On the 21st JANUARY the Church remembers SAINT AGNES… well, the church tries to except little is known about her accept that she was martyred at the beginning of the 4th century at twelve years old for refusing to compromise her Christian beliefs to the Roman culture around her. This should cause us to reflect – are we acting like ‘everybody else’ or do we live differently in a distinctly Christian way? Put another way – if Christianity was illegal in Britain, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Let us ask Saint Agnes to pray for us, that we would have the strength to resist the attitudes and behaviours of our culture that are harmful to us. Saint Agnes: Pray for us.
On 17th January, the Church celebrates the feast of SAINT ANTHONY THE GREAT (not the one who helps find lost things!). For those who have begun a January health regime, St Anthony is a fantastic Saint for us. It’s usually after the first two weeks of a diet that things get really hard and temptation seems impossible to ignore. He’s also an appropriate Saint during a time of isolation. St Anthony was a monk known for beginning a movement known as the Desert Fathers. As Christianity became more tolerated and even fashionable in the Roman Empire, the integrity of many believers begun to wain – many said they were Christian but didn’t live any differently to the pagans around them. Anthony went out into the desert to escape the temptations of the world. But even in the desert he would have to battle the many temptations that lurk within us. Yet the desert helped Anthony be resilient to temptation and become a great Saint. Many would come out to hear him speak and perform great works. Perhaps the next time we feel like caving in to the temptation of ‘bad choices’ or are struggling with isolation and lockdown, we should ask St Anthony to pray for us. St Anthony: Pray for us.
I remember watching a video on YouTube about certain films which hide the entire plot early in the film or even in the opening credits of the movie. It’s surprising how many films actually do this – it’s as if it’s a challenge that directors secretly aspire to. It would appear that the writer of SUNDAY’S GOSPEL also had similar aspirations. The passage is from the first chapter of John’s Gospel, with John the Baptist proclaiming “Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” Even though John didn’t know or understand how Jesus would perform such an act – it reveals to us the complete Gospel, which ends with the Crucifixion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord. As we begin a new year, let us keep hold of God’s promises even though the end might seem a long way off. We ask Our Blessed Mother to help us on the journey as we pray: Hail Mary…
Colour has always been used to include our sense of sight in worship, just as incense, music and action stimulate our other senses. White is the colour of Heaven and purity, and is used when we celebrate feasts of the Lord (solemnities like Christmas) and the Saints. The Church also uses violet, red, pink, green and even black in its symbolic use of colour. Since Monday the vestments have gone green as we enter ORDINARY TIME. Green is the colour of living and growing. Even though it is not a season of great anticipation (violet) or celebration (white) it is in this season that we should hope to grow through the regular participation in the life of the Church. What hopes do you have for this year? How might you use this time to steadily grow towards these goals. We ask God to help us recognise our need for spiritual growth as we pray: Our Father…
Continuing our reflections on THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD we can learn something really encouraging. People often think that God will only be happy with us when we reach certain expectations – go to Mass, go to Confession, give to the poor, don’t do anything bad. People who think like this either abandon the faith altogether, or continue but in misery and resentment of others who don’t measure up to these expectations. Although God does present us with a moral law through the example of Jesus, the Bible and the Church – the laws are there to guide us to a life of peace and happiness – his perfect love for us is not dependant on our performance. When Jesus was Baptised, the voice of God was heard to say “this is my son in whom I am very pleased”. Jesus had done nothing to earn God’s favour at this point – no miracles, healings or teachings. The same is true when we are Baptised – we become children of God in whom God delights. And no matter how we’ve lived since, God still looks at us with such great love. Let us pray that we would have a greater sense of God’s unconditional love for us as we pray: Our Father…
On Sunday the Church celebrated the solemnity of THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD. Like the Epiphany (the visit of the Wise Men), Jesus’ baptism is a moment of great revelation. The word baptise comes from the Greek word to ‘dunk, plunge or immerse’. By being baptised in water, Jesus is creating a particular way that we can receive the life of God into our own lives – the Sacrament of Baptism. The church calls this receiving of God’s life ‘grace’. In each of the sacraments we are immersed further into the life of God. The water of our own baptism was a visible sign of this invisible grace. When we are full of God’s grace we can do great things for God and for our world. We remember that the Angel Gabriel greeted Mary as ‘Full of Grace’. We ask that she would pray for us to be as open as she was to God’s life as we pray: Hail Mary…
ANOTHER CATCH-UP! . The EPIPHANY and the story of the Magi reveals to us an interesting tension. The Jewish King Herod, the Pharisees and the Scribes all make no effort to make the Journey to Bethlehem where it is revealed that the Messiah has been born. Yet these foreign travellers from the East, not Jews themselves, travel afar to adore the new born king. This reminds me of something I read about just before Christmas – of all the restaurants and churches in Watford, a Lebanese restaurant, run by Muslims, opened it’s doors on Christmas Day and fed people for free believing that no-one should be alone at Christmas. It makes me question if I am more like the travelling Magi, or the religious elite? Do I make every effort to get to Jesus, or arrogantly wait for him to come to me? Let us pray that we would all be a bit more Wise-men-like as we say: Our Father…
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