WelCom April 2024
Archbishop Paul Martin sm
Archbishop of Wellington
Tēnā koutou katoa
Easter Greetings to you. I hope you have had a fruitful time of Lent and that these days of the Easter Triduum have been a blessed time as you pray and reflect on the gift of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for each one of us. It is a time for celebration for us as Christian people.
I have been thinking about how much we are able to be people who rejoice in our experience of being in relationship with God. One of the opportunities of Lent is to reflect on what God has done for us, and what we have received from him, as well as the privilege of being a child of God. The question I keep asking myself is do I allow that to show forth in how I am in the world I move in? Do people experience me as a person who is joyful and able to express why I find my peace in God and knowing him and being loved by him? The great words of St Augustine, ‘We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song’ is not just for the weeks that follow Easter, it is for all the days of my life. I wonder if people experience that in me?
To that end, as we gather for worship do we participate in ways that show we are delighted for the opportunity to gather together? Do I prepare well for liturgy, read the scriptures before getting to Mass, listen to the homily, sing the hymns remembering that to sing is to pray twice? What do I do during the week which feeds my faith life? Do I take time to pray each day, or to pop into church and ‘pay a visit’ or listen to podcasts or read material that reflects on faith or things of the Church? These are some small ways of feeding our spiritual lives and allowing the Holy Spirit to be stirred up in our hearts. Otherwise, we can become stagnant and dulled to the wonder of God and what is available to us.
Our Saviour has died for our sins and risen so that we might share in the life of God now and for eternity.
The other reality is our communities of faith, our parishes, only really work well when people make themselves available to participate in the life and events that take place. We need people to take up the ministries within the parish, to form groups for various reasons, be they prayer groups, social justice groups, youth groups, family groups etc. We are all busy people, but usually being busy means that I put my energy in the activities that are most important to me. Where does my faith life, my Church life, fit into all of that?
As we enjoy this wonderful Eastertime I do encourage you to reflect on these matters in terms of allowing the joy of this time to inspire you to really inflame your faith life and experience. We know there can be tough times and they are real and a challenge. By immersing ourselves in the most fundamental relationship there is, with God and our brothers and sisters in Christ, we can face these with confidence, knowing that our Saviour has died for our sins and risen so that we might share in the life of God now and for eternity.
May the peace and joy of the Risen Christ be yours this Easter.
– Archbishop Paul Martin sm.
Bishops’ Lenten Appeal for Caritas Aotearoa NZ
If you haven’t donated yet I would encourage you to do so. The link to the website is www.caritas.org.nz/lent
Please give generously, it enables us to help so many of our brothers and sisters.
– Archbishop Paul Martin sm