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Author: Dr Jenny O'Brien Hot cross buns and chocolate eggs are enjoyed by many over the Easter period, but not everyone understands their true significance. Behind those simple ‘treats’ stand the most profound events of human history. The cross on the yeast buns represents the crucifixion when Jesus, the Son of God died out of love for us. The egg represents the resurrection, when Jesus was raised to new life and lives for ever as the resurrected Christ. On Easter morning we hear the proclamation, “Christ is risen!” and our response is, “He is risen indeed, Alleluia!”
Author: Dr Jenny O'Brien It is striking how often Pope Francis refers to the family in his writings and homilies. In the week after Christmas we celebrated the feast of the Holy Family, and now at the beginning of February, the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. Both feasts call us to reflect on the vital link between a strong Christian family and a fruitful celebration of parish liturgy.
Mary and Joseph did not stand out as an exceptional family. Jesus spent 30 years in the family home in Nazareth where, Luke’s Gospel tells us, he ‘grew and became strong, filled with wisdom.’ Just as Mary and Joseph handed on faith and wisdom to Jesus, so parents today provide for their children ideals to live by and values to sustain daily living. Pope Francis once said, “Mothers are the strongest antidote to individualism because they “divide” themselves from the moment they give birth to a child.’ And Jesus himself gave God the Father the intimate name of “Abba” (Dad), shared by fathers today when they spend time in conversation, play and prayer with their children. Author: Jenny O'Brien Every year on Good Friday large numbers of Catholics gather in groups to remember the Passion of Christ by praying the Stations of the Cross. In Adelaide many people attend the Monastery at Glen Osmond or Sacred Heart College, Somerton Park, where the Stations are held outdoors.
The concept of following the steps of our Lord to Calvary arose very early in the Church’s history. There is even a tradition claiming that Mary herself visited the various sites in Jerusalem connected with her Son’s passion. There is written evidence that in the fourth century the most important sites were regularly visited by pilgrims, and as early as the fifth century St Petronius, the Bishop of Bologna in Italy, erected a complex of connected chapels in the Monastery of San Stefano representing these various sites in order to bring closer to home the shrines of Jerusalem. Author: Jenny O'Brien When we hear the word “apostle” most of us think of the twelve male apostles, perhaps with Peter coming to mind before the others. However, not long ago Pope Francis reminded us that there is indeed a female apostle whose importance to the Church has often “slipped under the radar.” He was referring, of course, to Mary Magdalene, who has often wrongly been portrayed in the annals of Church history and religious art as a prostitute or “fallen woman” despite the fact that no such evidence appears in the Gospels.
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