Dear friends in Christ

The final part of Lent is named Passiontide. The reason for this is clear as we now start to focus our prayer and meditation on the sufferings of Christ and the events that lead to His Passion and death. Our crucifixes and images are draped in purple. The veiled images build within us a longing for Easter Sunday. The veils seem out of place, and even counterintuitive. It can seem strange that the crucifix is covered up during Passiontide. Through this absence of images, our senses are heightened and we become more aware of what is missing. When images are unveiled before the Easter Vigil, we are reminded that we, in a sense, live in a veiled world. It is through our own death that we are able to see our true home, when the veil is lifted. Christ lifts the veil through His Resurrection. In the meantime, we must pass along the Way of the Cross. This final part of Lent could remind us of how we live our lives here: in joy and suffering, but always with the anticipation of what is to come. We can ask God in these days ahead to increase our love of the Passion of Jesus, to learn some lessons from it, and to intensify our desire to be with Jesus always.

May I please ask you to pray for Rev Matúš Meleg who is Ordained a Priest for our Diocese this Saturday in Chingford. May God grant him a long and fruitful ministry for the salvation of souls.

May God bless us in these solemn days as we prepare for Holy Week itself.

Msgr Kevin Hale