St Gall’s Retreat, Switzerland
Easter Saturday 2020
Dear brethren, sisters and friends,
Eastertide greetings to you all. Christ is Risen, Alleluia!
I expect many of you, like myself, are thinking, well that was probably the strangest Easter ever! It certainly does seem like we’ve had more of the Cross and less of the Resurrection this year. My heart goes out to those of you who have lost beloved friends and relatives in this pandemic, and yes, some of our clergy and seminarians have been directly affected. Our love and prayers are with you
For Mons Bruno and I, things have not been so different. We have had many cancellations and have certainly taken a hit financially, but we did have a few guests over Easter, for whom I was cooking, so we were kept busy and of course we celebrated the usual Easter Triduum services. At a time like this, we clergy in the HCCI, are so fortunate to have private oratories and not to have to worry about “getting to church”, but I know that some of our seminarians, particularly in Italy, have been feeling very isolated!
Just the other day one of our clergy in America, posted this picture, which for me sums up perfectly my feelings about the Cross.
Easter Saturday 2020
Dear brethren, sisters and friends,
Eastertide greetings to you all. Christ is Risen, Alleluia!
I expect many of you, like myself, are thinking, well that was probably the strangest Easter ever! It certainly does seem like we’ve had more of the Cross and less of the Resurrection this year. My heart goes out to those of you who have lost beloved friends and relatives in this pandemic, and yes, some of our clergy and seminarians have been directly affected. Our love and prayers are with you
For Mons Bruno and I, things have not been so different. We have had many cancellations and have certainly taken a hit financially, but we did have a few guests over Easter, for whom I was cooking, so we were kept busy and of course we celebrated the usual Easter Triduum services. At a time like this, we clergy in the HCCI, are so fortunate to have private oratories and not to have to worry about “getting to church”, but I know that some of our seminarians, particularly in Italy, have been feeling very isolated!
Just the other day one of our clergy in America, posted this picture, which for me sums up perfectly my feelings about the Cross.
Being of the Liberal Catholic tradition we tend not to dwell too much on sin and even less on vicarious atonement, yet the idea of a God who suffers alongside us remains one of the most beautiful aspects of Christianity, at its best. As we have seen with this pandemic, we don’t need to go looking for crosses for they will surely find us, but when they do we have the companionship of the God who suffered willingly for our sake to show us how to suffer with dignity and hope.
Our liturgy reminds us that Jesus is “the eternal High Priest, (who) forever offers Himself as the eternal Sacrifice” and that he is the “Lamb slain from the beginning of the world”. What this tells us is that from the dawn of time God has been pouring his life blood out into the universe in one eternal act of total self-giving Love, and for us Christians, that out-pouring of Love has a pivotal point in time, in 1st century Israel, in the sacrificial death and resurrection of Our Lord. The self-sacrifice of our God would indeed be a tragedy were it not for the miracle of the resurrection which gives us faith in our final victory and enables us to perceive His continuing and eternal Presence with us in the Holy Eucharist.
Tomorrow, being Low Sunday, the collect we will say articulates more beautifully and succinctly the sentiments I have been trying to convey:
O Lord Christ, by whose eternal sacrifice we exist, and in whose victory we triumph, grant that, in joy or in sorrow, we may never lose our grateful memory of thine encouraging love, who livest and reignest God throughout all ages. Amen.
May recollection of the Mercy, Empathy and Compassion of our God remain ever in our hearts and minds as we continue this Eastertide journey together.
Ad Jesum per Mariam,
+Alistair of the Child Jesus OSBA
Our liturgy reminds us that Jesus is “the eternal High Priest, (who) forever offers Himself as the eternal Sacrifice” and that he is the “Lamb slain from the beginning of the world”. What this tells us is that from the dawn of time God has been pouring his life blood out into the universe in one eternal act of total self-giving Love, and for us Christians, that out-pouring of Love has a pivotal point in time, in 1st century Israel, in the sacrificial death and resurrection of Our Lord. The self-sacrifice of our God would indeed be a tragedy were it not for the miracle of the resurrection which gives us faith in our final victory and enables us to perceive His continuing and eternal Presence with us in the Holy Eucharist.
Tomorrow, being Low Sunday, the collect we will say articulates more beautifully and succinctly the sentiments I have been trying to convey:
O Lord Christ, by whose eternal sacrifice we exist, and in whose victory we triumph, grant that, in joy or in sorrow, we may never lose our grateful memory of thine encouraging love, who livest and reignest God throughout all ages. Amen.
May recollection of the Mercy, Empathy and Compassion of our God remain ever in our hearts and minds as we continue this Eastertide journey together.
Ad Jesum per Mariam,
+Alistair of the Child Jesus OSBA
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