a holy nation

Daily Meditations and Group ReflectionsFirst Sunday of Lent – Holy Saturday (Year C)

£1

2

A Holy Nation

Nihil Obstat: Right Reverend Alan Hopes V.G Auxiliary Bishop in WestminsterImprimatur: HE Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor Archbishop of WestminsterDate: Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord 07.01.2007

The Nihil obstat and Imprimatur are a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered tobe free from doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihilobstat and Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions or statements expressed.

Writing Group: Miss Michaela Mitchell, Mr Mark Nash, Fr Michael O’Boy, Dr Clare Watkins, Mrs Margaret Wickware.

With thanks to Sr Amadeus Bulger and Fr Gerard Skinner for commenting on the textas a whole and to Mgr James Overton for commenting on certain aspects of the text.

The Westminster Diocesan Agency for Evangelisation is grateful to the Archbishop’s Office forEvangelisation Melbourne for permission to reproduce material from Letters for Lent, copyright© 2006 The Archdiocese of Melbourne and to the Catholic Truth Society for permission toreproduce material from The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, copyright © 2006 The Incorporated Catholic Truth Society. We are similarly grateful to Columba Press forpermission to use or adapt prayers taken from Prayer for Parish Groups by Donal Harrington and JulieKavanagh © 1998, Columba Press, Dublin. Thanks also to Darton, Longman & Todd for permissionto use scripture texts from the Jerusalem Bible © 1966 Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd andDoubleday and Company Ltd. Excerpts from The Divine Office © 1974, hierarchies of Australia,England and Wales, Ireland. All rights reserved. Excerpts from the English Translation of the RomanMissal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.

Produced by The Agency for Evangelisation, Vaughan House, 46 Francis Street, London, SW1P 1QN. Tel: 020 7798 9152 or email: [email protected]

Published by WRCDT, copyright © 2007, Diocese of Westminster, Archbishop’s House,Ambrosden Avenue, London, SW1P 1QJ

Designed by Julian GameCover Photographs by Mark NashPrint and distribution arranged by Transform Management Ltd: [email protected]

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or byany means, electronic or mechanical, including photo-copying, recording, or by any informationstorage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publishers.

Acknowledgements

3

‘You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, apeople set apart’. It is these words from the first letter of Peter (1 Peter2:9) that I want to give you as we begin our Lenten journey. I givethem to you for two reasons. First, because they are a reminder of thegreat dignity that has been bestowed upon us in baptism andsecondly, because of the challenge they represent.

At baptism, God, through the free and gratuitous gift of the HolySpirit, drew us into the very life of Jesus Christ whose triumph overdeath opened up for us the promise of eternal life. Baptised intoChrist, his way is to be our way. The greatness of the gift demands asuitable response. Are you a consecrated or holy nation? What haveyou done with the dignity bestowed upon you in baptism?

In the following reflections for small groups and individuals you willbe invited to explore the gift and challenge that being a holy nationpresents. Having acknowledged that baptism unites every Christian,whatever their particular tradition, you will be invited to reflect onyour imitation of Christ – Christ as priest, Christ as prophet, Christas king. In this way, my sincere hope is that you will see how thetraditional observances of Lent – your prayer, your fasting and youralmsgiving - can be a sharing in the mission of Christ and a realisationof the holy nation we are.

With my blessing and prayers

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’ConnorArchbishop of Westminster

Foreword

4

The meditation and faith sharing material found here has been co-authored by a group of people. In drawing this material together thegroup has been conscious of the desire expressed by many for ‘moreteaching’. Certainly, we would welcome your feedback [email protected] or by post at the address on the insideof the front cover. A uniform structure has been observed throughoutand we think you will be stimulated by the variety of styles andapproaches to prayer.

• The group session begins with a period of prayer which focuseson the cross. Groups may then wish to have a short period ofsilence. Following the scripture reading you are invited to shareanything that has struck you. You are then offered a furtherreflection that explores the theme of baptism and discipleship.Finally, having shared any further thoughts and questions, youare asked to discern the implications which the scripture readingand reflection may have for Christian living in general and yourlife in particular. The group session then proceeds to a smallseries of petitions, affording you the opportunity to give thanks,to ask forgiveness, to say what you want. The session thenconcludes with a group prayer.

• The daily meditation begins with a short extract from theSunday Readings and is followed by a brief reflection. Thisreflection is complemented by an extract from one of a numberof Church documents or the Compendium. Having spent sometime reflecting on the scripture, you may want to spend someadditional time reflecting on this particular text. A little later youmay chose to look it up in the relevant document or theCompendium. Finally, there is a prayer to help you draw yourdaily meditation to a close. As with the group session anindividual may wish to start their meditation by focusing on across (such as the one of the back of the booklet).

About this Book

5

When making decisions Catholics are called to rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit and to be informed by Scripture, Tradition andthe Magisterium (the Church’s teaching authority).

This booklet uses both Scripture and the following Church documents:

• Apostolicam Actuositatem (AA) is the Second Vatican Council’sDecree on the Apostolate of the Laity (18 November 1965).

• Lumen Gentium (LG) is the Second Vatican Council’s DogmaticConstitution on the Church (21 November 1964).

• Christifideles Laici (CL) Pope John Paul II’s ApostolicExhortation (30 December 1988) on the vocation and themission of the lay faithful.

Along with the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church,use will also be made of:

• Unitatis Redintegratio (UR), the Second Vatican’s CouncilDecree on Ecumenism (21 November 1964) and

• Redemptoris Missio (RM), Pope John Paul II’s encyclical (7 December 1990) on the duty of the Church to undertakemissionary activity.

All of these documents can be found on the Vatican website(www.vatican.va) under the sections, ‘Papal Archive’ and ‘Resource Library’.

6

First Sunday of Lent

Scripture from the first Sunday of Lent (Year C) - Luke 4: 1 – 13

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus left the Jordan and was led by theSpirit through the wilderness, being tempted there by the devil forforty days. During that time he ate nothing and at the end he washungry. Then the devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tellthis stone to turn into a loaf.’ But Jesus replied, ‘Scripture says: Mandoes not live on bread alone.’

Then leading him to a height, the devil showed him in a moment oftime all the kingdoms of the world and said to him, ‘I will give you allthis power and the glory of these kingdoms, for it has beencommitted to me and I give it to anyone I choose. Worship me, then,and it shall all be yours.’ But Jesus answered him. Scripture says: ‘Youmust worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone.’ Then he ledhim to Jerusalem and made him stand on the parapet of the Temple.‘If you are the Son of God’, he said to him ‘throw yourself down fromhere, for scripture says: ‘He will put his angels in charge of you toguard you’, and again: ‘They will hold you up on their hands in caseyou hurt your foot against a stone.’ But Jesus answered him, ‘It hasbeen said: You must not put the Lord your God to the test.’ Havingexhausted all these ways of tempting him, the devil left him, to returnat the appointed time.

Background

This passage forms part of the prelude to Jesus’ public ministry andimmediately follows an account of Christ’s own baptism at the handsof John the Baptist in the River Jordan. John was absolutely certain ofhis unworthiness to baptise Christ, being quite aware of who Jesus wasand informing his followers that Jesus ‘will baptise with the Holy

Week One

7

Spirit and fire’ (Luke 3:16). In this passage, however, it is not Johnwho recognises Christ for who he is, but the devil. In Luke’s Gospelevil forces will continue to recognise Christ for who he is (Luke 4:41;8:29). Moreover, the temptations he experienced in the desert, will beset before him again; on the Cross where the leaders, soldiers and oneof the criminals challenge him to save himself (Luke 23:35-39).

From Lumen Gentium

9. Moving forward through trial and tribulation, the Church isstrengthened by the power of God's grace, which was promised to herby the Lord, so that in the weakness of the flesh she may not waverfrom perfect fidelity, but remain a bride worthy of her Lord, andmoved by the Holy Spirit may never cease to renew herself, untilthrough the Cross she arrives at the light which knows no setting.

God, Our Father,

In your infinite love and goodness

you have shown us that prayer,

fasting and almsgiving are remedies for sin:

Accept the humble admission of our guilt

and when our conscience weighs us down

let your unfailing mercy raise us up.

We make our prayer through Our Lord, Jesus Christ your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

One God, for ever and ever,

Amen.From the Divine Office, Morning Prayer Sunday Week 3 of Lent

Week One

8

Filled with the Holy Spirit

Jesus was sustained in the desert by the Holy Spirit. In Scripture theHoly Spirit is frequently experienced as a nudging, gentle force,guiding us to God. Thus, in 1 Kings 19:11-13, Elijah perceives theLord’s presence in the gentle breeze rather than the windstorm,earthquake or fire that preceded it. The term ‘Spirit’ translates fromthe Hebrew word ruah, which in its main sense, means breath, air,wind, something gentle. However, in the different accounts of histemptation in the desert Jesus is variously ‘led’ (Matthew 4:1) or‘driven out’ (Mark 1:12) into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit.Here, the Holy Spirit is expressed as a vigorous force. At baptismwe ask God to send down his Holy Spirit to dwell within us, and soeach one of us may ask: where and how is the power of Christ, thepower of the Holy Spirit, alive in my life?

From the Compendium

139. What symbols are used to represent the Holy Spirit? There aremany symbols of the Holy Spirit: living water which springs fromthe wounded Heart of Christ and which quenches the thirst of thebaptised; anointing with oil, which is the sacramental sign ofConfirmation; fire which transforms what it touches; the cloud,dark or luminous, in which the divine glory is revealed; theimposition of hands by which the Holy Spirit is given; the dovewhich descended on Christ at his baptism and remained with him.

Monday of Week One

9

All-powerful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

by water and the Holy Spirit

you freed your sons and daughters from sin

and gave them new life.

Send your Holy Spirit upon them

be their Helper and Guide.

Give them the spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the spirit of right judgment and courage,

the spirit of knowledge and reverence.

Fill them with the spirit of wonder and awe in your presence.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Prayer from the Rite of Confirmation

Monday of Week One

10

Tempted there by the devil for forty days

The forty days of Lent, with its emphasis on resolutions to do or notto do things, is an ideal opportunity to reflect on the role whichtemptation plays in our lives. During Lent we are faced with ourweaknesses, the very weaknesses which separate us from God. St Jameswrites, ‘Everyone who is tempted is attracted and seduced by theirown wrong desire. Then the desire conceives and gives birth to sin,and when sin is fully grown, it too has a child, and the child is death’(James 1: 13-15). Baptism frees us from this death. Therefore, we maysee temptation, not in a negative manner but, as St James wrote, as ‘ahappy privilege’ through which we can grow in patience and standfirm, ‘winning the crown that the Lord has promised to those wholove him’ (James 1: 2-4, 12).

From the Compendium

106. What do we learn from the temptations of Jesus in the desert?The temptations of Jesus in the desert recapitulate the temptation ofAdam in Paradise and the temptations of Israel in the desert. Satantempts Jesus in regard to his obedience to the mission given him bythe Father. Christ, the new Adam, resists and his victory proclaimsthat of his passion which is the supreme obedience of his filial love.The Church unites herself to this mystery in a special way in theliturgical season of Lent.

Tuesday of Week One

11

Our Father in heaven,

may your name be held holy,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.

And do not put us to the test,

but save us from the evil one. Amen.

Matthew 6:9-13

Tuesday of Week One

12

Jesus replied, ‘Scripture says…’

Responding to the temptations set before him, Christ makesconstant references to Scripture. In his letter to the Ephesians, St Paul advises us to do the same in times of trial. ‘And then’, says St Paul, having accepted salvation from God as your helmet,‘receive the word of God from the Spirit to use as a sword’(Ephesians 6:17). Of course, Christ is not the only one in thisepisode to quote from Scripture. However, the devil’s is a mockingtone, which pays mere lip service to the Word of God.

When we were baptised the celebrant invited us to an activelistening and worthy proclamation of the Word, saying ‘The LordJesus made the deaf hear and the dumb speak. May he soon touchyour ears to receive his word, and your mouth to proclaim his faith,to the praise and glory of God the Father’. When reading theScripture, do we half-heartedly roll off words in familiar patterns,with little regard to what is the Word of God? Or are we confidentin the ‘Good News, the power of God saving all who have faith’(Romans 1:16)?

From Lumen Gentium

5. The Word of the Lord is compared to a seed which is sown in afield (Mark 4:14); those who hear the Word with faith and becomepart of the little flock of Christ (Luke 12:32), have received theKingdom itself. Then, by its own power the seed sprouts and growsuntil harvest time (Mark 4:26-29).

