Grassroots Liturgist

We Catholics are encouraged to make an examination of conscience at the end of each day.   This may sound a gloomy thing to do, but it’s always in the light of knowing that the God revealed to us through his Word made Flesh is a God who knows us better than we know ourselves, and loves us completely and unconditionally.   Of course, he desperately wants us not to sin, but that is because sin damages our relationship with him and always leaves us unhappy, unfulfilled.   So, our examination of conscience is a prayerful reflection on the events of the day in which we assess our thoughts, words and deeds, as well detecting God’s presence in our life and discerning his direction for us. But it is always in a spirit of total trust in God’s infinite love and forgiveness – he will always love us and yearns for us to be reconciled with him. If we get into the habit of this regular examination, we can better respond to the invitation at the start of the Penitential Act to “...

The Estonian people love their choral singing, at least as much as the Welsh do.   And, if you were to meet anyone from Estonia, they would tell you how they literally sang their way to independence through the ‘singing revolution’ of the 1980s.    This singing both expressed the unity of the people and, at the same time, helped to build up, to strengthen that unity.   And this unity of identity, as Estonians, kept them strong and resilient during the years of Soviet oppression. This bears repeating: their singing both expressed the unity that they already shared, and it promoted and fortified that unity. In some ways, this echoes our experience of Holy Mass. At the beginning of the Mass, the bell is rung, we stand for the Entrance Procession…..and we sing! The purpose of this Entrance Song (usually a hymn, though this is a relatively recent practice) “is to open the celebration, foster the unity of those who have been gathered, introduce their thoughts to ...

Have you noticed how we live in a world where there is so much stimulation of our senses – especially sound – that we barely even notice it? Until it’s not there.   Then, when things are suddenly quiet, we can feel…vulnerable, empty, alone.   We may quickly try to fill the void, by switching on the TV, radio or some music.   We may make a phone call, or go to our never ending ‘to do’ list.   Something, anything, to break the solitude. And yet Our Lord Jesus actively sought that solitude.   After his baptism, he went to the desert for 40 days.   After a long, busy day teaching the crowds and healing the sick, he would take himself to a lonely place.   Why?   Because in that silence and solitude, he could commune with God; be at one with the Father. In our busy lives, we need to be unafraid to actively seek out that quiet solitude so that we, too, can sense that still, small voice of calm – the presence of God; the God who comforts us and ...

In this series of short reflections, we will explore how we can get more from the Mass that we celebrate each Sunday.   We won’t go through the Mass in a strict order, but today we will look at the beginning.   And the beginning……is before we even leave our homes and head for church. If we think of football supporters (please stay with me here), they don’t suddenly start thinking of the match when they take their seats in the stadium; they have been thinking about it all week.   They will most likely have been reading about the team, checking up on injuries, interviews given by the manager, etc.   They may have thought about the tactics for them to win.   The day of the match will be a conscious buildup of anticipation – this is not just another day of the week.   They will greet their fellow supporters, they will sing their songs, they will ‘kick every ball’ even though they are not on the pitch.   And their emotions will be heightened as the dram...