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| From the Rector | |||
ST.MARY’S KANGAROO POINT E BULLETIN
Greetings to you all, Holy Week and Easter are upon us and has been the tradition for two thousand years, Christians around the world are gearing up to the Liturgies and experience of Christ’s Passion and Resurrection. It is a time in our western, multi-cultural and secular culture for decisions: “Will I take the opportunity to have a holiday or will enter into the mysteries of the Holy Week and Easter services? What difference will it make if I miss church? I need a rest – work has been on top of me for months!” Sadly, the temptation to grab the holiday is so great and our physical needs are so real, for many if not most, the Easter break becomes a tradition in itself. Resorts are flooded by those choosing to get away from the demands of our busy, stressed lives. As such, there are thousands of people who have never experienced the complete Holy Week narrative. There is a real beauty and power in the experience of the whole Passion saga. From the Procession and Palms of “Palm Sunday” to the Last Supper Meal and Foot washing Eucharist of “Maundy Thursday” – there is time for reflection and prayer. Then on Good Friday, Christians are called into the solemn fast of the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Saturday is a day of preparation and in the early hours of breaking day on Easter Sunday, there is the lighting of the New Fire and Paschal Candle and the celebration of new life in the Risen Christ. This cluster of services, I believe, is a great opportunity to unpack the challenges and meaning of the Christian Faith. Death is such a dynamic for us all. Each and everyone of us young and old are affected by death on a daily basis either personally or by images of death in our media. Grief is one of the most powerful phenomena in our individual and corporate experience. It can stultify our ability to heal and give fuel to morbidity and loss of hope. People get very sick through grief and in my experience, I have met many who have never recovered from the power of loss and residual grief. Easter and the whole Resurrection proclamation is much more than a Jewish story of a man coming back to life. The Easter mystery is about Christian belief that there is life beyond death; that God is beyond anything we can hand out in base human hatred and malice. Jesus death was the great injustice – ignorance, religious jealousy, hatred, misplaced power and a total failure to understand the nature of love, grace and forgiveness. Easter is the ultimate healing. It is the proclamation of God’s intended salvation for all. Triumph over evil is the gospel message. Neither the crass behaviour of humans nor the moment of death itself can deny God’s mercy, power, love and grace. There is life and hope for all. Such is the unconditional love of our God. It is our hope that you will make a decision this Holy Week to explore these place within your own life and spirit and make the time to come away to a quiet place with the Suffering Servant and draw close to his Passion and your own mortality – and see both in a different light perhaps for the first time in your life. May that love and joy which is Christ’s resurrection be for us all, the source of new life and light in our own dark world. A Holy Easter to you all. Fr. Stephen Redhead |