Wednesday of Week One

13

O Lord,

you have given us your Word as a light to shine on our path;

grant that we may so meditate on that Word and follow its teaching

that we may find in it the light that shines more and more until the perfect day;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

St Jerome (c.347-420)

Wednesday of Week One

14

In a moment of time

Temptation can come upon us without warning. Understandably, ourreactions can therefore be unthinking and unwitting. However, evenwhere temptation is more subtle and insidious, less vivid perhaps thanthe whirlwind tour the devil set before Christ, our response can beequally lacking. What then of Christ’s reactions to temptation?

Christ’s instinctive reaction was to trust in God’s fidelity and toserve God alone. Such was his relationship to the Father – such wasthe trust that coursed through his bones and permeated his wholebeing - that even in times of great stress he remained steadfast.

Where, to whom and to what, do I turn in the face of temptationand at moments of stress? Is it family, friends or colleagues? Orhave we developed the instinct of habitually turning to God?

From Christifideles Laici

7. Adverse situations deeply affect the Church: they in partcondition the Church, but they do not crush her, nor even lessovercome her, because the Holy Spirit, who gives her life, sustainsher in her mission.

On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.

I thank you, Lord, with all my heart,

you have heard the words of my mouth.

Before the angels I will bless you

I will adore before your holy temple.

Psalm138 (137): 1-2 Hymn of Thanksgiving

Thursday of Week One

15

He led him to Jerusalem

Jerusalem was where Christ would ascend into heaven andcomplete his exodus, his time in the wilderness, his time on earth,away from the Father. In baptism we enter into the life of Christand we come to share in his relationship with the Father. Death, forus, prefigures the culmination of that relationship – a prelude toour sharing in Christ’s triumph and returning to the Father. And so,for us as for Christ, this world must always be a foreign place. Nota place for settlement, but a place for pilgrimage. We are called tolook to the Heavenly Jerusalem, the place where the Most Highdwells. Christ is the Way and where he has gone we will follow. Wewelcome this pilgrimage and look forward to the end of our exodusand time in the wilderness.

From Lumen Gentium

7. [Christ] is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in allthings he might have the first place… All the members ought to bemoulded in the likeness of him, until Christ be formed in them.For this reason we, who have been made to conform with him, whohave died with him and risen with him, are taken up into themysteries of his life, until we will reign together with him. Onearth, still as pilgrims in a strange land, tracing in trial and inoppression the paths he trod, we are made one with his sufferingslike the body is one with the Head, suffering with him, that withhim we may be glorified.

Friday of Week One

16

O sweet and blessed country,

the home of God’s elect!

O sweet and blessed country

that eager hearts expect!

Jesus, in mercy bring us

to that dear land of rest;

who art, with God the Father

and Spirit, ever blest.

Bernard of Cluny (12th Century)

Friday of Week One

17

Having exhausted all these attempts at tempting him, the devil left him.

At the end of his earthly life Christ prayed for an outpouring of theHoly Spirit, a gift which was received at Pentecost, which is renewed in the Sacraments, and through which we are conformed more closelyto him. Where we have failed to resist temptation Christ extends tous, in the Eucharist and in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, anopportunity to start over. In this way we can rekindle the new lifegifted to us in the healing and forgiving waters of baptism.

The giving of that second chance which is continually offered to usmay not accord with our ‘human’ way of thinking and here perhaps we may give thanks for the seeming gap between ourselves and Christ.‘For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’sweakness is stronger than human strength’ (I Corinthians 1: 25).

From Apostolicam Actuositatem

4. This life of intimate union with Christ in the Church is nourishedby spiritual aids which are common to all the faithful, especially activeparticipation in the sacred liturgy. These are to be used by the laity insuch a way that while correctly fulfilling their secular duties in theordinary conditions of life, they do not separate union with Christfrom their life but rather performing their work according to God'swill they grow in that union. In this way the laity must make progressin holiness in a happy and ready spirit, trying prudently and patientlyto overcome difficulties. Neither family concerns nor other secularaffairs should be irrelevant to their spiritual life, in keeping with thewords of the Apostle, ‘What-ever you do in word or work, do all inthe name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Fatherthrough Him’ (Colossians 3:17).

Saturday of Week One

18

I will thank you with an upright heart

as I learn your decrees.

I will obey your statutes;

do not forsake me.

Long may my soul live to praise you,

long be your rulings my help!

I am wondering like a lost sheep:

come and look for your servant.

Psalm 119(118): 7-8, 175-176

Saturday of Week One

19

Opening Prayer

A crucifix is placed in a central place among the gathered people.

Leader: With preoccupied heartsResponse: We gather in your presence O LordLeader: In need of conversionResponse: We gather in your presence O LordLeader: Leaving behind our comforts and distractionsResponse: We gather in your presence O LordLeader: We enter the desert of LentResponse: We gather in your presence O LordLeader: Let us sign ourselves with the cross

In the name of the Father…

All pray in silence for a short time. Small lights may be placed around thecross if this seems appropriate.

A member of the group may say:

How splendid the cross of Christ!It brings life not death;Light not darkness;Paradise, not its loss.It is the wood on which the Lordlike a great warrior,was wounded in hands and feet and side,to heal our wounds.A tree destroyed us, a tree now brings us life.

(St Theodore of Studios (9th Cent) Triduum Sourcebook)

Leader: We adore you Christ and we bless you.Response: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world

Week One - Group Session

20

Scripture from the first Sunday of Lent (Year C) - Luke 4: 1 – 13

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus left the Jordan and was led by theSpirit through the wilderness, being tempted there by the devil forforty days. During that time he ate nothing and at the end he washungry. Then the devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tellthis stone to turn into a loaf.’ But Jesus replied, ‘Scripture says:Man does not live on bread alone.’

Then leading him to a height, the devil showed him in a momentof time all the kingdoms of the world and said to him, ‘I will giveyou all this power and the glory of these kingdoms, for it has beencommitted to me and I give it to anyone I choose. Worship me,then, and it shall all be yours.’ But Jesus answered him. Scripturesays: ‘You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone.’Then he led him to Jerusalem and made him stand on the parapetof the Temple. ‘If you are the Son of God’, he said to him ‘throwyourself down from here, for scripture says: ‘He will put his angelsin charge of you to guard you’, and again: ‘They will hold you upon their hands in case you hurt your foot against a stone.’ But Jesusanswered him, ‘It has been said: You must not put the Lord yourGod to the test.’ Having exhausted all these ways of tempting him,the devil left him, to return at the appointed time.

Following a short period of silence you may wish to share an image, athought, a phrase, a question that has struck you.


21

For Reflection

In this week’s Gospel passage we hear how the devil tested Christ’s trustin the Father, attempting to drive a wedge between them. Division is asad reality and wherever it exists there is pain. We find it betweennations, within communities, among friends and family and within theChurch. When faced with the differing Christian traditions it is very easyto speak of the Christian Churches but when we say Sunday by Sundaythat we believe in one catholic and apostolic Church what we are trulysaying is that there can only be one Church.

What fundamentally and sacramentally connects those who professbelief in Christ as Saviour of all is baptism. The baptism which makes usa part of the Church is a common and shared one. ‘Whenever thesacrament of baptism is duly administered as Our Lord instituted it, andis received with the right dispositions, a person is truly incorporated intothe crucified and glorified Christ, and reborn to a sharing of the divinelife, as the Apostle says: "You were buried together with him in baptism,and in him also rose again-through faith in the working of God, whoraised him from the dead" (Colossians 2:12 and Romans 6:4) ’ (UR, 22).

Barriers to intercommunion remain but by virtue of our commonbaptism, which makes us members of the one Church, Christians ofwhatever tradition share the same mission. ‘The Church was foundedfor the purpose of spreading the kingdom of Christ throughout the earthfor the glory of God the Father, to enable all men to share in his savingredemption, and that through them the whole world might enter into arelationship with Christ’ (AA, 2).

As we start our Lenten journey, let us reflect on our shared baptism andour shared mission. Though our weaknesses are manifest and our time inthe wilderness is frequently painful, we have Christ and the mission hegave us. Where and how can we, despite the divisions that exist amongus, pursue our primary goal together – spreading the kingdom of Christ?


22

Share your thoughts on this reflection. How does this week’s scripturereading and reflection encourage you? Where are you affirmed? Where areyou challenged? What impact might this have on your daily living?

Leader: Aloud or in the silence of our hearts let us bring to the Father our thanks (pause)…

Leader: In sorrow let us ask the father for forgiveness (pause)…

Leader: With confidence let us entrust to the Father our cares and concerns (pause)…

Almighty and eternal God,

you keep together those you have united.

Look kindly on all who follow Jesus your Son.

We are all consecrated to you by our common baptism;

Make us one in the fullness of faith

and keep us one in the fellowship of love.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,


one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Opening prayer – Mass for the Unity of Christians (Year A)


23

Second Sunday of Lent

Scripture from the second Sunday of Lent (Year C) - Luke 9: 28 – 36

Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up to themountain to pray. As he prayed, the aspect of his face was changedand his clothing became brilliant as lightning. Suddenly there weretwo men there talking to him; they were Moses and Elijah appearingin glory, and they were speaking of his passing which he was toaccomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were heavy withsleep, but they kept awake and saw his glory and the two menstanding with him. As these were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus,‘Master, it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents,one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ – He did not knowwhat he was saying. As he spoke, a cloud came and covered themwith shadow; and when they went into the cloud the disciples wereafraid. And a voice came from the cloud saying, ‘This is my Son, theChosen One. Listen to him.’ And after the voice had spoken, Jesuswas found alone. The disciples kept silence and, at that time, toldno one what they had seen.

Background

Luke’s account of the transfiguration occurs in chapter 9 of hisgospel. The beginning of this chapter includes the sending out ofthe twelve apostles, the feeding of the five thousand, Peter’sproclamation of Jesus as ‘The Christ of God’ and the Lord’s firstprophecy of his ensuing death. It will conclude with Christ settingout ‘resolutely’ for Jerusalem. The transfiguration stands at animportant cross-roads in Christ’s ministry. Here Christ can befound in conversation with Moses and Elijah, key figures in theOld Testament, who represent the Law and the prophets. For the

Week Two

24

Church Fathers the transfiguration can be understood as thefulfilment of Christ’s assertion that some would not see deathbefore they see the Kingdom of God come with power (Luke 9:27)It has also been understood as a prophecy or foretelling of theparousia – the second coming - when Christ will return in glory.

From the Compendium

110. What is the meaning of the Transfiguration? Above all theTransfiguration shows forth the Trinity: ‘the Father in the voice, theSon in the man Jesus, the Spirit in the shining cloud’ (SaintThomas Aquinas). Speaking with Moses and Elijah about his‘departure’ (Luke 9:31), Jesus reveals that his glory comes by way of the cross and he anticipates his resurrection and his gloriouscoming ‘which will change our lowly body to be like his gloriousbody’ (Philippians 3:21).

O Christ our God,

when you were transfigured on the mountain

your disciples, as much as they were capable of it, beheld your glory.

O Christ our God, when we see you crucified

help us, as you helped your disciples, to understand that your passion was voluntary,

and grant us the confidence to proclaim to the world

that you truly are the splendour of the Father.

Amen.

Adapted from the Byzantine Liturgy

Week Two

25

As he prayed, the aspect of his face was changed

At the transfiguration the Apostles who accompanied Christ sawhim for who and what he really was. It was a moment of truth,where something was revealed about Christ, within the context ofhis praying. It was in prayer that the aspect of his face was changed,it was as he spoke with his Father that his clothing became brilliantas lightning. It is only in union with God that we will discover whoand what we are, because separated from God, we remain in a stateof want or need.

The time of Lent is a call to conversion and change, but inresponding to that call, we are not striving after something that isbeyond us. On the contrary what we are being called to discover iswhat we are already, the children of God, dignified and chosen in thewaters of baptism.

Prayer figures alongside the other Lenten works of fasting andalmsgiving. This is not incidental for in prayer we are in thepresence of God, the very source of who and what we are.


16. The laity should vivify their life with charity and express it asbest they can in their works…They should all remember that theycan reach all men and contribute to the salvation of the wholeworld by public worship and prayer as well as by penance andvoluntary acceptance of the labours and hardships of life wherebythey become like the suffering Christ (II Corinthians 4:10 andColossians 1:24).

Monday of Week Two

26

God our Father,

in the transfigured glory of Christ your Son,

you strengthen our faith

by confirming the witness of your prophets,

and show us the splendour of your beloved sons and daughters.

As we listen to the voice of your Son,

help us to become heirs to eternal life with him


one God, for ever and ever,

Amen.

