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PASTOR’S
PERSPECTIVE: ‘EASTER – We Walk in Newness of Life!’
23
/ 24 April 2011
Dear
Friends
As
we celebrate Easter Joy, we do so amidst the challenges of change. During
the wonderful Farewell Celebration last Sunday, I found great strength
in the awareness that, despite the sadness of parting, we still bring to
one another and to our world the glad tidings of the Risen Christ. The
experience of the Cross may be more akin to our mood at this time but St
Augustine exhorts us not to collapse under the cross (Sermon 96, 4).
We
believe in Christ crucified but in him as the one who rose again on the
third day – the
faith that distinguishes us (Sermon 234, 3). As
members of the Body of Christ, we are bringers of Good News, like the
women at the tomb praised by Augustine:
So
as the Church’s head Christ rose from the dead, and allowed himself to
be seen. Note that it was to
women that, after he had risen, he made his earliest appearances
… Women were the
first witnesses of the Lord’s resurrection, and it became their
privilege to carry the good news to the apostles, whose task it would
hereafter be to give it to the world. Women,
then, brought them the glad tidings of the risen Christ
… what better news
could we give you than that our Saviour has risen from the dead?
Let
us never forget the power of this Easter Event. Despite
the pain of loss and the challenge of change, we seek to be ‘Easter
people’, open to the experience of Easter ‘surprise’. This
belief underpins the thoughts I shared last Sunday when I reflected on
our Christian life together as the Parish Community of St James:
 | ‘The authentic Parish Community
… prays, loves,
cares, worships, celebrates, welcomes, laughs, touches, believes,
witnesses, learns, listens, understands, hopes, suffers and hurts,
grieves and weeps –
sometimes
we know failure … and
we say sorry, forgive, and seek to be reconciled; |
| ‘The authentic Parish Community
… builds
community, encourages friendship, enjoys conversation, works for
justice, respects differences, looks after the weak and those on the
margins, affirms and forms the young, values the wisdom of age,
supports the family, embraces all gifts, races and cultures – and in
all things values what is true and gives thanks; |
| ‘The authentic Parish Community
… does much
more but we do all these things together –
because together we are
the Body of Christ, together we seek to bring forth the fruits of
God’s Kingdom – in
this, our time as Church, the best time –
our time to know and
follow Jesus, to grow in love of him and to do what he does.’ |
We
Augustinians thank you for sharing your gifts over the years, for your
love, generosity and support, for what you are and can be for one
another in this Parish Community. Just
as you have welcomed our gifts, may you welcome new gifts in those
Augustinians who come after us. May
we carry one another in prayer and together continue to grow into the
Body of Christ. May the Body
of Christ become more so!
Fr Dave
Prayer
to Mary, Mother of Good Counsel
We turn to you,
Our Mother of Good Counsel
as we seek to imitate your faith-filled life.
May we be led by that Wisdom
which God sent forth from Heaven
to guide you along unfamiliar paths
and through challenging decisions.
Intercede for us with your Son
as we go forward in joyful hope,
seeking to be united in mind and heart
on our way to God.
O Virgin, Mother of Good Counsel,
hear our prayer
as we look to you for guidance.
Pray for us to our loving and merciful Father,
to your Son, Our Lord Jesus the Christ,
and to the Holy Spirit, giver of all Wisdom,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
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