 Today’s Gospel turns our thoughts to the strange phenomenon of persecution: throughout the history of mankind, the truth has been a commodity that often leads to persecution: the prophets of the Old Testament were attacked because of their message, as was the Lord Jesus himself. For his followers, the same may be true. The point of the readings is not simply to face up to the reality of the opposition the Gospel may meet, but to remember where the truth of the Gospel comes from: the Father in heaven, who knows us and values us. So we can be confirmed in our mission to witness to the truth, not fearing those who merely kill the body. THE LITURGY
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 The Eucharist – the Body and Blood of Christ – is a mystery with so many layers and a depth that takes more than a lifetime to penetrate. It is not just a “thing” that we receive – however reverently – it is a person, a relationship, a belonging and a transformation that we consume, that becomes part of us: “Receive what you are – the Body of Christ”. The readings invite us to reflect on how our celebration of the Eucharist brings Christ’s words to our reality: “…who eats my flesh and drink my blood lives in me and I live in him.” The people of the Old Testament had God living in their midst, walking with them on their journey, feeding and nourishing them with the gift of manna from heaven. Jesus walks with us, not looking on from afar, journeying “in communion” with us – living within us, as we eat and drink the gifts he extends from the Last Supper. And as Saint Paul reminds us, our communion with the One Christ is also a communion with each other – God lives in us as the Church, as we become His Body. THE LITURGY
 We begin our Summer 'Ordinary Time' by celebrating a strange feast - not of a particular saint or event, but of the awesome paradoxes of our God, the Three-in-One, Father, Son and Spirit: so immeasurably distant, yet so amazingly close, so full of power and so full of love. It is love that is the key to the mystery: the revelation of God, to Moses and in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, shows a perfect love - a perfect unity. In the beginning, in the story of Creation in Genesis, God made man and woman 'in the image and likeness of God', to live together as a community of love. So too, the Church is an image of this perfection of community which is Father, Son and Spirit. We, as many members of one Church, strive in our everyday lives to imitate God who is Three and One, perfect unity and perfect love. THE LITURGY
 We arrive at the fiftieth day - the completion of the Easter Season, and the completion of the Paschal Mystery: the Lord has died, is risen, has ascended to heaven and now gives birth to his Church, by sending the Spirit upon the apostles. This feast of the gift of the Spirit is so significant for us, because it marks the handing on of Jesus’s ministry to the Church - in the Church we are guaranteed the presence of the Lord, in his sacraments, in his ministers, in the Blessed Sacrament and in his Celebrated Word. It also marks the fulfilment of our thoughts about baptism throughout this season: the gift of the Spirit which we receive in Confirmation is the ‘seal’ of our baptism, guaranteeing and confirming all that baptism achieves. THE LITURGY
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ALL SAINTS CHURCH
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January 2019
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