Opening Prayer – The Transfiguration of the Lord

Monday of Week Two

27

His clothing become as brilliant as lightning

At the transfiguration Christ was marked out by the changing aspect of his face and the brilliance of his clothing. In baptism we weremarked with the sign of the cross, anointed, washed and clothed inwhite as we were claimed for Christ. However, the marking which takesplace at baptism, is more than an external mark or superficial changethat will fade away; for in baptism we believe that a fundamentalchange takes place – that sin is wiped away, we are turned back to Godand our souls permanently marked as we become adopted sons anddaughters of Christ.

From the Compendium

252. What names are given to the first sacrament of initiation? Thissacrament is primarily called Baptism because of the central rite withwhich it is celebrated. To baptise means to ‘immerse’ in water. The onewho is baptised is immersed into the death of Christ and rises withhim as a ‘new creature’ (II Corinthians 5:17). This sacrament is alsocalled the ‘bath of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit’ (Titus3:5); and it is called ‘enlightenment’ because the baptised becomes ‘ason of light’ (Ephesians 5:8).

Lord, through the gift of your grace, help me walk in the light of truthmy heart enlightened, my burdens washed away – that I may keep in mind the good deeds to be done.Amen.

Adapted from Thomas À Kempis (1380-1471), The Imitation of Christ, Book III, Chapter 55.

Tuesday of Week Two

28

they were speaking of his passing

Speaking of our own death, and the death of those close to us, is notespecially easy. But here in conversation with Moses and Elijah, Jesusdoes exactly this. In the realism of Christ’s sharing what was to be,there is a challenge for each of us. Death is rarely easy to contemplate.Culturally speaking, it may be easier for some rather than others. AsChristians our approach to death is informed by the hope whichChrist’s resurrection affords us. This hope can help us to speak of the‘higher’ things as well as the practicalities of our dying.

Of course, we do not know exactly what Moses, Elijah and Jesus said.But what Christ leaves to us is clear. ‘Go’, he said, ‘make disciples ofall the nations’ (Matthew 28:19).

From Lumen Gentium

48. The Church, to which we are all called in Christ Jesus, and inwhich we acquire sanctity through the grace of God, will attain its fullperfection only in the glory of heaven, when there will come the timeof the restoration of all things. At that time the human race as well asthe entire world, which is intimately related to man and attains to itsend through him, will be perfectly reestablished in Christ.

God,mankind, being part of your creation,desires to praise you.You move us to delight in praising you;for you have made us for yourself,and our hearts are restlesstill they find rest in you.Amen. St Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

Wednesday of Week Two

29

they kept awake and saw his glory

It’s all too easy to get into routines and patterns that blind us to thesurrounding people and places. We make the same journey into work,using the same route and the same trains. We do the same things atthe weekend, catching up with what needs to be done while asleep tothe ways in which God may be speaking to us. The narrowness of theways in which we can live our lives, can prevent us from seeing whatthe Apostles saw. They stayed awake, remained alert and saw Christ’sglory. In a world disfigured by violence, prejudice and inequality, itcan be difficult to see the glory of Christ at work in the events of ourlives and the people we encounter. But here, like the Apostles, weneed to stay awake, so as to see the light which his glory can throw onthe ordinariness of our living.


36. Having received the responsibility of manifesting to the worldthe mystery of God that shines forth in Jesus Christ, the Churchlikewise awakens one person to another, giving a sense of one'sexistence, opening each to the whole truth about the individual andof each person's final destiny. From this perspective the Church iscalled, in virtue of her very mission of evangelisation, to serve allhumanity. Such service is rooted primarily in the extraordinary andprofound fact that ‘through the Incarnation the Son of God hasunited himself in some fashion to every person’.

Thursday of Week Two

30

Eternal Light, shine into our hearts,

Eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil,

Eternal Power, be our support,

Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance,

Eternal Pity, have mercy on us;

that with all our heart and mind and soul and strength

we may seek your face and be brought by your infinite mercy

to your holy presence,

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

Amen.

Alcuin of York (c 735 – 804)

Thursday of Week Two

31

is wonderful for us to be here

The apostles had witnessed something glorious and acknowledgedthat they had done so. This was a precious moment, they knew itand what is more, they shared their joy with the Lord. ‘Master’,they said, ‘it is wonderful for us to be here’. The ability toacknowledge the beauty of a gift, the preciousness of somethingsaid or the joy of a moment is something to be thankful for. AsChristians we are called to a life of thanksgiving. This is the verymeaning of the word Eucharist. We can all look back and say ‘thatwas wonderful’ or ‘special’ but all too often that recognition comeslate in the day. So, let us learn to give thanks to the giver of the giftand the author of the word for the joy they have afforded us.


17. At the end of these reflections intended to define the layfaithful's position in the Church, the celebrated admonition ofSaint Leo the Great comes to mind: ‘Acknowledge, O Christian,your dignity!’ Saint Maximus, Bishop of Turin, in addressing thosewho had received the holy anointing of Baptism, repeats the samesentiments: ‘Ponder the honour that has made you sharers in thismystery!’ All the baptised are invited to hear once again the wordsof Saint Augustine: ‘Let us rejoice and give thanks: we have notonly become Christians, but Christ himself... Stand in awe andrejoice: We have become Christ’.

Friday of Week Two

32

Lord Jesus Christ,

you offered yourself to God the Father on the altar of the cross

as a sacrifice for our reconciliation.

You shed your blood for our ransom and our cleansing,

so that we might be redeemed from wretched captivity and cleansed from all sins.

How precious and wonderful the Eucharistic banquet, how full of all delight.

Enable us to share in your divinity,

by sharing in your body and blood

received under the appearance of bread and wine.

Amen.

Adapted from ‘The Eucharistic Banquet’ St Thomas Aquinas (c1225-1274)

Friday of Week Two

33

the disciples were afraid

For some the prospect of meeting somebody famous or important can be a nerve racking ordeal. For the apostles there was no dressrehearsal or time to prepare. In the shadow of the cloud, and thenin the cloud itself, they found themselves in the presence of God.The experience must have been overwhelming. How could theybegin to make real sense of what was going on? Who would not beafraid? Yet here, as always, the scripture tells us not to be, for thepresence that overwhelmed them does not leave them stranded. Onthe contrary he offers them a way through. ‘This is my Son’, Godsays, ‘the Chosen One. Listen to him.’ Thus fear gives way tosilence and to contemplation.

From the Compendium

374. How is a moral conscience formed to be upright and truthful?An upright and true moral conscience is formed by education andby assimilating the Word of God and the teaching of the Church. It is supported by the gifts of the Holy Spirit and helped by theadvice of wise people. Prayer and an examination of conscience canalso greatly assist one’s moral formation.

Saturday of Week Two

34

I will sing a new song to my God.

Lord you are great, you are glorious,

wonderfully strong, unconquerable.

May your whole creation serve you!

For you spoke and things came into being,

you sent your breath and they were put together,

and no one can resist your voice.

A little thing indeed

is a sweet smelling sacrifice,

still less the fat

burned for you in holocaust;

but whoever fears the Lord

is great forever.

Judith 16: 13-17

Saturday of Week Two

35

Opening Prayer


Leader: With hesitant heartsResponse: We gather in your presence O LordLeader: In need of transformationResponse: We gather in your presence O LordLeader: Leaving behind our comforts and distractionsResponse: We gather in your presence O LordLeader: We walk towards the mountain of the LordResponse: But always in your presence, O Lord, and under

your crossLeader: Let us sign ourselves with the Cross




Your cross we adore, O Christ,and in your resurrection we praise and glorify:You are God. We know no other besides you.It is your name that we proclaim.For through the cross joy has come into all the world.Ever blessing the Lord, let us sing his glory:for, having endured the cross for us,he has by his death trampled death.

(Adapted from Byzantine hymn)

Leader: We adore you Christ and we bless youResponse: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world

Week Two - Group Session

36

Scripture from the second Sunday of Lent (Year C) - Luke 9: 28 – 36

Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up to themountain to pray. As he prayed, the aspect of his face was changedand his clothing became brilliant as lightning. Suddenly there weretwo men there talking to him; they were Moses and Elijah appearingin glory, and they were speaking of his passing which he was toaccomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were heavy withsleep, but they kept awake and saw his glory and the two menstanding with him. As these were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus,‘Master, it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents,one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ – He did not knowwhat he was saying. As he spoke, a cloud came and covered themwith shadow; and when they went into the cloud the disciples wereafraid. And a voice came from the cloud saying, ‘This is my Son, theChosen One. Listen to him.’ And after the voice had spoken, Jesuswas found alone. The disciples kept silence and, at that time, toldno one what they had seen.

Following a short period of silence you may wish to share an image, athought, a phrase, a question that has struck you.


37

For Reflection

‘Master,’ they said, ‘it is wonderful for us to be here’. It is clear in thepassage that Peter, James and John had a real sense of their being in aprivileged position. Not only had they seen Christ transfigured andwitnessed him in conversation with Moses and Elijah, they also foundthemselves in the presence of the Father who spoke to them directly.‘This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.’ In the course of ourlives, particularly in the face of difficulties, many of us may have desiredsuch an experience: a clear cut encounter with God, an answer to prayer,where we are told quite clearly how things are and where we stand.

Baptism can be looked upon as an entrance requirement and in a realsense it is. Through it we are incorporated into the Church, becomingmembers of the body of Christ and of each other. It’s not surprisingtherefore that we should speak of baptism in terms of its being acommitment, but we must remember that baptism is not only ourhuman commitment to God but before this is God’s commitment tous. Membership of the Church cannot be seen solely in terms of therules to be adhered to and the obligations to be met.

In baptism each of us have been honoured just as Peter, James andJohn were honoured. We are claimed for God, washed clean of sinand permanently marked as his Holy Spirit makes a home in us. Weare dignified with the living and real presence of God’s Holy Spiritand through the Spirit we have become brothers and sisters of Christ,sharing in his work and in his relationship with the Father. Just as Godaddresses his Son as the Beloved, so he addresses each of us. You aremy son, you are my daughter, the Beloved.

We are reminded in the scriptures that through baptism we havebecome a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people set apart. (1 Peter2:9) What greater privilege can there be than to share in Christ’s work?


38

What greater privilege is there than to be sanctified by the indwellingof the Holy Spirit? What greater privilege is there than to be a brotheror sister of Christ? This is our dignity. This is our joy…that Godthrough his son Jesus Christ and through the working of the HolySpirit should open up for us a share in his work and divinity.

Share your thoughts on this reflection. How does this week’s scripture readingand reflection encourage you? Where are you affirmed? Where are youchallenged? What impact might this have on your daily living?

Leader: Aloud or in the silence of our hearts let us bring tothe Father our thanks (pause)…



O Lord our God, how great is your name, throughout all the earth!

When I look up to the heavens,

and see the work of your hands,

the moon and the stars which you have arranged,

what are we, men and women, that you should care for us, that you shouldkeep us in mind?

Yet you have made us a little lower than a god;

you have crowned us with glory and honour,

and have given us power over the works of your hands,

put all things under our feet.

How great is your name!

Based on Psalm 8: 1, 3-9


39

Third Sunday of Lent

Scripture from the third Sunday of Lent (Year C) - Exodus 3: 1-8, 13-15

Moses was looking after the flocks of Jethro, his father-in-law, priestof Midian. He led his flock to the far side of the wilderness and cameto Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lordappeared to him in the shape of a flame of fire, coming from themiddle of a bush. Moses looked; there was the bush blazing but itwas not being burnt up. ‘I must go and look at this strange sight,’Moses said ‘and see why the bush is not burnt.’ Now the Lord sawhim go forward to look, and God called to him from the middle ofthe bush. ‘Moses, Moses!’ he said. ‘Here I am’ he answered. ‘Comeno nearer’ he said. ‘Take off your shoes, for the place on which youstand is holy ground. I am the God of your father,’ he said, ‘the Godof Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ At this Mosescovered his face, afraid to look at God.

And the Lord said, ‘I have seen the miserable state of my people inEgypt. I have heard their appeal to be free of their slave-drivers. Yes,I am well aware of their sufferings. I mean to deliver them out of thehands of the Egyptians and bring them up out of that land to a landrich and broad, a land where milk and honey flow.

Then Moses said to God, ‘I am to go, then, to the sons of Israel andsay to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you.” But ifthey ask me what his name is, what am I to tell them?’ And Godsaid to Moses, ‘I Am who I Am. This’ he added ‘is what you mustsay to the sons of Israel: “The Lord, the God of your fathers, theGod of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sentme to you.” This is my name for all time; by this name I shall beinvoked for all generations to come.’

