Into Holy Week and towards Easter

My dear Friends
It has been an amazing Lent, full of movement and change. This must have been what the life of Jesus was like, perhaps on a smaller scale. I am surrounded by Cathedrals, and this morning said my prayers in the Anglican Cathedral across the street, a nice quiet time. When I had finished I saw the Vicar, and said I was in solidarity with him as we enter Holy Week.

This, the last week of Lent, is the time we enter most fully into the footsteps of Christ as he journeyed towards the Cross. Throughout the pain we always must keep the miracle of the Resurrection in mind; we cannot have one without the other. I reflected to a friend this evening that all our lives are charted by crucifixion and resurrection, whether we are aware of God's presence or not. Thes cycles of darkness and light happen to us all throughout our lives, for Christ entered into our humanity to be in solidarity with us, and to go through it with us. No human being is an exception and for me this is the true miracle.

The Easter Vigil is a liturgical ceremony which takes place in the Church the night before Easter Sunday. It starts with a bonfire being lit outside the Church, to remind us of the primaeval darkness and the light coming out of the darkness. When we enter the Church, a candle is lit, and from this single candle all the candles which the congregation hold are ignited.

It will be a memorable night for me; nineteen years ago, at this Vigil in Newmarket, UK, I was baptised, confirmed and given holy communion in the one night. Nine readings from the Old Testament were read, from Creation, through the Exodus from Egypt, to the final reading of the Resurrection in the New Testament. It had been a long road, but it was a beautiful night and I had the privilege of having a Methodist, Anglican, Baptist and Brethren Christian present among the Catholic community, to witness to my new life. Perhaps this was an indication of my ecumenical work that was to come. Even a Rabbi came-he believed in the divinity of Jesus but preferred to stay within the Jewish community. In his training he had to visit aids patients in the local American hospital.

The person who received me into the Church that night was Fr Anthony Foreman, still a close friend and with a beautiful voice. When I was confirmed I was not aware that God had given me a mission-Peace and Reconciliation, now being worked out in a most extraordinary way.After the ceremony some professional folk-singing friends gave me and some others a little concert, so my musical theme was also present.

I hope that you may all feel the incredible light that pours forth at the end of this season, and that your Lent, which means Spring may have been truly fruitful, as we journey towards Easter.

Shalom and Shalom again from
Sister Gila