As I write, we are almost half way through Lent. Next week we ease up a little as we celebrate Mothering Sunday. So it almost feels wrong to be thinking about Holy Week and Easter whilst we are still very much in Lent, with all its solemnity. Gennie and I have discussed with each other how dreary Lent can be, yet I think it can offer us a time of growth and renewal. I think it is important to use Lent as a time of preparation for Easter and the Easter joy we receive as people of the Resurrection. Spring arrives bringing with it the promise of new life. Trees are in blossom, birds singing and beginning to make their nests. Animals awake from hibernation and yes, Achilles, our tortoise, is wide-awake and prowling around wanting company, strawberries and dandelions in equal measure. Spring gives us hope. We begin to anticipate more hours of sunlight and warmer days. It feels like a new start. Easter gives us that fresh start. In Holy Week, we travel through the Triduum, remembering how Jesus shared a meal with his disciples and washed their feet, prompting them to question his role as their Lord and master. We sit alongside him in the Garden of Gethsemane, agonise and wonder anew at his trial and subsequent crucifixion. We share the grief, despair, and emptiness when He is laid in the tomb. Finally, we arrive at Easter Day, triumphant, knowing that Jesus died and rose again, that He lives. It’s a fresh start for all. That’s worth shouting about, isn’t it? When Easter Day finally arrives, let us joyfully shout to the rafters, “Alleluia, He is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!” Anne