Week Three

40

Background

The story of Moses is well known. As a baby he was left toProvidence in a reed basket and was cared for as one of thePharaoh’s sons. Eventually he led the Hebrew people out of Egypt.Immediately prior to this passage Moses fled to Midian (located inpresent-day western Saudi Arabia, southern Jordan, southern Israeland the Sinai) after killing an Egyptian who was mistreating Hebrewslaves (Exodus 2:11-15). It was during this period of exile thatMoses received and eventually accepted his call. The description ofGod as ‘I Am’ is particularly powerful and is echoed in Revelation,‘God who is and is to come’ (Revelation 1:8). Christ himselfreferred to the Exodus passage when telling the Sadducees – whodenied that there is life after death – that ‘God is God, not of thedead, but of the living’ (Matthew 22:32).

From the Compendium

537. How did Moses pray? The prayer of Moses was typical ofcontemplative prayer. God, who called to Moses from the burningbush, lingered in conversation with him often and at length, ‘faceto face, like a man with his friend’ (Exodus 33:11). In this intimacywith God, Moses attained the strength to intercede tenaciously forhis people: his prayer thus prefigured the intercession of the onemediator, Christ Jesus.

Week Three

41

Christ, my God,

you humbled yourself in order to lift me,

a straying sheep, on to your shoulders.

You fed me in green pastures and nourished me with the waters of true doctrine

by the hands of your shepherds.

Lord, lighten the heavy burden of my sins,

like a bright lamp, guide me along the right path.

Let your good Spirit guide me in the right way

and may my works be in accordance with your will.

Let it be so, right to the end,

Amen.

St John of Damascus (c.665-c.750)

Week Three

42

God called to him from the middle of the bush

It is often said that God works in mysterious ways. Moses sees thebush burning, yet it is not consumed by fire. This is of course nogreat task for God who we believe to be all-powerful, but by contrastgetting Moses to accept his calling freely required God’s infinitepatience. Moses resists God’s call to lead the Hebrews out of Egyptuntil Aaron is given to him as a helper (Exodus 4:1-17). On a dailybasis in a variety of ways we are confronted by the challenge of God’scall and have to decide whether to walk his way in this world. Withall the distractions offered to us following God’s call can provedifficult. We can become blinkered. However, just as Moses washelped by the gift of Aaron, we through baptism are assisted by thesustaining force of grace which turns us towards God.


3. The voice of the Lord clearly resounds in the depths of each ofChrist's followers, who through faith and the sacraments ofChristian initiation is made like to Jesus Christ, is incorporated as aliving member in the Church and has an active part in her missionof salvation. The voice of the Lord also comes to be heard throughthe historic events of the Church and humanity, as the Councilreminds us: ‘The People of God believes that it is led by the Spiritof the Lord, who fills the whole world. Moved by this faith it triesto discern authentic signs of God's presence and purpose in theevents, the needs, and the longings which it shares with otherpeople of our time. For faith throws a new light on all things andmakes known the full ideal to which God has called eachindividual, and thus guides the mind towards solutions which arefully human’ (Gaudium et spes, 11).

Monday of Week Three

43

Almighty Father

you command us to awake from our slumbers,

to arise from the dead.

You made us not to be held prisoner in the underworld,

nor to be held captive in sin.

We are the work of your hands; we are fashioned in your image.

Help us to rise, and go forward;

for you in me and I in you,

together we are one undivided person.

Amen.

Adapted from a reading from an ancient homily for Holy Saturday

Monday of Week Three

44

‘Take off your shoes, for the place on which you stand is holy ground’

It can be difficult to recognise Christ in the world around us, harderstill to remember that we are all created in God’s image. Asked ‘whatis holy ground?’ we might readily speak in terms of churches andcathedrals and neglect to mention the very people before us. We areall made in the likeness of God and we all have the capacity forholiness. Moses was told to recognise that the ground on which hestood was sacred. In baptism we were made holy, becoming templesof the Spirit, and called to holy living. As we seek to recognise andhonour that which is holy in all those created in the image of God,let us remember to look also to ourselves. We are temples, holyground to be adorned for the glory of God and for no other.

From Lumen Gentium

42. All the faithful of Christ are invited to strive for the holiness andperfection of their own proper state. Indeed they have an obligationto so strive. Let all then have care that they guide aright their owndeepest sentiments of soul. Let neither the use of the things of thisworld nor attachment to riches, which is against the spirit ofevangelical poverty, hinder them in their quest for perfect love. Letthem heed the admonition of the Apostle to those who use thisworld; let them not come to terms with this world; for this world, aswe see it, is passing away (I Corinthians 7:31).

Tuesday of Week Three

45

God of eternal compassion,

each Easter you rekindle the faith of your consecrated people.

Give them still greater grace,

so that all may truly understand

the waters in which they were cleansed,

the Spirit by which they were reborn,

the blood by which they were redeemed.

Amen.

From the Divine Office, Concluding Prayer for second Sunday of Easter

Tuesday of Week Three

46

Moses covered his face, afraid to look at God

How would you react to meeting God face to face? Would you feelworthy or ashamed, conscious perhaps of all you have done orindeed failed to do? Moses felt shame. He was terrified and feltunworthy of the privilege given to him on seeing the burning bush.Like Moses, we are called by God, but when we face God we do soas baptised people. Yes, we still have the wounds of original sinabout us. We are still inclined to sin (something we callconcupiscence) but when we were baptised the shame of our sins,both personal and original, was wiped clean as we put on Christ.Baptism turns us back to God and enables us to see him afresh.

From the Compendium

263. What are the effects of Baptism? Baptism takes away originalsin, all personal sins and all punishment due to sin. It makes abaptised person a participant in the divine life of the Trinitythrough sanctifying grace, the grace of justification whichincorporates one into Christ and into his Church. It gives one ashare in the priesthood of Christ and provides the basis forcommunion with all Christians. It bestows the theological virtuesand the gifts of the Holy Spirit. A baptised person belongs foreverto Christ. He is marked with the indelible seal of Christ (character).

Wednesday of Week Three

47

Loving Father remembering all you have done,

and mindful of your kindnesses,

we worship you.

In baptism we put on your son Jesus Christ,

for this we give you thanks.

Recalling your forgiveness,

your tenderness and compassion,

we praise you and give you glory.

Amen.

Adapted from Psalm 103 (1-3, 8-10)

Wednesday of Week Three

48

‘I have seen the miserable state of my people in Egypt.’

Touched by the suffering of his people, God remembers thepromises he had made to their ancestors. We too are called to bemotivated by the sufferings of others. As baptised members of theChurch we cannot be indifferent to suffering of any sort. Humansickness is an obvious example, but suffering takes many forms.Injustice, inequality, prejudice; all these give rise to suffering. Inbaptism the promise or covenant we made was to live as disciplesof Christ and Christ did not ignore the suffering he encountered.We have put on Christ, so we must see with the eyes of Christ.


7. Led by the light of the Gospel and the mind of the Church andmotivated by Christian charity, they must act directly and in adefinite way in the temporal sphere. As citizens they mustcooperate with other citizens with their own particular skill and ontheir own responsibility. Everywhere and in all things they mustseek the justice of God's kingdom. The temporal order must berenewed in such a way that, without detriment to its own properlaws, it may be brought into conformity with the higher principlesof the Christian life and adapted to the shifting circumstances oftime, place, and peoples. Pre-eminent among the works of this typeof apostolate is that of Christian social action which the sacredsynod desires to see extended to the whole temporal sphere,including culture.

Thursday of Week Three

49

God of love, it is right and proper,

in heart and mind

and with the service of our voice,

to acclaim you the invisible almighty Father.

It is right and proper that we acclaim your only-begotten Son,

who repaid Adam’s debt and freed us from the bonds of sin.

Strengthen in us the gift of your Holy Spirit,

that we may love as you have loved.

Amen.

Adapted from the Exsultet

Thursday of Week Three

50

a land where milk and honey flow

God had made a promise, to deliver his people to the ‘promisedland’. Moses was to lead his people through the Red Sea, across thedesert and the River Jordan. Trials and tribulations met them alongthe way and these were overcome through faith in God. In Israel’sjourney to the ‘promised land’ we can find a prefiguring of ourbaptism. Through the waters of baptism we have inherited thepromise. Christ’s death and resurrection has enabled us to be called‘children of the light’. For sure, as with the children of Israel, trialsand tribulations will meet us on our way to the ‘land where milkand honey flow’, yet as Christ proclaims, ‘If anyone believes in me,even though he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes inme will never die’ (John 11: 25-26).

From Lumen Gentium

48. Joined with Christ in the Church and signed with the HolySpirit ‘who is the pledge of our inheritance’, (Ephesians 1, 14) trulywe are called and we are children of God but we have not yetappeared with Christ in glory, in which we shall be like to God,since we shall see him as he is. And therefore ‘while we are in thebody, we are exiled from the Lord and having the first-fruits of theSpirit we groan within ourselves and we desire to be with Christ’.By that same charity however, we are urged to live more for him,who died for us and rose again. We strive therefore to please Godin all things and we put on the armour of God, that we may beable to stand against the wiles of the devil and resist in the evil day.

Friday of Week Three

51

Almighty God

it is by your goodness, that we, your adopted children

can address you as our Father with confidence,

can share in the grace of Christ,

can be called children of the light,

anticipating in faith the beauty of the reward to come.

For this we thank you and we praise you,

loving and eternal God.

Amen.

Adapted from a reading from the treatise of St Basil the Great (c.330-379)

Friday of Week Three

52

‘I Am who I Am’.

The greatness of God is beyond our knowledge. His holiness, hispower and might transcends all that we can understand. Such is theinfinite mystery of God that the words and names we use todescribe him are almost meaningless. In this passage from Exodus,when Moses dares to ask for God’s name, he gets a defiantresponse, ‘I Am who I Am.’ If, there is a certain elusiveness inGod’s response, there is also a suggestion of his timelessness. ‘Thereis nothing more characteristic of God than to be, and that He willbe forever’ (St Hilary of Poitiers (315-368)). God cannot be summedup and the formulas we use to proclaim our faith or to renew ourbaptismal promises, will fall inevitably short of his majesty, hiswonder and his awe.

From the Compendium

5. How can we speak about God? By taking as our starting pointthe perfections of man and of the other creatures which are areflection, albeit a limited one, of the infinite perfection of God, weare able to speak about God with all people. We must, however,continually purify our language insofar as it is image-bound andimperfect realising that we can never fully express the infinitemystery of God.

Saturday of Week Three

53

Most high, all powerful, all good Lord!

All praise is yours, all glory, all honour, and all blessing.

To you, alone, Most High, do they belong.

No mortal lips are worthy to pronounce your name.

Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures,

be praised, my Lord, through those who forgive for love of you;

through those who endure sickness and trial.

Happy those who endure in peace, for by you, Most High, they will be crowned.

Praise and bless my Lord, and give thanks, and serve him with great humility.

St Francis of Assisi – from the Canticle of the Sun (1182-1226)

Saturday of Week Three

54

Opening Prayer


Leader: With restless heartsResponse: We gather in your presence O LordLeader: Looking for answersResponse: We gather in your presence O LordLeader: Leaving behind our comforts and distractionsResponse: We gather in your presence O LordLeader: We follow in your footsteps – one step at a timeResponse: But always in your presence, O Lord, and under





O king of the Fridaywhose limbs were stretched on the cross,O Lord who did suffer the bruises,the wounds, the losswe stretch ourselvesbeneath the shield of thy might,some fruit from the tree of thy passionfall on us this night!

(Ancient Irish Prayer)


Week Three - Group Session

55

Explore the Scripture from the third Sunday of Lent (Year C) -Exodus 3: 1-8, 13-15

Moses was looking after the flocks of Jethro, his father-in-law, priest of Midian. He led his flock to the far side of the wilderness andcame to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lordappeared to him in the shape of a flame of fire, coming from themiddle of a bush. Moses looked; there was the bush blazing but itwas not being burnt up. ‘I must go and look at this strange sight,’Moses said ‘and see why the bush is not burnt.’ Now the Lord sawhim go forward to look, and God called to him from the middle ofthe bush. ‘Moses, Moses!’ he said. ‘Here I am’ he answered. ‘Comeno nearer’ he said. ‘Take off your shoes, for the place on which youstand is holy ground. I am the God of your father,’ he said, ‘theGod of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ At thisMoses covered his face, afraid to look at God.

And the Lord said, ‘I have seen the miserable state of my people inEgypt. I have heard their appeal to be free of their slave-drivers. Yes,I am well aware of their sufferings. I mean to deliver them out ofthe hands of the Egyptians and bring them up out of that land to aland rich and broad, a land where milk and honey flow.

Then Moses said to God, ‘I am to go, then, to the sons of Israeland say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you.”But if they ask me what his name is, what am I to tell them?’ AndGod said to Moses, ‘I Am who I Am. This’ he added ‘is what youmust say to the sons of Israel: “The Lord, the God of your fathers,the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hassent me to you.” This is my name for all time; by this name I shallbe invoked for all generations to come’.


