Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
 
“We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song!” Such were the memorable words of Pope John Paul II upon his visit to Australia in 1986. The broader context of the quote highlights the tension that every Christian lives with: the tension between Christ’s glorious victory over sin and death on Easter Sunday and our own daily struggle to live in the light of Easter glory: 
 
“We do not pretend that life is all beauty. We are aware of darkness and sin, of poverty and pain. But we know Jesus has conquered sin and passed through his own pain to the glory of the Resurrection. And we live in the light of his Paschal Mystery — the mystery of his Death and Resurrection. ‘We are an Easter People and Alleluia is our song!’ We are not looking for a shallow joy but rather a joy that comes from faith, that grows through unselfish love.” (Pope John Paul II, Sunday Angelus Address, 30 November 1986)
 
We all have our ‘life struggles’: perhaps bouts of bad health, family issues, financial difficulties, personal struggles and the like. Sometime we can grow impatient to have all our problems neatly sorted out. The central dynamism of the Triduum is that there is no Easter Sunday without Good Friday. Our struggles become the means by which we attain redemption. Our Lord appeared to the mystic and saint Rose of Lima and declared: 
 
 
“Let all men know that grace comes after tribulation. Let them know that without the burden of afflictions it is impossible to each the height of grace. Let them know that the gifts of grace 
increase as the struggles increase. Let men take care not to stray and be deceived. This is the only true stairway to paradise, and without the cross they can find no road to climb to heaven.” 
 
Our joyful celebration of Easter each year does not mean that as Christians we are spared a share in the sorrows of this world. Yet in times of discouragement Easter is a welcome reminder that Christ’s victory is assured, and that his victory is our victory. We are indeed an Easter people, and Alleluia is our song!
 
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the many helping hands, minds and voices that made the liturgies of Holy Week run so smoothly. I would especially like to thank our sacristans, Joy Bellizia, Una and Martha Hanley, Mary Dowling, Gina Lim, Brenda De Losa and Lia Biasuzzo; organists Baltazar Kurowski and Lyn Chong, and the extraordinary effort of the St Patrick’s choir under the direction of Amanda Burow: Mael Allen, Madeleine Jarvis, Michelle Correia, Andrea Marappan, Lina, Rachael Blackburn, Lumin and Junior, - the many, many hours of rehearsals certainly paid off!; To our servers, Nathan, Joshua, Noah, Nathaniel, Sean and Zach, under the direction of Ezekiel Hangan; to Clara de Iulio, the Prescott and the Hanley families for providing the stunning flowers for each of the churches; to Michael Pettinella and Anne Lehman who provided palms for Palm Sunday; and to all those who helped with odd jobs in setting up behind the scenes: THANK YOU!!! Special thanks to the parish secretary, Stephanie Johnson for her efforts coordinating events behind the scenes. Finally, a special thanks to Fr Aurelio Fragapane for leading the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday and Good Friday Passion at St Brigid’s Healesville. 
 
I wish you and your families a blessed, safe and joyous Easter! 
 
Fr Francis Denton PP