Dear Parents and Carers,

Every year at this time we hold Holy Week and Easter liturgies aligned with the sequence of events of Holy Week.  We are certainly missing this opportunity to reflect on Palm Sunday (last Sunday), the Last Supper and Jesus’ death on the cross at Calvary with the children. Of course, we conclude with the triumph of the Risen Christ on Easter Sunday. We miss the Kinders waving palms, tea-towels on the heads of our crowds, and the students, staff and parents reflecting on the importance and prayerfulness of this time.

Holy Week is the most important period in the Church year though, given our commercial world, we might be forgiven for thinking it to be somewhat left in the wake of Christmas.  This is particularly so when we compare the joy of Christmas with the events of Holy Week where the story of betrayal, suffering and death dominates events.  It is only at the end of the week when we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus that the focus turns to joy and hope.

God’s love for each one of us was perfected in the suffering and death of his son Jesus Christ.  The death of Jesus was one of violence and cruelty – betrayed by a friend, deserted by followers and rejected by those he had tried to help.  Yet we realise that God sent Jesus into the world to be the saviour of all, and by sharing in the human condition in its most distressing form, God’s love is manifest in a way which leads us to eternal life.

As we follow the events of suffering, death and resurrection this week, we look to them to recognise the love God has for us, in the knowledge that no matter how great our suffering or distress may be, God understands and is there as our silent companion.  In Jesus we are given not the end but the path to eternal life.

We wish you a very holy and happy Easter with your families.

EASTER REFLECTION

In the northern hemisphere, Easter comes at a time when the earth is awakening from its winter sleep.

The greening of the tree, the budding plant, the gurgling of the brook recall new life, rebirth, an awakening from an apparent deadness.

Easter, for the Christian, is the community of the Last Supper;

the acceptance of suffering, not without meaning, but with focused faith;

the inevitability and reality of death;

but most of all the hope of resurrection, a new beginning,

a birth to eternal life.

In the life death and resurrection of the Christ, we have a letting go of what has been,

An acceptance of what is and a hope for what will be.

Thank you for your understanding and patience through this most extraordinary term. I wish you and your family best wishes for a Happy and Holy Easter.

God bless and stay safe.

Rachel Smith
Principal