56

Following a short period of silence you may wish to share an image, a thought, a phrase, a question that has struck you.

For Reflection

In this Scripture passage from Exodus, we read how Moses wascalled by God to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt where theywere an enslaved people. In baptism we too were called out ofbondage; not bondage to a slave master, but bondage to sin. For usit is Christ, not Moses who has freed us by virtue of his total self-giving on the Cross; a loving that put an end to sin and to death.

For some freedom can be defined as the ability to do what we like,how we like, when we like. But this is not what we believe orcelebrate in baptism. For Christians the only true freedom is thatwhich comes from leaving sin behind and living as Christ wishes usto live. Sin, as we are told in Genesis, gives rise to suspicion,division and death. It divides us from God and from each other.

In baptism we believe that all our sins are washed away, forgiven.However, we also believe that a predisposition towards sin remains.This may seem a little odd. Why, if all our sins are forgiven inbaptism does the tendency towards sin, and to turning away fromGod, remain?

When Christ went to the Cross he went out of obedience to hisFather, but an obedience which was freely chosen. God leaves usfree in all things. He did not deliver the people of Israel from oneenslavement to replace it with another. Similarly with us. God,having adopted us in baptism, having called us out of our bondageto sin, does not desire to trap us. Rather, having washed us clean ofsin in baptism, God leaves us with a choice and affirms our dignity.


57





God, you made us in your image but we are imperfect.

We were slaves to this world, to our past, to our sin.

In your boundless love, you sent your son to redeem us through the Cross.

God, you freed us that we should remain free,

free to become more like Christ,

free to become more worthy of your love.

Adapted from Galatians 5:1 and a prayer by Blessed John Duns Scotus (c.1265 – 1308)


58

Fourth Sunday of Lent

Scripture from the fourth Sunday of Lent (Year C) - II Corinthians 5: 17 – 21

For anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old creationhas gone, and now the new one is here. It is all God’s work. It wasGod who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us thework of handing on his reconciliation. In other words, God in Christwas reconciling the world to himself, not holding men’s faults againstthem, and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled. So we are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were appearingthrough us, and the appeal that we make in Christ’s name is: bereconciled to God. For our sake God made the sinless one into sin, so that in him we might become the goodness of God.

Background

Commentators suggest that this letter (or collection of letters) waswritten in 55AD from Macedonia, south-eastern Europe. It was writtento the people of Corinth, Greece. From Corinthians I and II it is clearthat Corinth was a troubled community and that news of these troubleshad reached Paul’s ears and caused him to write. Not surprisinglytherefore, Paul seems somewhat frustrated and is clearly concerned thatthings be put on a more even footing sooner rather than later.

Paul’s letters tend to be a mixture of teaching and practical advice.Again and again, in drawing out the practical implications of what isbeing taught, Paul emphasises the fact that Christ’s teaching musthave an affect on our behaviour. Indeed, as Paul puts it in thisparticular passage, our task, with the help of Christ, is to become‘the goodness of God’.

Week Four

59


12. Regenerated as ‘Children in the Son’, the baptised areinseparably joined together as ‘members of Christ and members of the body of the Church’, as the Council of Florence teaches.Baptism symbolises and brings about a mystical but realincorporation into the crucified and glorious body of Christ.Through the sacrament Jesus unites the baptised to his death so asto unite the recipient to his resurrection (Romans 6:3-5). The ‘oldman’ is stripped away for a reclothing with ‘the new man’, that is,with Jesus himself: ‘For as many of you as were baptised into Christhave put on Christ’ (Galatians 3:27; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians3:9-10). The result is that ‘we, though many, are one body inChrist’ (Romans 12:5).

God of your goodness, give me yourself,

for you are sufficient for me.

If I were to ask for anything less

I should always be in want,

for in you alone do I have all.

Amen.

Julian of Norwich (1342 – 1416)

Week Four

60

For anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation

In baptism we became brothers and sisters of Christ and as such, sharersin his work. This sharing is not a partial thing. Christ does not invite usto share in some things but not others. So, just as his work was to dieand rise again, we in becoming Christ’s brothers and sisters, are invitedto share in his triumph over sin, in his death and resurrection. Hisjourney, his way, is now our way. For us therefore, baptism is a sourceof new life and hope. There is, as Paul puts it, ‘a new creation’.

One of the challenges that baptism sets before us is the task ofwitnessing to this hope and our being ‘a new creation’. It is easy to become dismayed and pessimistic. Yet, in Christ, what we have toremember is that our life on earth has been given a new perspective.Death gave way to life!


9. Incorporation into Christ through faith and Baptism is the sourceof being a Christian in the mystery of the Church. This mysteryconstitutes the Christian's most basic ‘features’ and serves as thebasis for all the vocations and dynamism of the Christian life of thelay faithful (John 3:5). In Christ who died and rose from the dead,the baptised become a ‘new creation’ (Galatians 6:15; II Corinthians5:17), washed clean from sin and brought to life through grace.

O Christ, our Morning Star,splendour of Light Eternal,shining with the glory of the rainbow,come and waken us from the greyness of our apathy,and renew in us the gift of hope.Amen. Bede the Venerable (673 – 735)

Monday of Week Four

61

It is all God’s work.

In this week’s passage Paul reminds us that our Salvation, our beingsaved, is God’s work. At the same time however Paul reminds us thatwe still have a job to do, handing on the reconciliation we havereceived from God through Christ. It is this work of reconciliation, of consecrating or uniting the world to Christ which we share inthrough baptism.

If we are to consecrate the world to Christ we cannot live our lives inboxes, being a particular kind of person in one situation and someonewholly different in another. Put simply, our relationship with God,must inform all areas of our lives: familial, social and professional.God should not be a stranger in any of these places. It is, as St Paulsays, all God’s work and it is not up to us to set boundaries.

From Lumen Gentium

13. It was for this purpose that God sent his Son, whom he appointedheir of all things, that he might be teacher, king and priest of all, thehead of the new and universal people of the sons of God. For this tooGod sent the Spirit of his Son as Lord and Life-giver. He it is whobrings together the whole Church and each and every one of those whobelieve, and who is the well-spring of their unity in the teaching of theapostles and in fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers.

O Godteach me to breathe deeplyin faith.Amen. Soren Kierkegaard (1813 – 1845)

Tuesday of Week Four

62

It was God who reconciled us to himself through Christ

Reconciliation can refer to the peace-making process betweenenemies or one time friends. It can also be a balancing act wherebythe sums are made to add up. The reconciliation that Paul speaks of in this passage is a turning back to God. This reconciliation is noordinary reconciliation. It’s not simply a matter of compromise orof juggling the books, for at the heart of this reconciliation is anunmatchable generosity; a God who reconciled us to himself bygifting to us, in the person of his Son Jesus Christ, what we need inorder to be led back to him. Put simply, it is Christ who turns usback to God. For us, this turning back to God is a daily challenge. It is not always easy to live in Christ’s way. However, if we are to beChrist for others, reconciling others to Christ as the ordained priestdoes more formally in the Sacrament, we too have to strive againand again to be reconciled to Christ. If I am not reconciled toChrist how am I to be a messenger of the reconciliation offered andto be obtained through him?

From Lumen Gentium

34. The supreme and eternal Priest, Christ Jesus, since he wills tocontinue his witness and service also through the laity, vivifies themin this Spirit and increasingly urges them on to every good andperfect work.

For besides intimately linking them to his life and his mission, healso gives them a sharing in his priestly function of offering spiritualworship for the glory of God and the salvation of men. For thisreason the laity, dedicated to Christ and anointed by the HolySpirit, are marvellously called and wonderfully prepared so that ever

Wednesday of Week Four

63

more abundant fruits of the Spirit may be produced in them. Forall their works, prayers and apostolic endeavours, their ordinarymarried and family life, their daily occupations, their physical andmental relaxation, if carried out in the Spirit, and even thehardships of life, if patiently borne-all these become ‘spiritualsacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ’ (Peter 2:5).Together with the offering of the Lord's body, they are mostfittingly offered in the celebration of the Eucharist. Thus, as thoseeverywhere who adore in holy activity, the laity consecrate theworld itself to God.

Lord, you are the life and light

of all this wonderous world we see;

its glow by day, its smile by night,

are but reflections caught from you.

Where ever we turn, your glories shine,

and all things fair and bright are yours.

Amen.

Adapted from a poem by Thomas Moore (1779 – 1852)

Wednesday of Week Four

64

He entrusted to us the news

The good news that has been entrusted to us is not a privaterevelation to be kept to ourselves. Rather, it has been given to us, sothat others may be drawn into a life giving relationship with Christ.They too have a right to the fulfillment that comes from a life inChrist. Sharing the good news entrusted to us demands somethingof us. For some people it has meant giving up family, careers andhome. It can also be the self-sacrifice involved in giving of our timeand energy, or that letting go of pride and pre-conceptions thatforgiving calls for, and the sharing with others – family, friend andstranger – involves. What sacrifices have I made in order to bringthe good news, to bring healing and wholeness, to others? Wherehave I set limits and refused to acknowledge that Christ hascommissioned us to make disciples of all nations?

From Redemptoris Missio

31. The Lord Jesus sent his apostles to every person, people andplace on earth. In the apostles, the Church received a universalmission – one which knows no boundaries – which involves thecommunication of salvation in its integrity according to thatfullness of life which Christ came to bring (John 10:10). TheChurch was ‘sent by Christ to reveal and communicate the love of God to all people and nations.’…The Church, in fact, ‘cannotwithdraw from her permanent mission of bringing the Gospel tothe multitudes the millions and millions of men and women-whoas yet do not know Christ the Redeemer of humanity. In a specificway this is the missionary work which Jesus entrusted and stillentrusts each day to his Church.’

Thursday of Week Four

65

Dear Jesus,

flood our souls with your spirit and life.

Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly

that our lives may be a radiance of yours.

Shine through us and be so in us that every soul

we come in contact with may feel your presence in our soul.

Amen.

Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801- 1890)

Thursday of Week Four

66

So we are ambassadors for Christ

Mention the word ambassador and a variety of images come tomind, many of them ceremonial. Yet, being an ambassador is not asimply ceremonial role, there is more to it than the outwardobservance of formal niceties. First and foremost an ambassador iscalled to embody and personify the culture and views of the nationthat he or she represents. In baptism, where we are clothed in whitegarments as a reminder of our Christian dignity and our putting onof Christ, we too were called to be ambassadors; not in somesuperficial sense, with outward acts for show, but truly and deeplyin all that we do. If there is no depth to our conviction, if asambassadors of Christ we are merely going through the paces, willour words and witness have any credibility in the eyes of thoseChrist sends us to?


2. [The laity] exercise the apostolate in fact by their activity directedto the evangelisation and sanctification of men and to thepenetrating and perfecting of the temporal order through the spirit ofthe Gospel. In this way, their temporal activity openly bears witnessto Christ and promotes the salvation of men. Since the laity, inaccordance with their state of life, live in the midst of the world andits concerns, they are called by God to exercise their apostolate in theworld like leaven, with the ardour of the spirit of Christ.

Friday of Week Four

67

O Christ!

You have shown us the beauty of eternal peace

and the duty of inseparable love,

grant that we may ever think humbly of ourselves,

abounding in gentleness and pity towards all,

that following the example of your humility

and imitating you in all things,

we may live in you and never depart from you.

Amen.

Mozarabic Sacramentary

Friday of Week Four

68

For our sake God made the sinless one into sin

Most of us will have or have had the experience of takingresponsibility for another’s actions; making up for theirshortcomings. It’s common place for brothers and sisters to coverup for each other or as a parent, faced with the failings of a child,the automatic reaction is to ask where did I go wrong. That said,most of us at some stage will draw the line. People go too far, theirmistake is too big and they themselves have to accept responsibility.

Now imagine the person of Christ. On the Cross Jesus did not drawa line. He did not die for the forgiveness of a particular kind of sinor a particular kind of person. Rather, he bore the responsibility forevery sin, even though he remained sinless (Hebrews 4:15).

From Lumen Gentium

5. Before all things, however, the Kingdom is clearly visible in thevery Person of Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man, whocame ‘to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many:’

When Jesus, who had suffered the death of the cross for mankind,had risen, he appeared as the one constituted as Lord, Christ andeternal Priest, and he poured out on his disciples the Spiritpromised by the Father. From this source the Church, equippedwith the gifts of its Founder and faithfully guarding his precepts ofcharity, humility and self-sacrifice, receives the mission to proclaimand to spread among all peoples the Kingdom of Christ and ofGod and to be, on earth, the initial budding forth of that kingdom.

Saturday of Week Four

69

Christ, innocent though you were,

you died once for our sins,

you died for the guilty, to lead us to God.

