Year of Faith: Services for Holy Week and Easter

St Paul declared: “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith also is in vain”. Our faith is anchored in the good news of the resurrection. The resurrection is the Father’s response to the cross, his defiant answer to a world that hoped violence could keep Jesus in its hold.


If death had spoken the final word about Jesus, it would have been only a matter of time before everything about Jesus had been reduced to a curiosity, a forgettable footnote in a crowded history of lost causes. But God had the last word.


In raising Jesus from the dead, God raised every value that Jesus cherished, every story that Jesus told, every preference that Jesus made, every purpose that Jesus followed. All this was given new life and new significance.


The resurrection of Jesus was not a hysterical invention of people who refused to accept Jesus’ death. The Father’s act of raising Jesus from the dead is the Father’s way of accepting his Son’s death. Jesus is wakened to glory by the applause of his Father, by the sheer energy of his Father’s love, by the loud shout of his Father’s gratitude. The Father refuses to write RIP over Jesus’ grave. Our faith focuses not on an empty tomb but on the everlasting presence of Jesus as Lord.

Palm Sunday

9:30am  Mass

  1. Mass begins with the procession from the Pastoral Centre, carrying the blessed palms.

  2. The children return to the Pastoral Centre for the last of their current series of special Sunday liturgies.

  3. At each Mass we will listen to the passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.

11:30am Mass

6:00pm   Mass

SUNDAY

24

MAR

Monday

7:00am Mass

10:00am Liturgy of the Word with Holy Communion

7:00pm Penitential Service in St Bride’s

MONDAY

25

MAR

Tuesday

7:00am Mass

10:00am Liturgy of the Word with Holy Communion

7:00pm Stations of the Cross

7:00pm Penitential Service in Our Lady of Lourdes

TUESDAY

26

MAR

Wednesday

7:00am Mass

10:00am Mass

WEDNESDAY

27

MAR

Holy Thursday

10:00am Morning Prayer (in the Church)

  1. Coach leaves for Chrism Mass immediately after Morning Prayer

11:30am Chrism Mass (in the Cathedral, Motherwell)

7:30pm   Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper

  1. Followed by the Procession to the Altar of Repose in the Pastoral Centre

10:00pm Night Prayer in the Garden of Repose in the Pastoral Centre 

THURSDAY

28

MAR

Good Friday

10:00am Morning Prayer

3:00pm   The Celebration of the Passion of the Lord

3:00pm   The children have their own service in the Pastoral Centre.

  1. The Children’s Liturgy Team will lead them in a re-enactment of the passion story. The children will remain safe and supervised until the adult service ends.

7:30pm   Evening Service

FRIDAY

29

MAR

Holy Saturday

10:00am Morning Prayer

9:00pm   The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night

  1. Celebration of the remaining Sacraments of Initiation - Baptism, Confirmation and First Holy Communion - for the three candidates from RCIA.


  3. No vigil Mass at 6:00pm today

SATURDAY

30

MAR

Easter Sunday

9:30am   Mass

  1. The children are invited onto the sanctuary to witness the baptism of baby Charlotte Wilson.

  2. Charlotte’s sisters Stacey and Stephanie will serve at Mass.

11:30am Mass

6:00pm   Mass

SUNDAY

31

MAR

Easter Monday

11:00am   Mass

  1. Official opening of the Parish Library and Reading Room to Commemorate the Year of Faith: after 11:00am Mass on Easter Monday.

MONDAY

1

APR