Dear friends in Christ
Everyone single one of us has a divine calling from God. Most of us know what God is asking of us in this life, but it will only be fully shown to us in the next life. Throughout the centuries Jesus has continually invited souls to follow Him. We hear it for the first time in the Gospel of this Sunday’s Mass. In response to the request of the two disciples of John the Baptist, Jesus invites them to come and see where He lives. The first move always comes from God: He invites us, and it is our opportunity to respond.
We have now entered the period called Ordinary Time. It is related to ordinal, which means “counted time”. These are the Sundays with numbers for names: Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Twenty-seventh Sunday, etc. There are two blocks of Ordinary Time in the liturgical calendar. One follows the Christmas cycle (from the Baptism of the Lord, until Ash Wednesday). The other follows the Easter cycle (from Pentecost up to Advent of the next year). You can recognise them by their liturgical colour of green.
The Resurrection is celebrated on every Sunday, which is to say that Sunday is not a small Easter, rather Easter is a big Sunday. What we do every Sunday, we do in a big way at Easter. But we live from the fragrance of Christ’s Resurrected body all year long. The readings for these Sundays tend to be semi-continuous readings through certain sections of Scripture, especially through Matthew, Mark and Luke. Large portions of each Gospel are read and you can watch the chapters go by from one Sunday to the next. Ordinary Time is an opportunity to put the teaching of Jesus in context and follow the thought through to the end. The Old Testament lesson is selected to be congruent with the Gospel reading. This all leads us to Christ, our King. The liturgical year ends with the solemnity of Christ the King. He is enthroned in our hearts as well as in Heaven, in order to do His Father’s will and restore all things. We pray that the whole creation, set free from slavery, may render your majesty service and ceaselessly proclaim your praise (Collect for Christ the King). We progress through repeated liturgical years like a stone in a rock polisher, being smoothed and brightened by our contact with the mysteries, the mysteries that make us holy and will one day bring us to Heaven!
There has been a fear that the Government would want places of worship closed in the recent lockdown. However, a place of worship is one of the very few legal exemptions that allow larger numbers to gather in the same venue. The decision to allow our churches to remain open is based on two factors: the recognition that our churches are safe, and that the service they offer is essential. To keep everyone safe, it is crucial that we continue to comply assiduously with the law and the Covid-guidelines. Thank you to everyone who has cooperated with this and all those who have been tireless in their help stewarding and cleaning.
God bless you!
Msgr Kevin Hale