In the body you were put to death,

in the spirit you were raised to life.

For this I give thanks.

Adapted from the Divine Office, Responsory, Easter Octave: Friday.

Saturday of Week Four

70

Week Four - Group Session

Opening Prayer


Leader: With restless heartsResponse: We gather in your presence O Lord Leader: Looking for answersResponse: We gather in your presence O LordLeader: Leaving behind our comforts and distractionsResponse: We gather in your presence O LordLeader: We follow in your footsteps – one step at a timeResponse: We gather in your presence O LordLeader: Let us sign ourselves with the Cross



A Member of the group may say:

Most High and glorious God,

enlighten the darkness of my heart.

Give me right faith,

sure hope and perfect charity.

Fill me with understanding and knowledge

that I may fulfill your command.

(Prayer of St Francis before the Crucifix)


71


Explore the Scriptures Scripture from the fourth Sunday of Lent(Year C) - II Corinthians 5: 17 - 21

For anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old creationhas gone, and now the new one is here. It is all God’s work. It wasGod who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us thework of handing on his reconciliation. In other words, God in Christwas reconciling the world to himself, not holding men’s faults againstthem, and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled. Sowe are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were appearingthrough us, and the appeal that we make in Christ’s name is: bereconciled to God. For our sake God made the sinless one into sin, sothat in him we might become the goodness of God.

Following a short period of silence you may wish to share an image, a thought,a phrase, a question that has struck you.

For Reflection

Paul reminds us that we are reconciled to God by Christ. In baptism,when we became brothers and sisters of Christ, we became sharers inChrist’s work. Therefore, we have to ask ourselves how we are going toshare in and make real Christ’s work of reconciliation? How, in effect,are we are going to unite others to God and, just as Christ makes usbrothers and sisters, reconcile those at odds with each other?

Christ reconciled us to God on the Cross. He sacrificed himself. Inour attempts to be Christ like we are not called to die on a cross, butlike Christ we are called to make sacrifices. Our daily living presentsus with all sorts of opportunities to stand aside and put others first.

72


Traditionally priests were those who made sacrifices. When wemake sacrifices of our time and energy, going out of our way forothers, we share in Christ’s priestly work. Similarly, when we forgiveothers or bring others together we are imitating Christ’s work ofreconciliation. Although we are not acting formally in the same waythat an ordained priest does in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, weare still sharing in Christ’s priestly ministry. Again, when we carefor the sick or confirm others we make real that loving andstrengthening concern of Christ which becomes real for us in theanointing of the sick.

The point is taken up in Christifideles Laici where the late HolyFather, Pope John Paul II, says ‘because of the one dignity flowingfrom baptism, each member of the lay faithful, together withordained ministers and men and women religious, shares aresponsibility for the Church's mission’ (CL, 15). Christ’s mission isnot the preserve of a few specially called people. Rather, Christ’smission is entrusted to each of us by virtue of our baptism. Yes, weall share in this mission in a particular way – as ordained ministers,religious and lay people – but still the fundamental call to each ofus remains the same. In short, the ordained priest shares in Christ’spriestly ministry in a way appropriate to him, whilst the baptisedhave a particular responsibility for enacting Christ’s priestlyministry in the world at large.

‘Christ conferred on the Apostles and their successors the duty ofteaching, sanctifying, and ruling in His name and power. But thelaity likewise share in the priestly, prophetic, and royal office ofChrist and therefore have their own share in the mission of thewhole people of God in the Church and in the world’ (AA, 2).

73






Heavenly Father,

fill us with the Spirit of your son.

Grant us the gift of confidence,

as you call us to build up the Body of Christ.

Help us to seize the moments and opportunities

for caring, for confirming and for reconciling,

that we may be ambassadors of your Son,

Jesus Christ, who is Lord

for ever and ever.

Amen.

Adapted from Prayer for Parish Groups by Donal Harrington and Julie Kavanagh.

74

Week Five

Fifth Sunday of Lent

Scripture from the fifth Sunday of Lent (Year C) John 8:1-11

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak, he appeared in theTemple again; and as all the people came to him, he sat down andbegan to teach them.

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman along who had beencaught committing adultery; and making her stand there in full view ofeverybody, they said to Jesus, ‘Master, this woman was caught in thevery act of committing adultery, and Moses has ordered us in the Lawto condemn women like this to death by stoning. What have you tosay?’ They asked him this as a test, looking for something to useagainst him. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the groundwith his finger. As they persisted with their question, he looked up andsaid, ‘If there is one who has not sinned let him be the first to throw astone at her.’ Then he bent down and wrote on the ground again.When they heard this, they went away one by one, beginning with theeldest, until Jesus was left alone with the woman who remainedstanding there. He looked up and said, ‘Woman, where are they? Hasno one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir,’ she replied. ‘Neither do Icondemn you,’ said Jesus ‘go away and don’t sin any more.’

Background

Situated only a few hundred metres from the temple mount inJerusalem, the Mount of Olives was a flattened ridge where Jesusoften took rest and refuge. Frequently mentioned in Holy Scripture,Jesus prayed there with his disciples before his arrest and it was fromthere that he ascended into Heaven.

75

Week Five

Guided by experts in the Hebrew scriptures, known as ‘scribes’, thePharisees were a minority sect within the Jewish population living atthe time of Christ. Staunch proponents of the Mosaic Law, theystudied and strictly observed its rules and rituals as a way of life. They took notice of the growing interest in Jesus’ teaching, made ittheir mission to question Jesus when he was teaching in the Temple.Bringing before him a woman, they cited the law that demandsstoning for a married woman who commits adultery (Deuteronomy22: 23-24). Their aim was ‘to trap’ Jesus into speaking out against thelaw and to add to the body of evidence that they were amassing tovalidate his imminent arrest.

Following a moment of quiet reflection, Jesus turned the encounterinto an opportunity to continue his prophetic ministry: to convey themessage of God’s unwavering love for us and to build up thekingdom of God even when it meant opposing the status quo.Through our baptism, this task has been passed down to each of us.

From Lumen Gentium

12. The holy people of God shares also in Christ's prophetic office; itspreads abroad a living witness to him, especially by means of a life offaith and charity and by offering to God a sacrifice of praise, thetribute of lips which give praise to his name. The entire body of thefaithful, anointed as they are by the Holy One cannot err in mattersof belief. They manifest this special property by means of the wholepeoples' supernatural discernment in matters of faith when from theBishops down to the last of the lay faithful they show universalagreement in matters of faith and morals. That discernment in mattersof faith is aroused and sustained by the Spirit of truth.

76

It is exercised under the guidance of the sacred teaching authority, infaithful and respectful obedience to which the people of God acceptsthat which is not just the word of men but truly the word of God.Through it, the people of God adheres unwaveringly to the faith givenonce and for all to the saints, penetrates it more deeply with rightthinking, and applies it more fully in its life.

Almighty, ever-living God,

only hope of the world,

by the preaching of the prophets

you proclaimed the mysteries we will celebrate at the Easter.

Help us to be your faithful people,

for it is by your inspiration alone

that we can grow in goodness.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

From the prayers after the readings at the Easter Vigil

Week Five

77

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

Christ retired to a quiet place in the wilderness to prepare for hisday’s work. There, in prayer, he sought the wisdom and courage ofGod our Father. We too can place our day in his hands; offeringour challenges and seeking his protection in the words his Son gaveus ‘that his will be done on earth as it is in heaven’. Knowing thatour words and deeds serve as an example to those around us, let usstrive to put each day into God’s hands; to spend some time withthe Lord, so that our actions may imitate Christ’s life and ourwords proclaim his Gospel.


61. Christian formation finds its origin and its strength in God theFather who loves and educates his children. Yes, God is the first andgreat teacher of his People, as it states in the striking passage of theSong of Moses:

he found him in a desert land

in the howling waste of the wilderness;

he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.

Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,

that flutters over its young,

spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions,

the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no foreign God with him.

(Deuteronomy 32:10-12; cf. 8:5).

Monday of Week Five

78

Oh my God, I offer you all my thoughts, words, actions, and sufferings; and I beseech you to give me your grace that I may not offend you today, butmay faithfully serve you and do your holy will in all things. I entrust myselfcompletely to your boundless mercy today and always.

O Lord you have brought me to the beginning of a new day. Save me byyour power so that I may not fall into any sin. May everything I say, andall that I do, be directed to the performance of your justice, through Christour Lord.

Lord may everything I do begin with your inspiration, continue with yourhelp and reach conclusion under your guidance.

Morning Offering, A Simple Prayer Book, published by the Catholic Truth Society.

Monday of Week Five

79

He sat down and began to teach them.

Having prayed beforehand, Jesus sat down and began to teach thosein the Temple. The hectic nature of our everyday lives can make itdifficult to sit down and share with family and friends. Indeed inmany homes, the ‘evening meal’ is no longer the norm. Instead it’sa solitary ‘quick bite’ in between other activities. Jesus often usedmeals to set out his message to those around him. It might well bethat we too could use meals to live out our baptismal calling toshare in Christ’s prophetic work. Among family and friends here isan opportunity to reflect on the events of the day and, in the lightof Christ’s teaching, to consider our reactions.


14. Through their participation in the prophetic mission of Christ,who proclaimed the kingdom of his Father by the testimony of hislife and by the power of his world, the lay faithful are given theability and responsibility to accept the gospel in faith and toproclaim it in word and deed, without hesitating to courageouslyidentify and denounce evil…They are also called to allow thenewness and the power of the gospel to shine out everyday in theirfamily and social life, as well as to express patiently andcourageously in the contradictions of the present age their hope offuture glory even ‘through the framework of their secular life’.

Tuesday of Week Five

80

Jesus Master, sanctify my mind and increase my faith.

Jesus, teaching in the Church, draw everyone to your school.

Jesus Master, deliver me from error, from vain thoughts, and from eternaldarkness.

Jesus, Way between the Father and us, I offer you all and await all from you.

Jesus, Way of sanctity, make me your faithful imitator.

Jesus Way, render me perfect as the Father who is in heaven.

Jesus Life, live in me, so that I may live in you.

Jesus Life, do not permit me to separate myself from you.

Jesus Life, grant that I may live eternally in the joy of your love.

Jesus Truth, may I be light for the world.

Jesus Way, may I be example and model for souls.

Jesus Life, may my presence bring grace and consolation everywhere.

‘Invocations to the Divine Master’ by Blessed James Alberione, Practices of Piety and the Interior Life

Tuesday of Week Five

81

the very act of committing adultery

For some the sacrament of marriage is an outdated concept. Forothers it can seem an unnecessary expense. Yet, the very act ofexchanging wedding vows and committing oneself to another beforeGod strengthens the bond and commitment that lies at the heart ofmarriage. Moreover, it calls the married person to explore even furtherthe baptismal calling of mirroring and growing in Christ. Marriage is acall to love one particular imperfect human being as Christ loves himor her. Husband and wife are to love one another as Christ loves eachone of us. It requires several Christian virtues namely faithfulness,forgiveness and a commitment to growth. In their total self-gift to each other, husband and wife fulfil the prophetic of witnessing toChrist. Where they are blessed with the gift of children parentssimilarly do so by undertaking that most important task: to pass onthe Faith to their children and to educate them in it.


52. The Christian family also builds up the Kingdom of God inhistory through the everyday realities that concern and distinguishits state of life: it is thus in the love between husband and wife andbetween members of the family- a love lived out in all itsextraordinary richness of values and demands; totality, oneness,fidelity and fruitfulness-that the Christian family’s participation inthe prophetic, priestly and kingly mission of Jesus Christ and of hisChurch finds expression and realisation.

Wednesday of Week Five

82

Grant me, Good Lord, the grace

whatever my vocation

to witness to Christ,

and in my failings and in the failings of others

give me the grace to love as you have loved,

to forgive and to accept forgiveness.

Amen.

Wednesday of Week Five

83

this as a test

Just as Jesus was ‘tested’ by the Pharisees who wanted to hear himdenounce the Law of Moses, we are tested in homes, workplacesand relationships. At times this testing can be quite overt. Witness,for example, the media’s endeavours to trap us into wanting aparticular car or latest fashion accessory. But it can also be thepressure to deem things acceptable simply because of theirwidespread practice. If we are to mould our lives according toChrist, to teach in word and action, and share in Christ’s propheticministry, we have to face these challenges head on. How then do Irespond to the ‘traps’ of an advertising, consumer culture? Whereshould I resist the direction in which society wants to go?


