My peace I give you...

Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Ps 66, Rev 21:10-14, 22-23; Jn 14:23-29

Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your Apostles: I leave you peace, my peace I give you. These words are very, very familiar to Catholics the world over. They form part of the Communion Rite and teach us much about the liturgy we celebrate each Sunday when we gather for Mass. Specifically, they teach us much about why and how we celebrate the liturgy.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus says to his disciples: Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. So we can see that our liturgy, our celebration of the Eucharist, directly finds its roots in sacred scripture. But we notice, also, that it is not simply a parrot-like repeat of the words from Jesus. Does this mean that we have it wrong? Does this mean that the Mass fails to follow the words of our Saviour? No, it does not.

Liturgy, like all prayer, is dynamic. It is not static, it does not stay put in one place and at one time, rather it reflects, feeds and nourishes our spiritual lives in Christ. We cannot hope to maintain a personal relationship with Jesus if we fail to attend to our liturgy and we cannot participate fully in the liturgy if we fail to live our lives in union with Christ. Put simply, Jesus feeds us through his word and body, most especially during the great celebration of thanksgiving; The Mass.

Almost half a century ago the Council Fathers led us in a reform of the liturgy. Many changes were made, some good, some not so good, but all for the greater glory of God and the sanctification of his people. One of the most revolutionary changes was the move to celebrate the Mass in the vernacular, in the language of the people. It brought about a brave new world where all peoples could come to know the words of the prayers in use; could hear the words and understand them. Yet clearly there remained a sense of the sacred. If prayer be communication with God then we must use a language which is familiar to both the listener and the talker, a language familiar to God and man. That language is, of course, the liturgy itself. Whether it be Latin, English, Spanish, Greek, Gaelic or Urdu it mattered little compared to the need to ensure it spoke with reverence, due dignity and above all, noble simplicity.

This doesn’t mean, however, that we just change the liturgy at will. ‘Whatever suits Father’ is never a good maxim. The liturgy we celebrate today is precisely that which Jesus instituted when he said ‘do this in memory of me’. Yet we know also that this remembrance is an action, an action begun by the Son, directed to the Father and continued in the Holy Spirit. We are engaged in this action of the Holy Trinity, we are in the midst of God himself. It doesn’t get any better than this.

And yet through our words and actions, our liturgy, God comes to us and makes us holy. He speaks to us through these words and actions and we, therefore, are nourished. This is why we need to come to Mass every week; to be fed. The simple truth is that God has no need of our praise and yet such is his love for us that he let’s all the peoples praise him: Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you. Indeed, we do praise him, every Sunday and holy day of obligation. Isn’t it good to praise our God, isn’t it good to visit the heavenly Jerusalem, isn’t it good that we should be here today!

My peace I give you. This peace, which we know the world cannot give, is freely available to us through our liturgy. When we celebrate well the mystery of our salvation then we will experience this peace. How often have I heard people say that they come to Mass for the peace they get? There is something in this peace which sustains us and enables us to continue in our battle over evil. There is something in this peace which is the pearl beyond price. There is something in this peace which can only ever be won when we come to Church, when we participate in the liturgy.

The peace of the Lord be with you always!

BIGOT

There has been much in the news about our Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and his comments in regard to a certain voter whom he described as a BIGOT. Having been out with a few friends this evening I am reliably informed it turns out he was quite correct in his description of Gillian Duffy as that "BIGOTed woman". Turns out she's not a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion. Rather she may be a fortune teller.

Brown Is Going On Thursday.

Ss Philip & James

Today, on this Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles, I was looking for a picture of the two together - for the blog. This website, which I happened upon, is really great. Go take a look. There's an awful lot of good Catholic information to view as you while away a few minutes on an otherwise lazy Bank Holiday weekend. Unless you're not in England and don't have any idea what I'm talking about (lazy bank holidays, not good Catholic information) in which case take some time from your busy schedule and be renewed in your faith.

REFLECTION. --The Church commemorates on the same day Saints Philip and James, whose bodies lie side by side at Rome. They represent to us two aspects of Christian holiness. The first preaches faith, the second works; the one holy aspirations, the other purity of heart.

