Posts made in November, 2009

1st Sunday of Advent – 29 November 2009

Posted by on Nov 29, 2009 in Sunday Reflections | 0 comments

Gospel : Luke 21 : 25 – 36 Year C The end of a liturgical year directs our attention to Your “coming”, Lord, to Your return at the end of the world. The same message is proposed to us in preparation for the feast of Christmas. Your birth among us, at Bethlehem, is not a simple recollection. Like all the celebrations of the Liturgical year, it is a “memorial”, in the biblical sense of the word : it is an event which started long ago, 2000 years ago, and which continues to-day, and which will continue until Your final coming, at the end of time. Unceasingly You come into our lives: I stand at the door and knock. If someone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come to live with him (Apoc.3:20). Do we know how to hear this voice which calls us? Do we know how to open our door, Lord? Teach us to welcome You into us and to live with You. Be watchful …. stay awake! How often You urged us to be vigilant! The time of Advent makes us hear your calls with more insistence. Grant us attentive hearts. Open our eyes to recognise You when You come …. when You come through the events of our days, when You come through the people we meet …. If You come, it is always to bring life, peace, love …. Too often You offer these gifts to a world of violence and death, a world beset by the storms and cares of life. That is how we are to-day! We want to be near You ….. and it is the law of the jungle! Come, Lord, to bring us peace, to restore our confidence. Stand erect and hold your heads high: for your liberation is near at hand. You repeat these words, Lord Jesus, especially through Your Eucharist. Through It, You unceasingly share Your life, Your joy with us …. You give us the Spirit of light and strength in our difficulties. May You be blessed, Jesus! Maranatha! Come, Lord...

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Anniversary of the Dedication of The Shrine

Posted by on Nov 27, 2009 in Community, Liverpool Shrine, NEWS | 0 comments

Today the S.S.S. Community at Liverpool celebrates the Solemnity of the Anniversary of the Dedication of The Shrine.  (In some modern liturgical commentaries this celebration is often referred to as the “Forgotten Solemnity”; overtones, perhaps, of when the Holy Spirit used to be referred to [in pre- Conciliar days!!] as the “Forgotten Paraclete!!” The Rite of Dedication of a Church and an Altar (Ordo dedicationis ecclesiae et altaris) was celebrated at The Shrine [canonically “oratory”] of the Blessed Sacrament, Dawson Street, Liverpool, by the Most Reverend Derek Worlock, C.H., Archbishop and Metropolitan of Liverpool, on Wednesday, 27th November, 1985.    “The rite for the dedication of a church and an altar is rightly considered to be among the most solemn of all liturgical services.  A church is the place where the Christian community is gathered to hear the Word of God, to offer intercession and praise him, and above all to celebrate the holy mysteries, and it is the place where the holy Sacrament of the Eucharist is kept.  Thus it stands as a special kind of image of the Church herself, which is God’s temple built from living stones.  And the altar of a church, around which the holy people gather to take part in the Lord’s sacrifice and to be refreshed at the heavenly meal, stands as a sign of Christ himself, who is the priest, the victim, and the altar of his own sacrifice”. “Since sacred edifices, that is, churches, are permanently set aside for the celebration of the divine mysteries, it is right for them to receive a dedication to God.  This is done according to the rite for dedicating a church, a rite impressive for its striking ceremonies and symbols.” Dedicationis ecclesiae   “There is much even in an ‘empty’ church that can help people to pray, and pray well.  In our busy world of today the mere opportunity to be in an ‘empty’ place, a place of refuge, of peace and silence, provides a chance to relax and seek to make sense of our daily lives in a building redolent of the eternity of God.” Consecrated for Worship Bishops’ Conference of England and...

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Christ the King – 22 November 2009

Posted by on Nov 22, 2009 in Sunday Reflections | 0 comments

Gospel : John 18 : 33 – 37 Year B Are You the King of the Jews? Pilate thinks he’s asking a straight-forward question. A “yes” or “no” answer will sort it out ….In reality, he’s talking at crossed purposes with You For him : the king is the head of state, endowed with supreme authority over all his subjects. For You: God is the only King. Pilate is thinking of an actual nation: Are You the King of the Jews? You on the other hand are thinking of all people that You want to lead to the only King. And You share His “Royalty”, since You are the Son of God. So You act as Master and You in Your turn ask questions: Are you saying this of your own accord, or because others have told you? You invite Your human judge to take responsibility, to act in freedom, not under the influence of others, those who wish You dead. Thus You pose the essential question : For you, Who am I? (Mark 8:29). Pilate dodges Your question … he hasn’t got time to lose discussing with You! He’ll do the same a little later: What is Truth? (Jn.18:38). A Philosophical or Religious discussion does not really interest him! He must have shrugged his shoulders in saying this and in walking away from You. But am I not also like this sometimes? Pre-occupied with my human concerns, my worries, my little tranquility, I do what does not accord with Your callings. I do not welcome You as the King of my life. I remain closed to the liberating Truth that You announce to us: I came into the world to bear witness to the truth …. the wondrous Truth that God loves us and that we are His children! Lord, be King of my heart! Keep me thirsting for this Truth, to live it always, to continue to listen to You: all who are on the side of Truth listen to M y...

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15 November 2009 – Thirty Third Sunday

Posted by on Nov 17, 2009 in Sunday Reflections | 0 comments

Gospel : Mark 13 : 24 – 32 Year B Jesus spoke about His coming: “In those days”….. It was the wording used by the Prophets to announce the coming of the Messiah. You take it up, Lord, to speak of Your return at the end of time. But why must we focus on images of catastrophe? You use them in the way of the Prophets of old to better draw our attention to what’s essential. But instead of going to the depth of Your message, we remain so impressed by the image that we do not discover the message which it conceals. And we do not hear the call to trust and to joy that You address to us: You will send Your angels to assemble the chosen ones from the four corners of the world! You announce the success of Your Mission, the realisation of the plan of the Father: all His children will be gathered in joy and eternal love. The sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its brightness, the stars will fall …. What do You want to say, Lord through these catastrophic images? The sun, the moon, the stars proclaim the beauty and grandeur of creation …. But God is greater than all … God alone is great! repeats the Bible. But this, too easily, too often, is forgotten only to attach instead to what glistens, to what can be seen and touched … When You come, Your resplendent beauty will eclipse all this. What attracts our attention now will no longer captivate us. Nothing will then be able to distance us from You, to draw us away from You. God will be all in all, concludes Paul. So it’s not to astonish us that You announce Your coming, but to fill our hearts with joy and trust. Thank You, Lord! But Your coming, is not only for the end of time …. it is now, and often, that You knock on my door, through events, through a neighbour …. Let me recognise You in faith and be open to You without delay, in joy and...

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Thirty Second Sunday – 8 November 2009

Posted by on Nov 7, 2009 in Sunday Reflections | 0 comments

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