Dear Friends in christ
One of the earliest Christian texts of the second century, written by St Justin says: On Sundays there is an assembly in towns or in the country…This is the first day, on which God transformed darkness and matter and made the world; the day on which Jesus Christ our Saviour rose from the dead. The Jewish sabbath gave way to the Christian Sunday from the very beginning of the Church, and from then on every Sunday we celebrate the Resurrection. So from the very start of the Church, Christians have celebrated the Resurrection on Sunday; indeed, they went to great lengths and even danger to themselves in order that they could be together with the Risen Christ at Holy Mass. Some other early texts put it very strongly and say that without the weekly Mass, we could not properly exist. This is a timely reminder to us all, that we need this weekly encounter with Jesus in His Word and in His Sacraments; when we are fed at both the table of the Word and the table of the Sacrament, as St Augustine puts it. Let us encourage each other, those in our families and our friends, to ensure that we keep the Lord’s Day as a time of special observance by renewing ourselves mentally, physically and spiritually, and doing it always by having Holy Mass at the centre.
Our Tuesday evening seminars for Evangelisation and Discipleship have continued throughout Eastertide. We now have a short break before the next phase which is the transition period as we begin to reflect on our pilgrimage so far and discern how best we can harness the fruits of these weeks. I have been very encouraged by the positive response and good numbers that attended these sessions. Please pray for continued fruits from this initiative, that we may, as a result, become more committed intention disciples of Christ as our Parish Family grows and matures. May our faith in the Risen Lord be contagious and inspire others to seek a relationship with Jesus in His Catholic Church.
God bless you!
Msgr Kevin Hale
Priest@LourdesLeigh.org ✚ 01702 478078
Homily available at LourdesLeigh.org