The month of April opens in the great week of Holy Week. This is the centre of the Church’s Year as we enter the mystery of the Passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The ceremonies of the week reveal the meaning of being a follower of Jesus for each one of us.
I invite you to enter fully into this year’s Holy Week to deepen your faith and pray for peace in the world. It is the richest week in the life of the Church.

On Palm Sunday, we join the people who wave palms and sing ‘Hosanna’ as Jesus
enters Jerusalem. By the end of the week, many of the same people will cry out
‘Crucify him!’. They remind me that the human heart is fickle and we need God’s
grace to stay faithful. I invite you to join God’s holy people at the Chrism Mass in the
Cathedral on Wednesday 1 April at 7:30pm. At this Mass, the holy oils are consecrated
for the sacramental life of the Church during the next year, and the priests renew their
promises to serve faithfully God’s holy people. I ask you to pray for our priests and for
vocations to the priesthood.

On Maundy Thursday, we remember the Last Supper and thank God for the gift of
the Eucharist, and commit ourselves to the service of love as we see Jesus wash his
disciples’ feet. On Good Friday, we remember his love for us and how he bears our
sins and suffers so that we may have new life in him. The Easter Vigil celebrates our
history as the people of God and the sacraments of initiation (baptism, confirmation,
Eucharist) for those joining or becoming full members of the Church called to serve
others and be close to the poor.

This year, Holy Week will be lived in the shadow of the hostilities between the USA,
Israel and Iran. As I write this editorial, the bombing campaign continues and the
trajectory of the war is unknown. We do know for certain that the human suffering
caused by war is immense; family members are injured, many grieve their loved ones,
and modern warfare is highly destructive. We mourn the effects of war. As we walk
with Jesus during this Holy Week, I ask you to pray earnestly for peace. In recent
words of Pope Leo, “Lord, enlighten the leaders of the nations, so they may have the
courage to abandon projects of death” and “Today, we lift up our prayer for peace in
the world, asking that nations renounce weapons and choose the path of dialogue
and diplomacy.”

The Risen Christ greets his apostles with the words “Peace be with you”. We pray that
we can greet others on Easter Day with a message of peace, build bridges where there
is conflict and that those caught in world conflicts will also know the comfort of peace.
Peace which is a gift of God can only break in when we go beyond armed conflicts,
have empathy with the suffering of others, dialogue with others and build upon the
foundations of justice.

I wish you all a very joyful and happy Easter.

Archbishop John Sherrington
Archbishop of Liverpool