Grassroots Liturgist

“Now the time has come for a new Jubilee, when once more the Holy Door will be flung open to invite everyone to an intense experience of the love of God” ( Spes non confundit, 6) 24 th December marked the beginning of the Jubilee Year with the opening of the Holy Door and the Christmas Eve Mass 2024, presided over by Pope Francis at St. Peter's Basilica.   Jubilee years have been a regular feature in the life of the Church since 1300AD.   But their roots go back to the Jewish tradition of marking a jubilee year every 50 years.   These years in Jewish history were “intended to be marked as a time to re-establish a proper relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation, and involved the forgiveness of debts, the return of misappropriated land, and a fallow period for the fields.” The theme of this Jubilee is Pilgrims of Hope .   Pope Francis wrote, “In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, ...

Just a few years ago, a study in the USA revealed that about 75% percent of American Catholics believed that the Eucharist is merely a symbol.   That’s really quite shocking.   And would it be much different in the UK? The Church, from its very beginning, has taught that Jesus is really, truly and substantially present in the Eucharist.   So why is it that so many Catholics seem not to have taken this to their heart? We are not the first generation to find this to be a difficult teaching.   When Jesus told the people, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.   Whoever eats this bread will live forever.   This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (Jn 6:51) the crowd reacted with confusion, horror and anger.   “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (6:52)   To his Jewish listeners, especially, the idea of drinking ANY blood, let alone the blood of a human, was abhorrent and struck at the heart of t...

“Show me your calendar, and I will tell you your priorities.” A few days ago, I watched a YouTube video featuring Bishop Robert Baron, where he used this phrase.   And there is clearly truth in those words.   We spend our time, we offer up our time to things that, for whatever reason, are important to us.   For example, I remember offering up a great deal of my time taking my children to their various evening and weekend activities.   I say ‘offering up’ because, frankly, if I were to have made a selfish choice about what to do with my days, they would not have been spent watching endless lengths of swimming or standing in the freezing wind and rain watching a rugby or football match.   But enriching our children’s lives is very important and so I offered up that time, and did so joyfully.   But what else is important to us? In our reflections on the Holy Mass, we have noted the importance of our full, conscious and active participation in the litur...