Dear friends in Christ

Each Sunday of the Easter Season should renew the joy within us of the Resurrection. In fact, every Sunday of the year is celebrated as a mini-Easter since every Sunday is The Lord’s Day, the Day of the Resurrection. For the Jewish people, the Sabbath and holy days were important and for the new People of God - the Christian Church - these days are especially holy as they have been sanctified by our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. What should Christians do each Sunday? We keep the Third Commandment which is to observe in a holy way the Sabbath. This involves first and foremost our participation in the Eucharistic Sacrifice of the Mass; resting from unnecessary servile work and spending time with family and friends in such a way that we reflect on the beauty of God’s creation and give ourselves time for recreation. The centre and origin of Christian joyfulness is found in the presence of Christ and the celebration of His mysteries in the Church.

The Mass makes Jesus present in His Church: it is a sacrifice of infinite value offered to God the Father in the Holy Spirit. All other human, cultural and social values have to take second place to this. Alongside the Mass, other expressions of liturgical and popular piety such as adoration of the Eucharist and Benediction, popular devotions and so on, are particularly important. All of which is expressed in the Entrance Antiphon of today’s Mass from Psalm 65: Cry out with joy to God, all the earth; O sing to the glory of His name. O render him glorious praise, alleluia!

Msgr Kevin Hale