Easter Journal 2019

Good Friday Homily​
Today is a day to focus on the Cross.  We are used to seeing crosses everywhere worn as adornments such as earrings and necklaces.  It is hard to know how much of the true meaning of crosses and crucifixes filters through to the people who wear them.  Sometimes the symbolism of the cross is hard to miss.  For many people this was the case during the past week as images emerged of the interior of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris after the fire which caused so much damage.  Above a heap of charred wood and rubble in front of the altar hung a cross which seemed to shine out amid the sadness and gloom.  It seemed to bear the message that through death and destruction there is a life and a hope that can never be vanquished.
  This is a day which even church worshippers can approach with some reluctance or even avoid altogether.  It can be experienced as “too sad” and perhaps people might question why, as believers in the Resurrection, we need to revisit the scene of Jesus’s suffering and death.  Surely this is no longer a necessary part of the Christian experience?  Well, it is true that Jesus in his death on the Cross has broken the ultimate power that sin and death might have held over us.  This does not mean that suffering and death are things of the past though.  In this world we still experience grief, betrayal, failure and in the end also death.  What we can be sure of though, is that this need not be the end of our story.
   Today we pause and focus for a while on the Cross.  The sufferings of Jesus mean that he identifies closely with us in our own trials and losses.  Our faith is not a fairy tale which comes to a happy ending, but it is deeply grounded in human experience – an experience which we share.  Jesus did not pass lightly over the experiences of suffering and death but felt these things as keenly as anyone else would.  We know that we cannot make light of human suffering.  There is no point telling someone with depression to “snap out of it”.  We cannot expect the bereaved to “just get over it”.  We have to go through these experiences when they happen, but as Christians we know that we can go through them with hope.  Through the Cross comes life-giving grace.
   Today as we venerate the Cross and kiss the feet of Jesus, we are reminded that he is with us in our trials.  From our faith in him we draw from an ever-present source of life and hope.  As I think of the image of the cross glowing in the darkness and destruction of Notre Dame Cathedral I am reminded that no matter how messy and sad life might at times seem, through Jesus we always have cause for hope and the promise of new life.  Today, let us approach the Cross with the assurance that through the death of Christ our sins are forgiven and our life restored.

Easter Sunday - Pick of the Readings
Second Reading: Colossians 3:1-4
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Colossians.
Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth, because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ is revealed - and he is your life - you too will be revealed in all your glory with him.
 

Diary Dates
Coffee Mornings: 
From 10.00am every Tuesday throughout the year. 
Services: 
Wed 24th Apr 9.30am Said Mass
Thur 25th Apr 9.30am Said Mass. 
Sun 28th Apr 9.30am Parish Mass.
 Advance Notice - there will be a joint Mass for the Benefice on Sunday 12th May. .
Meetings:
Annual General Parochial Church Council Wednesday 24th April.
Future Events
WW2 Brass: Thur 5th September. Themed Concert to coincide with the start of the Second World War. Will also include a pictorial presentation. More details to follow. 
Xmas Brass: Thur 12th December. Usual mix of seasonal and contemporary music.
Both concerts will feature Worsbrough Brass.