Holy Week and Easter: What's it all about?
For Christians this is the most important time of the year
PALM SUNDAY
What happened?
Jesus rode a donkey into the holy city of Jerusalem. The crowds cheered him as a King. They took palm branches off nearby trees, waved them in joy and threw them into the road for Jesus as a 'royal carpet'.
Why is it important?
Jesus is supreme King of the Universe - and our king. But as God made man he isn't remote or frightening but real and approachable. Jesus understands us completely.
How can we join in?
What happened?
Jesus rode a donkey into the holy city of Jerusalem. The crowds cheered him as a King. They took palm branches off nearby trees, waved them in joy and threw them into the road for Jesus as a 'royal carpet'.
Why is it important?
Jesus is supreme King of the Universe - and our king. But as God made man he isn't remote or frightening but real and approachable. Jesus understands us completely.
How can we join in?
- Read the Holy Week story - think of Jesus going into Jerusalem.
- Think of the palms people waved to greet Jesus as king .... and remember that the palm cross we usually have is in the shape of a cross because only 5 days later that same crowd chanted 'Crucify Him!'.
- Come to the 9.30 Parish Mass on Palm Sunday (29th March) and receive a palm cross to take home.
- It helps us remember that we can just as easily betray our friends and Jesus, too.
MAUNDY THURSDAY
What happened?
What happened?
- Jesus shared his last supper with his disciples.
- He washed their feet & showed that it's truly great to serve others, rather than be served. He said that's how we must love each other.
- He asked his disciples to receive His Holy Communion. Bread and wine, blessed and shared, became his body and blood - food for body, mind and spirit that no other food or drink can satisfy.
- He went and prayed in the nearby garden of Gethsemane, agonising under the weight of all that was about to happen to him.
- Judas, one of his closest friends, betrayed him with a kiss and Jesus was arrested, tied up and led away.
- The washing of feet reminds us how we should love and serve one another. Nobody should be too far beneath us.
- Jesus' power transforms us whenever we receive his Body and Blood in Holy Communion.
- When we pray silently in the 'Garden of Gethsemane' we join Jesus in his prayer for the whole world and its needs.
- Come to Mass of the Last Supper at 7.30pm on Maundy Thursday (2nd April).
- witness as the priest washes the feet of 12 people, representing the 12 apostles.
- feel free to pray or simply sit in the beauty and silence of the specially created ‘Garden of Gethsemane’ in the presence of Our Lord at any time from the end of Mass until 10.45 pm. (Night Prayer will take place at 10.30pm)
GOOD FRIDAY
What happened?
What happened?
- Powerful leaders wanted Jesus dead for political or religious reasons; they considered him a threat though he had done nothing wrong and were jealous of him. He was brutally flogged with leather whips tipped with sharp metal, forced to wear a crown of thorns, and was spat on, mocked, and abused. He then had to carry a rough wooden cross to Calvary. There he was stripped and had iron nails driven through his hands and feet, hanging on the cross for about six hours until he died a slow, agonizing death. His body was taken down, wrapped in cloth, and placed in a tomb, which was sealed with a large stone.
Jesus — God made flesh — loved us with a fierceness that refused to let us go. Though He had done no wrong, He stepped into the full horror of human cruelty and suffered a brutal, shameful death so that we might be released from death’s grip. Death itself had entered the world through sin — every selfish choice, every turning away from God — and no one had the strength to break its hold.
Only a power greater than death could end it: the power of perfect, undefeated love. Jesus never surrendered to temptation; He carried the weight of the world’s sin and its consequence — death — on His shoulders. What looked like utter defeat, the end of all hope for His followers, was in fact the moment everything changed. Something extraordinary was about to happen.
- Come to the special, reflective service at 2.00pm on Good Friday (3rd April). (It should last just under an hour.) You'll find St Mary's very different from normal - stark and bare with no colour or flowers;
- Join in reading the story of what happened on Good Friday from St John's Gospel. Take part the quiet procession to the cross, where we each have the opportunity to bow and reflect for a moment - and offer your life, with all its joys and sorrows, to God, whose love for us was so great that He gave his life for each one of us.
- As you receive Holy Communion thank him for his supreme sacrifice.
HOLY SATURDAY AND EASTER DAY
What happened?
The dead body of Jesus was sealed in a tomb on Good Friday and a huge stone placed at the entrance,
But that wasn't the end...
Early on the following Sunday his friends went to visit the tomb, but found
Why is it important?
Easter is such an important day that we celebrate it in church twice!
You are welcome, whether you've come to church before or not!
HAPPY EASTER!
What happened?
The dead body of Jesus was sealed in a tomb on Good Friday and a huge stone placed at the entrance,
But that wasn't the end...
Early on the following Sunday his friends went to visit the tomb, but found
- the stone rolled away,
- the tomb empty and
- the grave clothes left behind.
- He is Risen!
Why is it important?
- Life has purpose, and death is not the final word.
Because of what happened at Easter, death now ends our earthly life but cannot keep us captive.
Jesus opened a new path—if we follow him, we can live with him forever.
We can share this greatest news in the world with others.
Easter is such an important day that we celebrate it in church twice!
- Come at 7.30pm on Holy Saturday (4th April)
- gather in the north churchyard near the porch as the day darkens;
- see the new fire lit, which is a sign of the new life of Resurrection – that light has overcome darkness forever.
- Flames from this fire light the Easter (Paschal) candle. Take a candle and light it from this candle as you join the procession into the darkened church.
- Hear the story of God’s never-ending love for His creation in Old Testament readings and
- His triumph over sin and death in New Testament readings.
- Join in the light, colour, sound and scent as the wonderful Vigil unfolds.
- Receive the body and blood of Christ in the Holy Communion, or a special blessing if you are not a Communicant,
- Thank God for this most wonderful gift and
- let the light of Christ shine through you to light up the lives of others.
- Join in the bring and share party afterwards at the back of church.
You are welcome, whether you've come to church before or not!
- On Easter Sunday (5th April) come and join our family Parish Mass at 9.30 am.
- Candles will be blessed and lit for departed loved ones
- Children will receive a chocolate egg
HAPPY EASTER!
