Sunday 27th April 2025
Webmaster • April 25, 2025
‘Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’
Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands;
and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’’
(John 20:26-27)

God of everlasting mercy, who, in the very recurrence of the paschal feast kindle the faith of the people you have made your own,
increase, we pray, the grace you have bestowed, that all may grasp and rightly understand in what font they have been washed,
by whose Spirit they have been reborn, by whose Blood they have been redeemed.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God,
for ever and ever. Amen.

The Love of God What is Love? We probably can easily quote St Paul's words to the Corinthians: "Love is patient and kind, doesn’t envy, doesn’t brag, not proud...." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) But why is this one thing becomes so many different things? What is Love, exactly? God is Love and hence Love is a Mystery. The created cannot fully understand the Creator, hence no one can truly understand what Love is. However, we can have a glimpse of it by what we experienced and revealed to us. Love is like the dispersion of white light through a prism and gives out a spectrum of rainbowlike colours. But who can name all the shades of colours? Hence we can only use our limited words to describe Love, but still they are just like a tip of an iceberg. What can we say then? God is the Alpha and Omega, so Love is our beginning and our end and perfection. All the goodness of things and persons comes from Him alone. Without Him, we are nothing, but dust. God's Love is what created us, complete us, sustain us, die for us. But that is not the end. As His unlimited Love never ends, so are our souls never die. Our whole being is the imprint of God's Love. Our life eternal is the promise of God's Love. (Reference: 'Rosminian Spirituality: In the Spirit of the Founder', Fr Giovanni Gaddo, 1971)

Sunday 27th April St Albans Church , Cardiff Confessions 2pm – 4pm 2.30pm Blessing and Veneration of the Image 3pm Divine Mercy Chaplet & the Three o’clock Prayer On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment… ” (Diary 699)

Dear brothers, Happy Easter! Despite his illness of these past months, we were all saddened to hear the news yesterday of the death of Pope Francis. He was an extraordinary witness to the Risen Lord and we pray now that the Lord quickly receive him into the kingdom. I will be celebrating a “Mass of the Resurrection – Remembering Pope Francis” in St David’s Cathedral, Cardiff at 6.30pm tomorrow evening (Wednesday) . Please come to concelebrate if you can and encourage our people to come too. There will also be a Vigil of Prayer on Thursday Evening at 6pm in St David’s Cathedral to which we have invited ecumenical, inter-faith and civic dignitaries. Do come to that, too, if you are able, and encourage people to attend, if they can. With my thanks and with my prayers and best wishes. Yours devotedly, +Mark Archbishop Mark O’Toole

The Burial of Jesus In the past, a widow's hope is on her own children. But Jesus' Passion and Death meant Our Lady's 'only Son' was taken away from her. His Last Word: ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ which made the most sorrowful Mother's whole body trembled in the bitter pain of her heart, still present and fresh in her ears whenever she thought on this cry. Watching Him buried in the cold tomb, how much tears she must have shredded when bidding her final farewell, and how many 'final glance' at her Son she would have took, to a point that she would willingly to be placed alive in the grave with Him! We can imagine this pain as if her heart was torn into pieces, and everything seemed to be lost... How many times had we or saw others vent anger on God during our sufferings? Or falling into depression due to the miseries in lives? But our dear Mother, although in inexpressible anguish, was in peace and had unshaken fortitude. Why? Because of her 'fiat', her total abandonment to God's Will, her perfect faith in the Almighty God. Since she knew that everything had happened according to His Will and could not have happened unless He had allowed it. So she thanked God for everything, thus within her sadness there was even some joy, because she saw that Jesus had, in his great love, wanted to suffer this much for the sins of mankind. Jesus' Sacrifice redeemed our souls and brought us our salvation. And Mary, also loves us so, united her sufferings with her Son's and took part in the Work of Salvation. Not only that, she kept this sorrow within her heart and remained on this earth to be a witness of God's Love for all until her Assumption. May this Lent be a time that we re-examine our relationship with God, a time of realisation of how much He has done for us, and a time to begin to tell our neighbours how much He Loves us! (Reference: The Prophecies and Revelations of St Bridget of Sweden)

The Archdiocese’s Safeguarding Team is working with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation to deliver free ‘live’ online training sessions via TEAMS: 1) Professionals / Volunteers Protect (1 April 6-8pm) 2) Digital Resilience (11 June 6-8pm) 3) Understanding Harmful Sexual Behaviour (24 September 6-8pm) 4) Child sexual exploitation awareness (12 November 6-8pm) To book, please contact safeguarding@rcadc.org – stating which date and your name