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Easter 2007

Pastoral Letter of Bishop Martin Drennan, Bishop of Galway

Lent, a time of hope

One of the meanings of the word Lent is 'new life'. The weeks of the Lenten season are a journey of hope towards the new life the risen Lord has won for us. Good Friday asks us to look on him whom they have pierced (John 19:37), and stay with Mary and the beloved disciple beside the Cross. They saw in him love lived to the end. That love forgave those who had brought about his death. To the repentant thief his compassionate love offers the promise of paradise. His prayer is one of complete trust in his Father, Father into your hands I commit my spirit (Luke 23:46). In love he turns his suffering into a prayer that is made for us, by his wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:6). From his side flow blood and water, signs of the new life he now gives through Baptism and the Eucharist. The Cross is about self-giving love at its best. He draws us to himself to fill us with his love, that we may learn to love our brothers and sisters with a love that is forgiving and compassionate, that is a sign of hope and gives hope. If we look on Jesus crucified that is what we see.

Martin Drennan
Bishop of Galway