALLELUIA’ must always be sung. (By the rules of Liturgy, the great A-word must always be sung – otherwise it can be omitted altogether, which would surely be a very strange option to adopt!)
Eastertide, the Holy Season of Easter, lasts for 7 weeks. It ends with Pentecost (the Descent of the Holy Spirit). ‘Pentecost’ is a numeral – it is the Greek word for ‘50’.
Throughout Eastertide, the Easter Candle, the Paschal Candle, will be in a most prominent position on the Sanctuary. It points to Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, risen from the dead.
10 days before Pentecost, we celebrate Jesus’ Glorious Ascension – His return to the right hand of God the Father.
As Catholics/Christians, our calling is to have an active share in THE PASCHAL MYSTERY – this means a real share in the Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
We carry with us always His injunction, His loving injunction, that to be a disciple of His, we must take up our cross daily and follow Him. This Easter, may we do precisely this in a true spirit of willing imitation of Him.