Wisdom from the Abbey–Mother Hilda–Easter Sunday (Today is Easter Sunday and there’s Easter eggs, holidays, and there’s been Easter parades at school but Mother Hilda wonders, do people really know what we're celebrating? Today we celebrate the glorious fact that Jesus has taken on the very things that you're agonising over, the many times you have heard yourself say, I'll never rise again. The times that something has laid you so low, that you say, I'll never rise again. He let it kill him, and then he rose above it. Today, the choice is yours. Do you want to know this risen life? Wherever you are today, stretch out your hands and say to God, thank you, I claim you. I claim your risen life and I believe that I will live again.)

MenAlive–Eddy Ferry–Faith Testimony (Men Alive participant, Eddie Ferry from SW Sydney talks with Journey Editor Max Norden about his faith journey and how a spiritual encounter with Jesus in 2006 that started a personal transformation of his life and his eventual discovery of the Men Alive movement and the powerful way that men of faith support each other spiritually. Eddie’s story will inspire you to check out men Alive through their website and their regular activities for men.)

On The Journey This Week: A program to start the Church’s “Great Week” with Palm Sunday reflections from Fr Mark De Battista and Mother Hilda, plus three Holy Week reflections from Darren McDowell, Fr Sean Cullen and Fr Antony Jukes

Triumph Lent Series–Fr Sean Cullen–Good Friday (Fr Sean Cullen’s reflection for Good Friday invites us to enter the tomb and stay there in anticipation of Easter. Fr Sean says that we are not alone in that tomb because Jesus is always with us when we face and walk in the midst of our difficulties. Good Friday reminds us that Jesus is with us when we are physically, emotionally, morally, and spiritually in pain and that he is constantly encouraging us not to give up, but take courage, keep going because I am with you and I won’t leave you.)

Triumph Lent Series–Darren McDowell–Betrayal (Darren McDowell’s reflection for Wednesday of Holy Week on Isaiah 50:4-9, the Old Testament reading for this day. Darren says Isaiah gives us a strong indication of how God wants us to respond when we feel we have been betrayed by someone. Betrayal can be a very damaging experience with a myriad of emotions like shame, anger, and resentment, as well as a broken relationship and loss of trust. Isaiah invites us to respond with confidence and trust that in our sense of betrayal, God is indeed at our side, lifting us up and holding our dignity in his care. We get our strength to face the hurt of betrayal from the example that Jesus gives us through his own betrayal. It was Jesus’ deep relationship with his father that allowed him to set his face like flint, trusting in the Father’s ultimate vindication through the resurrection.)

Wisdom from the Abbey–Mother Hilda–You are the Treasure (Mother Hilda says that the thing about real love is that it doesn’t matter what the other person has or hasn’t done, love can’t be swept away, can’t disappear or be dissolved or killed off. No sacrifice is too great when it comes to love; there is nothing that the person won’t do to ensure the good and happiness of the one who is loved, even if the other person sells you out. Mother Hilda says that real love is like finding a treasure that neither time or death can steal. She says that Jesus says to us that we are the treasure that he found and that he endures death on the cross to hold us as his own treasure.)

Triumph Lent Series– Fr Antony Jukes OFM–Holy Saturday (Fr Antony Jukes leads us into the solemn Holy Saturday and its stillness with his reflection on the barbaric ritual of death on a cross and those who stood at the foot of the cross as well as those who didn’t stay for fear that the same would happen to them. All were traumatised, yet shortly afterwards something incredible happens with the apostles overcoming their fear, transforming despair into hope, and opening their hearts and minds to believe and to bring this message of hope to others.)

Gospel Reflection–Fr Mark De Battista—True Son of the Father (Fr Mark says the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem is not an earthy triumph but the triumph of the cross. Jesus’ entry is highly symbolic, anticipating a victory which is yet to be accomplished upon a cross, and not in some worldly sense. One of the key moments in this gospel is when Pilate offers the people a choice between Jesus and Barabbas. Fr Mark says that when we separate the name of Barabbas in Aramaic it is derived from two words: Bar meaning son and Abbas meaning father. In other words, choosing Barabbas means choosing the son of the father. The choice is now clear, which son of the God will then people choose to be a son of the father according to the model of Barabbas, a notorious criminal, or according to Jesus of Nazareth, the true Son of the Father–a pattern of righteousness and holiness? The passion shows how quickly public mood swings and reveals the profound fickleness of the human condition.)

Wisdom from the Abbey–Mother Hilda–Dealing with Grief (Grief comes to all of us at some stage. Tears are a rightful part of grief. Furthermore, remember physical death is not the only cause of grief. We die when we lose our job, being unable to fulfill life’s ambitions, when relationships cease to exist. We just don’t know how to deal with grief. In this gospel Jesus gets it in one! He turns up in our distress, he allows us to tell him how we are feeling, and through the raising of Lazarus he shows us that through our own love for someone else, we, too, can raise a deadened heart to life.)

Triumph Lent Series– Br Lewis Harwood–What Do You Think (Br Lewis as how do we understand the role of faith and religion in our lives? For example, when we come to reading sacred scripture, do we only use our minds? Thinking with our minds and hearts should not be mutually exclusive, but rather a wholistic approach in discerning the scriptures. Take time today to seek faith through understanding culture, history, and the spiritual longings of the heart.)