Views from the Pews – April 3, 2022

My Brothers and Sisters,

This time of the year the usual feeling is one of expectation as we look towards the three days of Easter or the Tridium as it is also known.  Our expectations this year assume a new dimension as we will be able to participate in a more normal Easter Weekend liturgical celebration.   The absence of these celebrations meant that the salvation experience they allowed us had to be substituted by online involvement.

It would be fair to say that although the online services provided us with some level of participation, activities such as the veneration of the cross, the washing of feet, procession on Palm Sunday, physically meant losing the totality of the Easter experience.  Against this background, I invite us to see in our liturgical celebrations not just participation in worship events, but an experience.  The liturgical celebrations of our church, are more than just adherence to traditions.  They are intended to enable us to experience in community and in our personal lives, God’s saving work and activity. 

The basic role and function of the church is to proclaim God’s message of salvation, which is, in essence, a message of redemption, restoration and renewal.  As we begin this last full week of lent and begin to prepare ourselves to process with Jesus to Jerusalem, and walk with him in the days leading up to Calvary and ultimately the resurrection, we must remind ourselves of the significance and value of these activities.  The days we spent with Jesus in Jerusalem provide us with the opportunity to understand that they are days of preparation because scripture indicates that it is from Jerusalem that the gospel will be proclaimed to all the world. 

As we continue our Lenten journey, it is my prayer and hope that the rest of the season will provide us with opportunities to experience God’s salvation activity in our lives, and empower us to go forth in all the world proclaiming by our witness God’s gospel of salvation. 

Love profound

Fr. Eddie