Against the inescapable backdrop of global unrest, economic uncertainty, and mounting cost of living and social pressures, the joy of Easter has been fully embraced among the faithful with churches across the country – in both capital cities and regional centres – reporting excellent attendance across all services.
Here in the Archdiocese of Perth, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB has urged the faithful to seek courage, not give up and reflect on the central message of Easter, “that love is stronger than hate and that life is stronger than death.”
“As we look around us, hatred and death seem to have the upper hand in so many places – perhaps even in our own hearts at times,” he said during his Easter Sunday homily.
“But just as the disciples, who were so demoralised by the dreadful events of Good Friday and who lived through the emptiness and desolation of Holy Saturday, had their lives up-ended by the overwhelming experience of the risen Jesus,” he said, “so the joy of this morning’s celebration has the power to overwhelm us and up-end our lives too, if God grants us eyes to see Jesus, risen from the dead, walking with us on our daily journey through life, constantly offering us the gift of peace, hope in our darkness, and freedom from fear.”
“Peace, hope and freedom are the Lord’s Easter gifts to us,” he added, and “This morning Jesus is asking us to put our trust in Him, to throw in our lot with Him, to take that risk of faith which the Easter story invites us to take.”
“As we reflect on the way in which the Lord continues to call people into the Catholic community of faith, let us recognise this as a living sign of the truth and power of the resurrection of Christ.
“He can break through any barrier; He can bring light to the darkest night; He can calm the most debilitating fear. He has risen from the dead and He calls us to walk in the light of His love.
“As we grapple with the challenges of this present moment, Easter presents us with the opportunity to open ourselves to those deeper questions which we otherwise often avoid and to consider the offer that Jesus makes: Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened and I will give you rest.”
Easter Rite of Election
Just as participation in the Easter services was encouraging, so too is the increase in the number of people from other Christian denominations who chose to be baptised or received into the Catholic Church as part of the Easter Rite of Election.
A national survey conducted by The Catholic Weekly has revealed that, in some dioceses, the number of people entering the Church as catechumens or candidates has almost doubled or more than doubled since last Easter.
In the article, Dynamic growth in Easter baptisms,The Catholic Weekly described growth in the Sydney Archdiocese as “extraordinary” while, in Melbourne, “the figure for the Rite of Election this year was the largest ever seen.”
A similarly encouraging trend was witnessed in the Perth Archdiocese with more than 200 people committing to being received into the Catholic Church.
“Some were baptised after a long and often winding journey of discovery of God’s presence in their lives; some, already Christians whose faith had been nurtured in other traditions, had heard God call them to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church; and some who had begun their faith journey as Catholics some time ago sought to confirm and deepen that faith through the Sacrament of Confirmation,” Archbishop Costelloe explained.
“The joy on their faces, and for some the tears in their eyes, were and are a sign of hope for us all that the darkness which threatens to overwhelm us does not have the last word.”
