Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv DD STL, Bishop of Parramatta
Address at the annual Good Friday Night Walk 2019 with Catholic Youth Parramatta
Mary, Queen of the Family Parish, Blacktown, 19 April 2019
Dear friends,
I’d like to welcome you all to this Good Friday Walk which has become a great tradition for the young people in our diocese.
The walk serves as a spiritual exercise. We are reminded that this life is a journey of faith, a pilgrimage whose aim is to shape the soul.
We do so in memory of Jesus who suffered and died to bring to fulfilment God’s plan for the healing and transformation of the world.
We follow the footsteps of the king who rode on the back of the donkey; the master who washed the feet of others; not a conqueror through domination and violence but a humble servant through non-violence and justice.
In Jesus, we see a God of solidarity and compassion.
In him, we see the triumph of truth, justice and love over violence, dominance and exclusion.
In him, we see an embodiment of a vision of an inclusive community, bound by a bond of communion, solidarity and service.
This walk is an expression of our commitment to pursue the way of Jesus which is the way of justice, peace and integrity of all creation. We commit ourselves to heal and transform our wounded society and broken earth.
Good Friday gives us a glimpse of the triumph of love over hatred and life over death. It was God’s unflinching fidelity, his unconditional love in Jesus that brought about this triumph.
Let us walk in faith, joy, companionship and solidarity with each other and with all people of good will.
May our commitment to heal and transform our wounded human society and our broken earth be brought to fruition in accordance with God’s plan in Christ.