17. The eyes of faith behold a wonderful scene: that of a countlessnumber of lay people, both women and men, busy at work in theirdaily life and activity, oftentimes far from view and quiteunacclaimed by the world, unknown to the world’s great personagesbut nonetheless looked upon in love by the Father, untiringlabourers who work in the Lord's vineyard. Confident and steadfastthrough the power of God’s grace, these are the humble yet greatbuilders of the Kingdom of God in history.

Thursday of Week Five

84

Holy Father,

look upon this humanity of ours,

marked by hatred, violence and oppression,

but still thirsting for justice, truth and grace.

Help us to be courageous heralds of the Gospel

giving witness to your holiness in the midst of the world.

Send holy labourers into your vineyard,

that they may labour with the fervour of charity

and, moved by your Holy Spirit,

may bring the salvation of Christ

to the farthest ends of the Earth.

Amen.

Adapted from Pope John Paul II’s message on the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, (2002)

Thursday of Week Five

85

What have you to say?

We can only speculate as to what Jesus wrote on the ground, yet hissilence was telling. He did not immediately display any annoyance atanother one of their traps. He wisely reflected on the situation. When weare asked what we think about this or that, Christ’s is a good example tofollow. Indeed, it can be difficult to articulate the message of Christ sothat others will be able to understand and relate to it, particularly if thequestion relates to a controversial Church teaching. Are we sometimestoo hasty in giving a flippant answer? Or, where we are silent, is oursilence a striving after wisdom or the result of a lack of confidence andunderstanding? How seriously do I take my responsibility to carry onlearning and growing in my faith?


58. The fundamental objective of the formation of the lay faithful isan ever-clearer discovery of one's vocation and the ever-greaterwillingness to live it so as to fulfil one's mission. God calls me andsends me forth as a labourer in his vineyard…

To be able to discover the actual will of the Lord in our lives alwaysinvolves the following: a receptive listening to the Word of God andthe Church, fervent and constant prayer, recourse to a wise and lovingspiritual guide, and a faithful discernment of the gifts and talentsgiven by God, as well as the diverse social and historic situations inwhich one lives.

Jesus, confirm my heart’s desireto work and speak and think for thee;still let me guard the holy fire,and still stir up thy gift in me.Amen. Charles Wesley, 1707 - 1788

Friday of Week Five

86

‘If there is one who has not sinned let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’

In a world all too ready to apportion blame and make judgements,perhaps the most transforming part of the Christian message isforgiveness. In this well-known scripture passage, we see that Jesusdid not condemn the woman, but gave her a new start in life. Thus,we learn that it is not our role to sit in judgment of others -particularly those who may be asleep in their faith or have not yetheard his message. On the contrary, our prophetic mission, is towelcome these people into our midst, share Christ’s message andprovide an opportunity for them to choose Christ – to experiencehis love. This is evangelisation.


34. At this moment the lay faithful, in virtue of their participation in the prophetic mission of Christ, are fully part of this work of theChurch. Their responsibility, in particular, is to testify how theChristian faith constitutes the only fully valid response –consciously perceived and stated by all in varying degrees – to theproblems and hopes that life poses to every person and society.This will be possible if the lay faithful will know how to overcomein themselves the separation of the Gospel from life, to again takeup in their daily activities in family, work and society, an integratedapproach to life that is fully brought about by the inspiration andstrength of the Gospel.

Saturday of Week Five

87

Let me love you,

my Lord and my God,

and see myself as I really am:

a pilgrim in this world,

a Christian called to respect and love

all whose lives I touch,

those in authority over me,

or those under my authority,

my friends and my enemies.

Help me to conquer anger with gentleness,

greed with generosity,

apathy with fervour.

Help me to forget myself

and reach out toward others.

Amen.

Taken from ‘The Universal Prayer’, attrib. to Pope Clement XI (1649-1721)

Saturday of Week Five

88

Opening Prayer


Leader: With restless heartsResponse: We gather in your presence O LordLeader: Looking for answersResponse: We gather in your presence O LordLeader: Leaving behind our comforts and distractionsResponse: We gather in your presence O LordLeader: We follow in your footsteps – one step at a timeResponse: But always in your presence, O Lord, and under





Faithful Cross above all others,

one and only noble Tree,

none in foliage, none in blossom,

none in fruit thy peer may be;

sweetest wood and sweetest iron,

sweetest weight is hung on thee.

(Antiphon for Good Friday)


Week Five - Group Session

89

Explore the Scripture from the fifth Sunday of Lent (Year C)- John 8: 1 -11

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak he appeared in theTemple again; and as all the people came to him, he sat down andbegan to teach them.

The scribes and the Pharisees brought in a woman along who had beencaught committing adultery; and making her stand there in full view ofeverybody, they said to Jesus, ‘Master, this woman was caught in thevery act of committing adultery, and Moses has ordered us in the Lawto condemn women like this to death by stoning. What have you tosay?’ They asked him this as a test, looking for something to useagainst him. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the groundwith his finger. As they persisted with their question, he looked up andsaid, ‘If there is one of you who has not sinned let him be the first tothrow a stone at her.’ Then he bent down and wrote on the groundagain. When they heard this they went away one by one, beginningwith the eldest, until Jesus was left alone with the woman, whoremained standing there. He looked up and said, ‘Woman, where arethey? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir,’ she replied. ‘Neitherdo I condemn you,’ said Jesus ‘go away, and don’t sin any more.’


For Reflection

Christ was the Greatest Prophet, a messenger of God’s love to eachone of us and God’s plan for our salvation. At the Last Supper hecommissioned his disciples: ‘As the Father has sent me, so I send you’(John 20:21). This work of announcing Christ by the spoken wordand the way we live (‘our testimony’) is an integral part of ourbaptismal calling. At the heart of this calling is the call to conversion.


90

Conversion is not a one-off event. It is an on-going process. Whileconversion may rekindle the faith of a baptised person who has notbeen practicing their faith, there are also continuous conversions in thehearts of all the baptised who choose again and again to turn theirhearts and minds to Christ while living in the world. Clearly, Jesus wasat work evangelising the Pharisees and the adulterous woman in theTemple that day, calling them to a conversion of heart. Today, theTemple has gone but the mission of evangelisation remains.

Quite often people see this work as the responsibility of priests andreligious but again and again, the church makes it clear that this workof evangelisation is the responsibility of all by virtue of their commonbaptism. As Pope John Paul II reminds us, the lay faithful are called to action in the vast and complicated world of politics, society andeconomics, as well as the world of culture, of the sciences and the arts, of international life, of the mass media. They are to be leaven inthe world.

Where and how can I be a prophet, a teacher and proclaimer of God’sWord? For parents the most obvious starting point is the home. Theyare, after all, called to be the first teachers of their children in the waysof faith. However, we are not just called to share our faith with thosedear to us or those with whom we are comfortable. Christ’s savingmessage is for all people, for all times, in all places. The challenge ofsharing the Gospel message, of being prophets is something we mustlive afresh in all the situations of our lives.

As we enter into Holy Week and take a break from our regularroutines, it may be worth asking ourselves how we will explain ourEaster break to friends and colleagues. Will we, for example, include anaccount of our Easter observances or speak of the Christ whose living,dying and rising has been recalled?


91





Lord Jesus Christ,

no one is freed from sin by themselves nor by their own power,

no one is raised above themselves,

no one is completely rid of their sickness or solitude.

On the contrary, all stand in need of you,

our Christ, our model, our mentor, our liberator,

our Savior, the source of life.

Amen.

Adapted from Second Vatican Council Decree Ad Gentes, 8


92

Passion Sunday

Scripture from Passion Sunday (Year C) – Philippians 2: 6 – 11

His state was divine, yet Christ Jesus did not cling to his equality withGod but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave, andbecame as men are, and being as all men are, he was humbler yet, evento accepting death, death on the cross. But God raised him high andgave him the name which is above all other names so that all beings inthe heavens, and on earth and in the underworld, should bend theknee at the name of Jesus and that every tongue should acclaim JesusChrist as Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Background

Paul writes his letter to the Philippians from prison, where he seems tobe facing the possibility of execution (Philippians 1:18). Yet, for all this,this letter is one of warm friendship, and real joy – ‘Rejoice in the Lordalways! And again I say, Rejoice! (Philippians 4:4). Paul, the greatevangelist, rejoices even in his chains, because through thisimprisonment the Gospel is being spread (Philippians 1:12-14). In hissufferings Paul finds reason to exult in the Lord Jesus.

In this passage Paul may well be quoting an early hymn, celebratingthe faith of the first Christians in Jesus. The hymn gives a beautifulaccount of Christ’s kingship and royal priesthood, and roots his gloryand power in suffering and self-emptying.

The verse before this reading has Paul say: ‘In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus’. This ancient reflection on Christ’s savingPassion, stands as a call to each of us who are baptised into his deathand resurrection: a call to become emptied, obedient, and gloriouslysovereign as members of Christ. This is truly a reading to shed warmand personal light on the Passion of Christ, and on our own call tohave some share in it.

Week Six

93


17. All the baptised are invited to hear once again the words of St Augustine: ‘Let us rejoice and give thanks: we have not onlybecome Christians, but Christ himself…Stand in awe and rejoice:We have become Christ.’ The dignity as a Christian, the source ofequality for all members of the Church, guarantees and fosters thespirit of communion and fellowship, and, at the same time,becomes the hidden dynamic force in the lay faithful’s apostolateand mission. It is a dignity, however, which brings demands, thedignity of labourers called by the Lord to work in his vineyard:‘Upon all the lay faithful, then, rests the exalted duty of working toassure that each day the divine plan of salvation is further extendedto every person, of every era, in every part of the earth.’ (LG, 33)

Lord Jesus Christ,

take all my freedom,

my memory, my understanding, and my will.

All that I have and cherish

you have given me.

I surrender it all to be guided by your will.

Your grace and your love

are wealth enough for me.

Give me these, Lord Jesus,

and I ask for nothing more.

Amen.

Prayer of St. Ignatius Loyola (c. 1491-1556)

94

His state was divine… and he became as men are

At the heart of the Mass the priest says these words, quietly, overthe bread and wine: ‘By the mystery of this water and wine, may wecome to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself toshare in our humanity.’ This refers us to the mystery of our faith inthe Incarnation – God’s becoming man in Jesus. Here is God’stotal self-giving in love, to share our lot; and he does this so thatwe can come close to him and share his divine and eternal life, thelife of salvation. In baptism our ordinary lives are opened up to thisextra-ordinary mystery, as we become sharers in Christ’s divine-and-human life. All our living depends on our being in Christ.


3. From the fact of their union with Christ the head flows laypeople’s right and duty to be apostles. Inserted as they are in theMystical Body of Christ by baptism and strengthened by the powerof the Holy Spirit in Confirmation, it is by the Lord himself thatthey are assigned to the apostolate. If they are consecrated a kinglypriesthood and holy nation (cf. I Pet. 2: 4-10), it is in order thatthey may in all their actions offer spiritual sacrifices and bearwitness to Christ all the world over.

Monday of Week Six

95

Lord, I believe in you: increase my faith.

I trust in you: strengthen my trust.

I love you: let me love you more and more.

I am sorry for my sins: deepen my sorrow.

I adore you as my first beginning,

I long for you as my last end,

I praise you as my constant helper

and I call on you as my loving protector.

Amen.

The beginning of ‘The Universal Prayer’, attributed to Pope Clement XI (1649-1721)

Monday of Week Six

96

The name which is above all other names

For many of us life is busy and demanding. We learn to prioritise,and make choices about who or what we will give energy to. As baptised people, it is good to ask ourselves, each day, whereJesus, and the life we share in Him, comes in these decisions. As members of God’s royal and holy people, how do we honourChrist’s Kingship in and over our lives? Is his name truly above allothers? Christ’s Kingship is, this reading tells us, one of service. It is by living more and more with Christ as ‘first in our hearts’ thatwe will begin to build more fully God’s Kingdom on earth.

From Lumen Gentium

36. Christ, made obedient unto death, and because of this exaltedby the Father (Philippians 2:8-9), has entered into the glory of hiskingdom. All things are subjected to him until he subjects himselfand all created things to the Father, so that God may be all in all (I Corinthians 15:27-28). He communicated this power to thedisciples that they may be constituted in royal liberty and, by self-abnegation of a holy life, overcome the reign of sin in themselves(Romans 6:12) – that indeed by serving Christ in others they may,in humility and patience, bring their brethren to that King to servewhom is to reign. The Lord also desires that his kingdom be spreadby the lay faithful: the kingdom of truth and life, the kingdom of holiness and grace, the kingdom of justice, love, and peace. (cf. Preface of the Feast of Christ the King.)

Tuesday of Week Six

97

My Jesus, from all eternity you were pleased to give yourself to us in love,

and you planted within us a deep spiritual desire that can only be satisfied by yourself.

We can only be satisfied by setting our hearts, imperfect as they are, on you.

