Easter and the Cycle of Human Life

The normal cycle of human life from womb to tomb includes birth, growth and development, aging and death.

Real growth is a rich and varied time with joys and sorrows, hopes and disappointments, successes and failures.  Then for many there is the aging process and for all, at whatever age, death.

Despite the difficulties (and for some there is much difficulty) when rightly viewed we know life is truly a precious gift and the life cycle truly amazing. It was uplifting to read recently of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to a home for the elderly run by the Sant ’ Edgio Community in Rome.

Age is just one stage of the cycle of life. It can be seen by many as negative, a poor time and even a useless stage.

Pope Benedict had some very special words to say to these people. They were more than words because they obviously came from his personal reflections on his own aging.

He said “….I am well acquainted with the difficulties, problems and limitations of this age…”  “At times, we may look back nostalgically at our youth when we were fresh and planning for the future. “  “…although I am aware of the difficulties our age entails I would like to tell you with deep conviction; it is beautiful to be old! At every phase of life it is necessary to be able to discover the presence and blessing of the Lord and the riches they bring”. “In our faces may there always be the joy of feeling loved by God and not sadness”.

My Dear People in the Geraldton Diocese

As we launch the Year of Grace on Pentecost Sunday in our Diocese, together with all our Dioceses in Australia, I wish to offer you all my own personal message. Where did the idea of the Year of Grace for the Australian Church originate? Some two years ago as Bishops we reflected together on the many issues, concerns and challenges facing our Church and society today. It is easy enough to list them and we did – two full printed pages of them – and under twelve different groupings.

The next step was how to work on them. After much sharing we unanimously agreed to dig deeper into our Faith and to focus more on Jesus Christ. In other words we decided to respond to these challenges by reflecting firstly on what Jesus would think, say and do about each situation – big or small.

This was not to avoid the issues, but in turning to Jesus first, we believe he will be our guide and inspiration to face them. We in turn were inspired by Pope John Paul II and his Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte  (At the Beginning of the new Millennium). In this letter John Paul said that as we face the new millennium it would be important to ‘Start afresh from Christ’ and ‘Contemplate the face of Christ’.