‘Baptised and Sent’ – Pastoral Letter of Bishop Alan McGuckian SJ

‘Baptised and Sent’

Pastoral Letter from Bishop Alan McGuckian SJ

As part of the Synodal Pathway of the Irish church, we are asked to reclaim the power and importance of our baptism. After much listening in recent years, our synodal pathway has identified seven priorities to be considered in light of our baptism. During this Lenten season, we will explore in this Pastoral Letter the first three priorities together, preparing our hearts for Easter.

I invite you in this Pastoral Letter to use this Lent to prepare yourself: Deepen your personal relationship with Jesus through daily prayer and Scripture reading. Discover or rediscover the spiritual gifts God has given you, and begin to use them in service. Ask yourself honestly: Am I growing as a disciple? Am I contributing to a parish community that others would find attractive and life-giving?

At the Easter Vigil and on Easter Sunday we will gather across all the parishes in our Diocese to mark the extraordinary fact that Jesus Christ, who died for our sins, has truly risen from the dead. This remarkable love demands a response from each one of us—and the response is captured so wonderfully in the renewal of our Baptismal Promises. It is an invitation to reject sin and to intentionally embrace a life dedicated to the love of God and his people.

I pray that as we stand together this Easter to renew our baptismal promises, we will do so with a desire to become witnesses to the Risen Christ who sends us to love one another as he has loved us.

The Holy Spirit is at work among us. Lives will be changed. People will encounter Jesus. Disciples will be formed. We are baptised and sent.

+Alan McGuckian SJ

Bishop of Down and Connor

Download Bishop Alan McGuckian’s Pastoral Letter entitled ‘Baptised and Sent’.