Dear friends in Christ

The eighth day or Octave Day of Easter renews the joy and hope of Easter for us. Every year we hear the account of Jesus appearing to His Apostles in the Upper Room on the evening of the Day of Resurrection. It is the moment when he confers on His Church the grace of His Divine Mercy—given for all time—and to be received in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Confession. Jesus breathed upon them and said: ‘receive the Holy Spirit; those whose sins you forgive they are forgiven…' Many of the Faithful prepare for this Feast of Divine Mercy by sacramental Confession and making the devotions which honour the Mercy of God. Today we thank God for this gift of grace within the Church, that we can experience now, despite our frailty and human fragility, the constant loving mercy of God our Father.

I thank you once again for your Easter greetings which have come in different forms over the last week! Many of you have written to me, from within the Parish and a number also from overseas, who have been linked to our Parish since the start of the Pandemic. I am grateful to you all for your continued help, support and prayers; also for the kind Easter Offerings made.

It was heartening to see the attendance over Holy Week and Easter much at the pre-pandemic levels. May the graces earned throughout Lent show their fruits now in this Easter season. May we go forward living with the hope and optimism the Easter seasons signals.

God bless you!

Msgr Kevin Hale