The website concludes by asking us to seek the intercession of Ss Philip and James for all priests. At Mass we chose to seek their intercession for our successor to the Apostles: Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham!

God bless our shepherd.

Prayers by priests

Everyone needs a priest to pray for them; don't you think?



Great video!

H/t ICN

I Love You

Acts 14:21-27; Ps 144; Ap 21:1-5; Jn 13:31-35

I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. These three simple words can and have changed the course of history. Think about the ramifications of Henry VIII and his love for Anne Boleyn, think about Romeo and Juliet, and think about Paris and Helen of Troy. Love truly can change the way of the world. Yet these three simple words in themselves don’t bring about change. It is the actions which then follow or which lead up to such a declaration of love.

Jesus tells us, today, love one another. He commands us to love. Now when he says this is itself important. He says it after having just washed the feet of his disciples. In other words, he has already demonstrated to his disciples and, therefore, to us that to love is to act. Just as I have loved you. What I have just done you, too, must do. You must wash the feet of those whom you know.

Does Jesus mean we literally must get out to Morrison’s and buy some soap and towels? Well, if need be, then yes he does. If it is that someone needs to have their feet washed then that is what we must do to show our love for one another. Whatever are a person’s needs is how we must respond. Though I suspect we will not meet many persons who need to have their feet washed, we will most certainly meet people in need. Jesus commands us to respond to that need in love.

How many homeless people did you help this last week? How many people begging for money did you walk past? When did you feed the hungry last? How about those who thirst? Did you satisfy them? I’m not talking about someone who needed a drink. I’m talking about those who are in need of salvation. Those who need to hear the Word and have their thirst for truth satisfied. These are people hungry and thirsty for the Word made flesh.

When I was sick you visited me. How many people who were sick did you visit? Perhaps you’ve been to prison, or to hospital, or to an old folk’s home.

You hear what I’m saying. If you love one another then you will be acting to bring about the kingdom of God. Jesus didn’t say you have to like someone. He said you have to love another. If you are a Christian, if you are a follower of Christ, then listen to the master speak. Listen to his words and act upon them.

Finally, who was it that Jesus loved. Well, everyone, yes but whose feet did he wash? He washed the feet of Peter, who would deny him three times, and he washed the feet of Judas, who would leave that room and betray the Son of Man. Jesus was put to death by those whom he loved!

I love you. Say what you mean and mean what you say.

Ecce Agnus Dei

Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.

Great to see that the new translation of the Missal is now given it's recognitio by the Holy See. You can read more here. The US bishops’ conference has a great website, here. You can get ahead of the game and spend some time learning the new responses of the people, here.

The 'art' by the way is:

González's painting is a Spanish Caravaggesque work showing naturalism and a touch of sensuality. Without the barely noticeable halo and without the scroll the Saint could easily be taken for a resting shepherd with a sheep lying at his feet like a dog. The text on the scroll is a quotation from the Gospel of John: "Ecce Agnus Dei, qui tollit peccata mundi".

St Catherine of Siena

An excellent post, here, from Rocco Palmo at Whispers on the great Doctor of the Church which is St Catherine of Siena. One of my inspirations. Just recently I was able to visit her sarcophagus beneath the High Altar of the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome. It's one of the highlights for me during any visit to the Eternal City. Along with catching a Caravaggio or two and stopping by the Gesu. Oh, yeah, and gelato too. Ah, such halcyon days!

Just this morning I have been preparing the 'saints of the week' section of our weekly newsletter. I had quite forgotten how, once the seasons of Lent and Easter are behind us, the memorials and feasts of the saints come thick and fast. What excitement awaits us!

One such excitement is il Beato Angelico who is also buried in Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Blessed Fra Angelico, as we know him, was only beatified recently by JP II in 1982. I heard once that he is the only artist to have been beatified - can this be true? I'm not a huge fan of his work: a bit early for my personal tastes. Nonetheless who can fail to be moved by his rendition of the Annunciation. A classic, surely.

Anyway, back to the great Doctors of the Church, including Pope Paul VI's wisdom is declaring those first women doctors.

St Catherine of Siena, pray for us.