The central theme for the coming week is the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ. This part of Christ’s life is now the topic of conversation among many film experts who have seen the recent production by Mel Gibson called ‘ The Passion of the Christ‘.

While this film is brutally violent and, one would not expect it to be otherwise, the brutality is a means of Christ emptying himself of everything, even life itself, in order to show his love for you and me. The Gospels help us to see the tenderness he showed towards those he met on the way to Calvary, the women of Jerusalem, Veronica, and his mother. Even at his crucifixion he called out for forgiveness for those who crucified him.

We are meant to enter this week with a sense of awe and gratitude. We are asked to follow the liturgy and enter into the spirit of that fateful time in Jerusalem. We should come and listen to the Scriptures and respond in our hearts as we see with our mind’s eye the feelings and the traumas being re-enacted though the Liturgy for Thursday, Friday and Saturday . We celebrate the Lord’s Supper on Thursday, his suffering and death on Friday and on Saturday His Glorious Resurrection.

This is a time for us to remove our ‘hearts of stone’ and allow ourselves to see through his eyes how much our love means to him.

MAY WE ALL BE BLESSED THIS EASTER WITH CHRIST’S MERCY AND LOVE.

Fr.Phil