Liturgy Reflections

This Joyful Season of Lent

February 17, 2010

At Mass this morning, these words from the preface leapt out at me – words I do not usually associate with Lent:

Each year you give us this joyful season

when we prepare to celebrate the paschal mystery

with mind and heart renewed.

This is entirely correct of course. Lent is indeed a time of solemnity, a time for austerity and preparation,, but that is the key. Above all, it is a time of preparation for that great season of Easter, and its culmination in the resurrection, which is what the Christian religion is all about. Read the rest of this entry »

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time: 14th February

February 14, 2010

14^th February: 6^th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Jeremiah 17: 5-8

Psalm 1 1-4, 6 ; R 39:5

1 Corinthians 15: 12, 16-20

Luke 6: 17, 20-26

The first reading, from Jeremiah, reminds us to put our faith in the Lord, not in works of man, and on “things of the flesh,” which are arid, like dry scrub in the wilderness.  Instead,  we are advise to put our trust in the Lord, for then we “will have no worries in a year of drought, and will never cease to bear fruit.”

These are wise words indeed, but we could also do well to remember that works of the flesh are not the only works of man.  Sadly, the same can be said of the institutional church, which in its teaching on sexuality is also arid and devoid of life giving sustenance. However, if we pay attention instead to the words and example of Christ himself, and develop through our prayer life a personal relationship with Him, we too can find a source of life-giving nourishment, and “shall never cease to bear fruit”. Read the rest of this entry »