We are made to love you; you created us as your lovers.

My Jesus, how good it is to love you.

Let me be like your disciples on Mount Tabor, seeing nothing else but you.

Let us be like two bosom friends, neither of whom can ever bear to offend the other.

Amen.

St Jean Vianney (1786-1859)

Tuesday of Week Six

98

That every tongue should acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, to theglory of God the Father

What is the Church for? What are we for, exactly? The answer, inthe Gospel, and in the consistent teaching of the Church is clear,though we often lose sight of it. Being Christian is for ‘the world’.The whole point of the Church is to be ‘the sacrament of salvationfor the world’ (LG, 1), to be the place in human history where menand women can meet Jesus Christ, and find God’s love andsalvation. As baptised people we are anointed and called to workfor this Kingdom.


15. Baptism does not take [the faithful] from the world at all, as theapostle Paul points out: ‘So, brethren, in whatever state each wascalled, there let him remain with God’ (I Corinthians 7: 24). Onthe contrary, he entrusts a vocation to them that properly concernstheir situation in the world. The lay faithful, in fact, ‘are called byGod so that they, led by the spirit of the Gospel, might contributeto the sanctification of the world, as from within like leaven, byfulfilling their own particular duties. Thus, especially in this way oflife, resplendent in faith, hope and charity, they manifest Christ toothers.’…In fact, in their situation in the world, God manifests hisplan and communicates to them their particular vocation of‘seeking the Kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs andby ordering them according to the plan of God’ (LG, 31).

Wednesday of Week Six

99

Lord Jesus Christ –

hope of my heart, strength of my soul, help of my weakness,

by your powerful kindness complete

what in my powerless weakness I attempt.

My life, the end to which I strive,

although I have not yet attained to love you as I ought,

still let my desire for you

be as great as my love ought to be.

Amen.

From ‘Prayer to Christ’, St. Anslem (1033-1109)

Wednesday of Week Six

100

He emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave

Today we celebrate Christ’s royal priesthood, in which we sharethrough baptism. There can be few more striking and truthfulembodiments of what that means than in the actions we see in thecelebration of Mass on Maundy Thursday. As a royal priesthood weare all called – in our different ways – to kneel at the feet of others, tobathe their dirt, and weariness, and soreness with simple, practical actsof love. We can celebrate this not only in church, but in thesanctuaries of our households and workplaces and neighbourhoods.In this washing, and in this Eucharist, we become ever more deeplypart of Christ’s life and work. It is in this that we show ourselves truesubjects of Christ the King. It is in this emptying of ourselves beforethe needs of others that we live the royal vocation of our baptism.

If we compare the Last Supper in John’s Gospel to Matthew, Markand Luke we will see a big difference. For John, it is the washing of feet that is Jesus’ central act for his friends at the Last Supper –not the institution of the Eucharist. There is, all the same,something profoundly ‘eucharistic’ about Jesus’ foot washing here.Particularly as baptised people ‘in the world’, we are called toreflect, today, on how, by simple acts of charity, and of self-sacrifice, we can live ‘eucharistically’, in a world crying out for thelove and nourishment of Christ.

Today, let’s also try to find time for quiet and solitary prayer, when wecan us allow Jesus to ‘wash our feet’ – because this is surely what hewants to do for each one of his people.

Maunday Thursday

101


16. The call to holiness is rooted in Baptism and proposed anew inthe other Sacraments, principally in the Eucharist. Since Christians arereclothed in Christ Jesus and refreshed by his Spirit, they are ‘holy’.They therefore have the ability to manifest this holiness and theresponsibility to bear witness to it in all they do. The apostle Paulnever tires of admonishing all Christians to live ‘as is fitting amongthe saints.’ (Ephesians 5:3). Life according to the Spirit, whose fruit isholiness (cf. Romans 6:22; Galatians 5:22), stirs up every baptisedperson, and requires each to follow and imitate Jesus Christ, inembracing the Beatitudes, in listening to and meditating on the Wordof God, in conscious and active participation in the liturgical andsacramental life of the Church, in personal prayer, in family or incommunity, in the hunger and thirst for justice, in the practice of thecommandments of love in all circumstances of life, and service to thebrethren, especially the least, the poor and the suffering.

Maunday Thursday

102

Almighty and ever-living God,

I approach the sacrament of your only-begotten Son,

our Lord Jesus Christ.

I come sick to the doctor of life,

unclean to the fountain of mercy,

blind to the radiance of eternal light,

poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth.

Lord, in your great generosity,

heal my sickness, wash away my defilement,

enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty,

and clothe my nakedness.

May I receive the bread of angels,

the King of Kings, and Lord of lords,

…May I receive the sacrament of the Lord’s body and blood,

and its reality and power.

Amen.

From a Prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

Maunday Thursday

103

He was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross

For most people, most of the time, death is too frightening tocontemplate. Moments of fear about this inevitable end to our plansand hopes for our life are not surprising, nothing to be ashamed of –even given our faith. Jesus himself, in Gethsamene, dreads the sufferingand death he knows he will undergo. Physical pain, emotional anguish,despair and death are the common and inevitable horrors of all humanbeings. Our baptismal faith does not make that go away. But what wedo know as Christians is that, in his Passion, Jesus finds a place for allthis fear in the heart of the love of God. When we meditate on theterrible story of the Passion, we know that ‘God so loved the world.’(John 3:16) The Cross is the throne of the King of Love, as well as hisplace of suffering.

In this mystery we contemplate our salvation, and the salvation of thewhole world. We share in this saving Passion in our baptism. Each daywe are called to ‘die to self ’, to take up our cross and follow Christ on his way to Calvary. In this way we witness to God’s love for thewhole world.


34. To all people of today I once again repeat the impassioned crywith which I began my pastoral ministry: ‘Do not be afraid! Open,in deed, open wide the doors to Christ! Open to his saving powerthe confines of states, and systems political and economic, as well asthe vast fields of culture, civilisation, and development. Do not beafraid! Christ knows “what is inside a person.” Only he knows!Today too often people do not know what they carry inside, in thedeepest recesses of their soul, in their heart. Too often people areuncertain about a sense of life on earth. Invaded by doubts they areled to despair’…

Good Friday

104

Humanity is loved by God! This very simple yet profoundproclamation is owed to humanity by the Church. Each Christian’swords and life must make this proclamation resound: God lovesyou, Christ came for you, Christ is for you ‘the Way, the Truth, andthe Life.’ (John 14:6).

O Jesus, who is loving kindness itself,

from this throne of grace and pardon, the Cross,

to which I behold you fastened,

send me your Spirit.

He will teach me to give proof of my gratitude,

to make my life more like yours,

to take part in your sufferings and death.

He will show me how to return to you love for love,

and how to remain ever faithful to you,

who has redeemed me at such great cost.

Amen.

John of Torralba, Carthusian (d. 1578)

Good Friday

105

So that all beings, in the heavens, and on earth, and in theunderworld should bend the knee at the name of Jesus

Holy Saturday can easily be a forgotten sort of day. For many of usthe culmination of the day will come in the great celebration of theEaster Vigil, in the night of Saturday. Above all this is a liturgy ofBaptism-and-Eucharist, the celebration and renewal of what we arein Christ: priests, prophets and sovereigns. But we can also let HolySaturday have its own time: a time of proper emptiness, of waitingand quiet. This is a day of the died-and-living Christ working evenin death and among the dead. Perhaps we can simply be still and letGod do his work in the places of darkness and loss in our lives,reconciling sinners to himself. This is a day when all things – ‘in theheavens, and on earth, and in the underworld’ - are handed into theloving power of God’s sovereignty.

Our stillness at the centre of these mysteries, our emptiness beforeGod, might be the best preparation we can make for that full renewalof baptism and discipleship that we are called to in our celebration of Easter.

From Lumen Gentium

9. That messianic people [of the Baptised] has as its head Christ, ‘whowas delivered up for our sins and rose again for our justification’(Romans 4:25), and now, having acquired the name which is above allnames, reigns gloriously in heaven. The state of this people is that ofthe dignity and freedom of children of God, in whose hearts the HolySpirit dwells as in a temple. Its law is the new commandment to loveas Christ loved us (John 13: 34). Its destiny is the kingdom of God,which has been begun by God himself on earth…

Holy Saturday

106

I shall follow you, Lord Jesus.

I shall follow you, Lord,

to the garden where your flesh was sown.

Here, yes, here, you sleep, Lord;

here you keep a gentle Sabbath in Sabbath rest.

May my flesh be buried with you Lord,

that what I live in the world I may live not in myself,

but in you who gave yourself up for me.

Let my flesh be anointed with you, O Lord.

Adapted from ‘The Mirror of Charity’ by Aelred of Rievaulx (1110-1167)

Holy Saturday

107

Opening Prayer


Leader: With attentive hearts Response: We gather in your presence O LordLeader: On the threshold of Holy WeekResponse: We gather in your presence O LordLeader: leaving behind our comforts and distractionsResponse: We gather in your presence O LordLeader: Committing everything to you at lastResponse: And always in your presence, O Lord, and underyour crossLeader: Let us sign ourselves with the cross



A Member of the group may say:

It was after this that Christ showed me something of his passion near the time of his dying. I saw his dear face, dry, bloodless and pallid with death. It became more pale, deathly and lifeless…And it seemed to me, that with all this drawn out pain, he had been a week in dying…There were times when I wanted to look away from the cross but I dared not. For I knew that while I gaxed on the cross I was safe and sound.

(Julian of Norwich – The Revelations of Divine Love 14th Century)


Week Six - Group Session

108

Explore the Scripture from Passion Sunday (Year C) – Philippians 2: 6 – 11

His state was divine, yet Christ Jesus did not cling to his equalitywith God but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave,and became as men are, and being as all men are, he was humbleryet, even to accepting death, death on the cross. But God raised himhigh and gave him the name which is above all other names so thatall beings in the heavens, and on earth and in the underworld,should bend the knee at the name of Jesus and that every tongueshould acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father.


For Reflection

In this Holy Week, as we prepare to renew our baptismal promises atthe Easter Vigil, we enter deeply into the story of Christ’s Passionand Resurrection. It is here that we can see, most clearly, what sortof Kingship, what sort of power is his; and from this we can learnmore about what it means for us to share in this royal office (LG,36). In the Passion we see that Christ’s Kingship is one of self-sacrifice and love; his power is rooted in his total trust in andabandonment to the Father. This is the sovereign way of life towhich all baptised people are called.

Being baptised into Christ’s Kingship, means, first of all, toacknowledge him as sovereign over all things. (LG, 13; AA, 3) In ourown lives, in our households, in our parish communities, and in ourwider political and economic society – it is Jesus Christ who is Lord,and who is to bear the ‘name above all other names.’ But is this


109

really how we see and understand the world? When we think of howour money and time and energy is spent, are we honouring Jesus asLord of all? (Prayerfully reflecting on our diaries, or bank and creditcard statements might help us be honest and practical about thesequestions!) Or do we have other priorities? Are there things wemight begin to do that might make the Lord of Love the ruler ofour lives in all things?

As our sense of Christ’s Kingship grows, we can be drawn more andmore deeply into his mission of proclaiming the Kingdom. Here,the Church teaches, there is a particular work – an apostolate (fromthe Greek word for ‘sent’, like ‘apostle’) – for the baptised layperson. As faithful and anointed Christians ‘in the world’, we aresent out to sanctify (that is, ‘make holy’) and evangelise all areas ofhuman life and work (AA, 5-6). In the ordering of our lives toChrist’s sovereignty, we are to work for the Kingdom of love inevery circumstance, and to announce with confident and courageouswords the truth of God’s saving love (AA, 6). We do this with thesame trust in the Father that Jesus shows us in his self-giving.

‘The Church is called, in virtue of her very mission of evangelisation,to serve all humanity. Such service is rooted primarily in theextraordinary and profound fact that “through the Incarnation theSon of God has united himself in some fashion to every person.” ’(CL, 36) In living this faith out, in every personal encounter, we fulfilour dignity as members of God’s royal household.



110


Leader: In sorrow let us ask the father for forgiveness pause)…


O Virgin of the Magnificat,

fill our hearts

with a gratitude and enthusiasm

for our vocation and mission.

With humility and magnanimity

you were ‘the handmaid of the Lord’;

give us your unreserved willingness

for service to God

and the salvation of the world.

Open our hearts

to the great anticipation

of the Kingdom of God

and of the proclamation of the Gospel

to the whole of creation.

Amen.

Adapted from Christifideles Laici, 64


111

Notes

a holy nation

Documents

lent holy

longman todd

archbishops house

writing group

catholic church

westminster diocesan

columba press forpermission

mark nashprint