Episode Transcript
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At this year’s Easter celebrations across
the Archdiocese,
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more than four hundred and fifty people
will be welcomed into the Catholic Church.
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Nearly half of those will be baptised,
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formally entering the Christian
community for the first time
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and taking their place at the table
of the Eucharist.
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Others have already been baptised in
another Christian Church,
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and have now discerned that they are being
called to live out their Christian vocation
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as part of the Catholic Church.
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This response is a witness to the vitality of
our parish communities and their effectiveness
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in proclaiming the Gospel
and living out Jesus’ mission.
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The experience of liturgy, service
and welcome in our parishes
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is attracting others to ‘come and see’,
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and is giving them an opportunity
to hear God’s Word,
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to respond to His call, and to live
as part of the Christian people.
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At the same time, those who are being baptised
and received into the Church this Easter
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enrich us in turn.
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They are reminders and models
for us of Christian discipleship.
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They are inspiring examples of what it
means to open our hearts to hear God’s Word,
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to enter a journey of conversion,
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and to commit ourselves to follow Jesus
as part of His Body, the Church.
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As we accompany them to the sacraments
of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist,
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we are renewed in our own baptismal participation
in Jesus’ life-giving death and resurrection,
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which is at the heart of what it means
to be Christian.
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We give thanks for God’s abundant love
in sending His Son amongst us.
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We celebrate Jesus’ utter faithfulness
to living out God’s love for us,
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even in face of the suffering
and death inflicted on Him
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by those captive to the power of sin.
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And we proclaim God’s raising Jesus
to the new life of the resurrection,
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which is His triumphant victory
over the power of sin.
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We first enter into that Easter mystery
at our baptism
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and then we seek to make it the pattern of
our lives throughout our journey of discipleship.
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Each celebration of the Eucharist is a
memorial of Jesus’ death and resurrection,
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as we are nourished by the gift of His Body
and Blood at the Last Supper
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and called to give of ourselves
in the same way.
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Our Easter celebration of that mystery
offers comfort, joy and hope,
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as we proclaim the God who accompanies us
through the darkest night of the cross,
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and brings new life and hope in
the dawn of Easter Sunday morning.
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I wish you and your families the joy and hope
that Jesus’ resurrection opens for each of us.
