The way in which we celebrate our Holy Week services this year will be very different for all of us. Set aside some quiet time each day and use the links below to our daily services and reflections to follow the journey with Jesus in His Passion, Death and Resurrection.
HOLY THURSDAY
For John, the Gospel writer, the ceremony of the Washing of the Feet in the course of the Last Supper Meal is a most powerful reminder to us that we are called to a life of service, to see ourselves as servants to one another. It is particularly important during this period of uncertainty and in these challenging times that we listen to this call to take care of the most vulnerable members of our families and within our community, which we do without giving a thought for the service we provide, yet such acts of love draw us ever closer into a faithful relationship with Jesus our Saviour.
Why not gift yourself some quiet time to reflect in the Garden of Gethsemane with Jesus on this night after you share in the service below
GOOD FRIDAY
The most profound love story is Jesus’ death on the cross. Too often, we misunderstand the cross in terms of ultimate sacrifice rather than ultimate love, as the taking of life rather than the giving of life, as a tragedy rather than a victory.
The crucified love of Jesus does more than be with us in our sufferings. It carries us through them. Can we see and trust the crucified love of Good Friday in the violence of our world, our losses and sufferings? Particularly at this time of uncertainty this is the challenge and hope that Good Friday offers.
Let us remember together with devotion the celebration of the Passion of Jesus as he reveals to us what servant-hood is all about:
EASTER VIGIL
The resounding message of the Easter Story is that Jesus is alive. On this night we raise the enduring light of the Risen Christ who, still bearing the wounds of his suffering, comes to us in glory, and this light, passed in faith from hand to hand has the power to bring about the healing we long to see in our lives and in our world.
The joy and the power of the Resurrection aren’t to be found in the empty tomb, the testimony of someone else or in historical fact, they are to be found only in the personal encounters with the Risen Jesus, in those settings where our God meets us and we meet God, in our family and friends, in the events of our lives and deep within the insatiable desire of our heart.
Sadly we cannot be together for our celebration this year, the Church does however talk about a new creation brought about by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Perhaps creation is now inviting us to ask questions of ourselves? Why not light your own Easter Candle at 8.30pm and reflect upon the Vigil readings, for many of us the Easter Vigil would have been a highlight of our celebrations when welcome new members in to our parish family. We will have a lot to celebrate when we re-unite!
EASTER SUNDAY
The Gospel from John plays out like a Laurel and Hardy silent movie, we might picture Mary Magdalene, Peter and John all running around, bumping in to each other while they try to figure out what has happened to Jesus. Eventually they believe what they see, the body is gone. But they have not yet seen what they do not yet believe: the body has been raised from the dead.
Eventually, in fact, they bump in to Jesus! Only an encounter with the risen body of Jesus can lead to the kind of belief that Jesus’ whole life and ministry was preparing them for. Their belief no longer stops at the empty tomb, but grows to embrace what it means to rise from the dead.
Where does are belief in the resurrection begin and how does it grow? Not at an empty tomb, but through encounters with the risen Lord who now comes to us in word, sacrament, the goodness of the community of the faithful and the witness of those who lead lives of self-giving service. Easter faith is never still because the risen Lord is active. And this is the source of our Easter joy.