Good Morning My Friends, and Welcome to my Tuesday Offering.

I had a little break from these last week, so I hope your Easter was joyous and that somehow you were able to feel the presence of the Risen Christ!

I want to talk a little about our Holy Saturday Night Service. It was the most beautiful event during which the church moves from darkness to light, and we give thanks for the resurrection of Jesus. It is also the culmination of our Lenten preparations, and so in our hearts and minds were the thoughts we had been pondering for the previous six weeks. 
We had been thinking extensively about our Lenten Path to Inner Peace, and What Easter means to us. These ideas came together as we celebrated our Reconciliation Mass, and I have to say it was very powerful and moving.

Usually our Sunday service begins with ‘The Confession’ but on this occasion we started with the lighting of the Paschal Candle and the entrance of the Light of Christ into our midst. We proclaimed the Exultet and the Gloria, I preached, and then we had the opportunity to gather around the font and renew our Baptismal Vows. It is incredible how it all becomes very real when we don’t just say the words of the creed as usual, but respond to the following

As we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, we remember that through the paschal mystery we have died and been buried with him in baptism, so that we may rise with him to a new life within the family of his Church. Now that we have completed our observance of Lent, we renew the promises made at our baptism, affirming our allegiance to Christ, and our rejection of all that is evil.

In baptism, God calls us out of darkness into his marvellous light.
To follow Christ means dying to sin and rising to new life with him.
Therefore I ask:

Do you reject the devil and all rebellion against God?

All ​I reject them.

Do you renounce the deceit and corruption of evil?

All ​I renounce them.

Do you repent of the sins that separate us from God and neighbour?

All ​I repent of them.

Do you turn to Christ as Saviour?

All ​I turn to Christ.

Do you submit to Christ as Lord?

All ​I submit to Christ.

Do you come to Christ, the way, the truth and the life?

All ​I come to Christ.

Profession of Faith

Brothers and sisters, I ask you to profess the faith of the Church.

Do you believe and trust in God the Father?

All ​I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

Do you believe and trust in his Son Jesus Christ?

All ​I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

Do you believe and trust in the Holy Spirit?

All ​I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.

Each member of the congregation is invited to renew their commitment to Christ by going to the water and making the sign of the cross with it on their forehead

It was only after this, and before The Peace that we made our confession, and it was so powerful.
This is what how it went
The priest says
God of love and unity, we come to you now to pray for your Church, the Body of Christ on earth. Forgive us for our sense of disunity: forgive the times when we have allowed personal preferences to become more important than Christ’s message of love and reconciliation; forgive us for the times we have been intolerant and over critical of one another – forgive us for our judgemental attitudes, forgive us for wounding Christ’s body again and again and causing you grief.
Lord we ask you to cleanse us and lead us into the full light of your Holy Spirit, so that we may cast aside distrust and truly embrace all our sisters and brothers. Fill our hearts with your love so that we shall be ready to accept any difference and learn from each other with meekness and humility. Let every decision and action be the fruit of our shared love for you; let this love be paramount in every cherished hope or plan. Grant us the grace and courage to worship in unity beneath your canopy of love and peace. Father make us one, for our Risen Christ’s sake. Amen.

We said together
Lord Jesus Christ,
we confess we have failed you.
We ask for your mercy and your help.

I pronounced The absolution
May the God of love and power
forgive you and free you from your sins,
heal and strengthen you by his Spirit,
and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord.

And then, keeping our social distances we shared in The Peace, and moved on to the Eucharistic prayer.

The whole of Lent, Holy Week and Easter was, for us all, very different this year, however, God was and is very real, and he continues to make himself know to us again and again.

It is with Joy in our hearts that we continue to proclaim as Brothers and Sisters united in faith
Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

As ever,

Fr Marcus