The following is the text of the Pastoral Letter – the second issued by Archbishop Hickey in Lent this year.
My dear People
Let us reflect a little on Easter and its fundamental importance for our faith. In fact, our faith is nothing without it.
Like millions of people around the world, we believe in God. But our faith goes further. We believe that Jesus is God’s only son, fully divine and fully human and that He has called us to follow Him on a journey of deep personal transformation that only ends after this life in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Easter and the great days before Easter tell us much about the journey we have begun and what difference it should and does make to our lives.
It is not enough for us simply to remember Jesus’ own journey of suffering and death, followed by His resurrection.
It must mean something to us personally – how we are seen by God, what we are called to be, how we are to live and how we are to treat others.
Let us look at Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil to see the impact on our own lives.
First, Holy Thursday.
In the evening in all our Parish churches we live again in sacramental and liturgical form the Last Supper of Jesus.
Jesus called His disciples to join Him in celebrating the Jewish Feast of the Passover, the deliverance of the People of Israel from captivity in Egypt through the Red Sea, led by Moses.
He is now the new Moses, leading us from the slaves of sin to eternal life.
At the Last Supper Jesus gave us in the form of bread and wine, His own body and blood as our spiritual food.
He spoke of his body being given up and His blood shed for us for the forgiveness of sins.
We share His self-sacrifice every time we receive Holy Communion. As He offered Himself to His Father so we offer ourselves and all that we are to the Father whose Will becomes our desire.
We accept suffering in our life as a way of joining with the sufferings of Jesus who endured them, not for any sins of His own, but for ours.
He washed the feet of His disciples like a servant to impress on us that anyone who seeks to follow him must not only take up his cross daily but live a life of great love and humble service.
He also asked His disciples to watch and pray. Let us watch and pray during these days so that we can enter into the victory that was Easter, a victory we can share in by a transformed life.
The death of Jesus on Good Friday was the fulfilment of all that was foreshadowed on Holy Thursday.
The Church is in mourning on Good Friday for the death of our Saviour and Lord.
Many of us will wait at the tomb on the Vigil of Easter, like the women of the Gospel, and be awestruck by the reality of His Resurrection. Easter declares that Jesus rose from the dead in a glorious body that knows no limit of space or time. His resurrection proclaims His victory over Satan and eternal death.
Let us continue to be full of wonder that Jesus has risen and is still with us. Let us try to understand that this is what awaits us too one day if we follow Him as best we can.
Let us also remember that the new life of Jesus is already ours in Baptism and live as converted baptised people in the Church Community that carries us forward.
We can be transformed by the Risen Lord through prayer, praise and a life of love.
So can the world.
Our mission is to carry aloft the light of Christ to the dark places of the world.
Most Rev B J Hickey
Archbishop of Perth
22 March 2010