Newsletter – Easter Sunday – Resurrection Of The Lord – 17th April 2022
Dear Parishioners
Belief in the Resurrection is the bedrock of Christianity. It is the heart of the Easter message. In the risen Christ death has lost its hold on humanity. Death is not for us the end of the story. It is the beginning of a new chapter. There is life after death. It is life with God. The whole purpose of our present life is to prepare us for that. Easter is not only concerned with life after death though. It has much to say about life in the here and now, life on earth. At Easter we are reminded that life matters. Human life is both of the body and of the spirit; in our present state each depends upon the other. Life depends on love. Life gives love its real meaning, and its whole purpose.
When as Christians we celebrate Easter, we celebrate the fact that Christ is risen from the dead and that He lives in our hearts and minds through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, who is the Lord and giver of all life. In celebrating Easter, we are celebrating life itself, and life lived to the full. From the darkness of His death, the light of eternal life shone out in all its brightness when Jesus, the light of the world, was raised to new life. Today at Easter throughout the whole world, Christians proclaim that Christ is truly risen from the dead, this lies at the heart of our faith. This is its principal mystery. “This day was made by the Lord; we rejoice and are glad.” Why? Because today we celebrate and proclaim that: “Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again.”
From Monday 18th April to Thursday 21st April, I will be taking a short break away from the parish. There will be no Public Worship on Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th April. I am very grateful to Andrew for offering on Wednesday 20th April a Service of Word and Holy Communion at 9.30 am and the same at 11 am on Thursday 21st April. I shall be back for Friday 22nd and Mass will be celebrated by me at 9.30 am as normal.
On Saturday 23rd April our First Holy Communion Candidates will make their First Confessions in church during the morning. Please do keep them and their families and our catechists in your prayers during the Easter season.
On Sunday 24th April (2nd Sunday of Easter) the Church keeps Divine Mercy Sunday. This year I have been invited to concelebrate and preach at a special Deanery Divine Mercy Service and Mass at St. Joseph’s Oakham. This service will begin at 2pm with a time for confession, followed by the Divine Mercy Chaplet and Mass. We shall offer our normal Sunday Masses at St Mary’s that weekend on Saturday 23rd April at 6 pm and Sunday 24th April at 9.30 am.
My sincere thanks for your generosity to me in the Easter Offering for this year and for the lovely cards and messages which I have received. It has been a very joyful first Easter for me at St Mary’s and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and to wish each of you a very Happy Easter.
Your parish priest and friend,
Fr Jonathan
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2022 17th April – Newsletter – Download
2022 17th April – Newsletter (Including Sunday Message – Password Protected)– Download
2022 17th April – LOOK – (Password Protected)– Download