Almighty Father, you have given your only Son to die for our sins and to rise again for our justification: grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness that we may always serve you in pureness of living and truth; through the merits of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Readings at Mass

First Reading. Acts 4:32-35

This reading gives us a picture of how the first Christians lived in community. They organised their community life together in the awareness that the Risen Lord was in the midst of them, inspiring and guiding their life together.

Second Reading. 1 John 1:1-2:2

Christians are children of God and show their love for God by keeping his commandments. The fellowship Christians have with the Risen Christ and, through him, with one another, points to the healing, forgiving love of God and witnesses to it in the face of all the world.

Gospel. St John 20:19-end

The Risen Christ is in the midst of his people: bringing the light of faith to the darkness of unbelief and breathing peace into fear. ‘We are an Easter people and alleluia is our song’ (St Augustine).

Reflection

On the evening of the first Easter day the disciples had locked themselves away behind closed doors for fear. The Risen One passes through locked doors. The disciples’ fear cannot stop him from coming to them through the barred doors and wishing them peace. This is a beautiful and powerful image of the Resurrection. All too often we have locked our doors to others. We let no-one enter. We hide, encasing ourselves within our fear. Resurrection means that no lock and no bar can stop the Risen One from coming within and touching our heart. And no Christian community which shuts itself off from others can stop the Risen One himself from stepping into its midst and transforming it. In the Middle Ages the entrance doors to cathedrals were always decorated with the figure of the Risen Christ enthroned. People knew that only through Christ can we gain access to true life. Christ as the true door is another beautiful image of the Resurrection. We can lock our doors as much as we like, Christ as the door to life will break open the doors of our hearts and walk through them breathing life and peace into the depth of our being. (Anselm Green OSB)

Thanks

Very grateful thanks to those who worked so hard to ensure that St Gabriel’s could re-open on Palm Sunday: cleaning and preparing the building and re-submitting our risk assessment (a legal requirement) to the Archdeacon; and sincere thanks, as usual, to those who worked so devotedly to decorate and make the church look so very beautiful for Easter Day.

Lent Appeal

Please remember our appeal for the House of the People of the Sun, Cusco, Peru, working with street children. Please be generous in supporting this wonderful project. Donations can be left in church/handed to the church officers until the end of Eastertide (Pentecost Sunday).

Sunday Mass

St Gabriel’s is now open for Mass every Sunday at 9.30am. Please let Keith Rogers know if you wish to attend – tel 578097 or email keithincockett@gmail.com.

Weekly Bulletin

Any items or news you want included in our bulletin please send to Paul Reynolds. Many thanks.

God our Father, by raising Christ your Son you conquered the power of death and opened for us the way to eternal life. Let our celebration today raise us up and renew our lives by the Spirit that is within us. We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

Readings at Mass

1st Reading. Acts 10: 34, 37-43

This reading is part of an early Christian sermon by St Peter. The apostle proclaims the resurrection as a witness to it and to the continued communion he enjoys with the Risen Lord. In his own experience he knows the reality of the Resurrection and his witness and proclamation emerge from this experience.

2nd Reading. Colossians 3:1-4

Through our baptism we already share in the risen life of Christ. Like the first Christians we experience, through the baptismal water, the reality of dying and rising with Christ; we experience for ourselves the reality of the Resurrection and are raised to new life in Christ. The whole of our life is the living out of our baptismal life: we walk with the Risen Christ.

Gospel. St John 20:1-9

On discovering that the tomb of Jesus is empty, the disciples begin to grasp what the Scriptures had foretold, namely, that He would rise from the dead. As he gazes at the folded grave clothes, John ‘sees’ the truth of what has happened; he begins to ‘see’ the reality of the Resurrection.

Reflection. The heart which loves, believes

John tells how Mary Magdalene, as soon as she sees that the stone has been rolled away from the tomb, runs to Peter and to the Disciple whom Jesus loved and says: ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him.’

Now an Easter race begins. Peter and John, the Beloved Disciple, run to the tomb. Peter enters it but perceives merely the physical reality: ‘He saw the linen wrapping lying there …’ Peter sees but he does not understand. In John’s Gospel Peter stands for the person who is led by their reason and will. Those who want to judge everything from the head cannot comprehend the mystery of the Resurrection. John, the Beloved Disciple, enters the tomb after Peter, ‘and he saw and believed.’ John sees with the heart. And a loving heart understands and believes.

One cannot believe in the Resurrection through reason alone. One needs, like John, a heart that loves and that knows itself to be loved, because the Beloved Disciple is not only the disciple who loves Jesus, but also, as the Gospel always says, ’the disciple whom Jesus loved’. Whoever knows themselves to be loved by Jesus, can believe in the Resurrection. Such people trust that love is stronger than death, that love will outlive death& will touch them even beyond death.

Trust your love and allow yourself to be initiated into the mystery of the Love which conquers death. (Taste the Joy of Easter: Anselm Green OSB)

O Lord, who by triumphing over the power of darkness prepared our place in the new Jerusalem: grant that we who celebrate your resurrection, may praise you in the city where you are the light; for there with the Father and the Holy Spirt you live and reign, now and for ever. Amen.

Risen Lord Jesus, as Mary Magdalene met you in the garden on the morning of your resurrection, so may we meet you today and every day: speak to us as you spoke to her; reveal yourself as the Living Lord; renew our hope and kindle our joy; and send us to share the good news with others, to the glory of your name. Amen.

Sunday Mass

St Gabriel’s is now open for Mass every Sunday 9.30am. Please let Keith Rogers know if you wish to attend: tel 578097 or email: keithincockett@gmail.com.

Easter Day. Sunday April 4th

9.30am. Blessing of the Easter Garden and Solemn Mass of the Lord’s Resurrection.

Alleluia! Christ is Risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

A very happy and blessed Easter to you all.