Grassroots Liturgist

Pause for a moment and think carefully: what thoughts and feelings emerge when you think of the word obligation ? As Catholics, it is a word with which we are familiar.   We are obliged to go to Holy Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of obligation; we are obliged to abstain from meat on (virtually all) Fridays of the year; we are obliged to fast and abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday; etc. There is a temptation to view these as actions imposed upon us by an external force, against which we are inclined to resist.   But I cannot be the only one who sees this as a very negative understanding of our obligations. What if the word obligation has different connotations? For example, if we say to someone, “I'm obliged,” we are expressing gratitude for a favour or a service; it is a more formal way of saying, “Thank you.” Seen from this perspective, our Catholic obligations should be an instinctive, internal response to the endless and lavish love that God has fo...

It is often said that Pentecost is the birthday of the Church.   But why is this? First, let us look at the purpose of the Church, if we may speak in those terms.   We can identify three reasons why the Church exists.   Each is distinct but intimately connected.   Each is clearly visible when the Church as a whole, or a local parish community, is healthy and balanced.   Each nurtures the other two and, together, they build up the Christian community.   They are: the exaltation of God, the edification of the saints, and the evangelisation of the world.   In other words: to praise God, to increase the holiness of its members, and to spread the Good News to others.   These three are the signs of a living, Spirit-led Church or parish community. Looking back on my youth, there seemed to be a culture of ‘franchising out’ our evangelical responsibilities.   We raised money for the missions, in much the same way that we raised money for chariti...