April Newsletter

April Newsletter

Dear Friends,

What a delight it has been in these past few weeks to see the Spring flowers after what has seemed a very long winter!  Last weekend the clocks went forward, and despite losing an hour in bed, it means we can now look forward to lighter evenings, warmer weather (perhaps!) and the approach of summer.  Spring is a season full of hope and promise.

In our Lent groups last week we spent some time considering what we felt were the most important human needs. Of course, we thought of basics like food and water; we reflected on the need for love and companionship; but we also agreed on the importance of hope.

I was reminded of those Chilean miners waiting underground for all those weeks until they were rescued.  Faith and hope must have helped keep them going through that terrible ordeal.  Remember the miner who named his new baby daughter ‘Esperanza’.

I was also reminded of one enduring picture that stays with me from my trip to Australia during my Sabbatical – going along the Hume Highway in Victoria and seeing the lines of trees burned black in the terrible bush fires earlier that year. Yet small green shoots were starting to appear, small signs of hope and new life.

In recent weeks the news has made painful viewing. Our thoughts and prayers have been particularly with the people of Japan as they cope with the scale of devastation and loss of life following the earthquake and tsunami, and then the explosion at the nuclear plant.  The people there need to hang on to hope.   

In the midst of all this, the Church is moving towards Holy Week and Easter.  It is the most important Christian celebration of the whole year and at the very heart of our faith.  Easter speaks to us of hope and new life.

But first we are invited to accompany Jesus through the events of his last days. The different services and evening events during Holy Week are there to help you do that. Please come and share them if you can.  Giving up that time in Holy Week can be an act of love and thankfulness for all that Jesus has done for us.

At Easter we rejoice that Good Friday was not the end. Death did not have the last word. The dawning of that first Easter Day brought wonderful new hope and promise. The power of God’s love was revealed – bringing new life out of sin and death; healing and transformation out of pain and suffering; light out of deep darkness and despair. 

Wishing you a blessed Holy Week, and a joyful and hope-filled Easter.

  Joan