Presider’s Page for 23 March (Third Sunday of Lent)
Today, as we gather to listen to the Lenten call to repentance, we worship our God of kindness who, like a patient gardener, always gives people a second chance.
Today, as we gather to listen to the Lenten call to repentance, we worship our God of kindness who, like a patient gardener, always gives people a second chance.
As the second week of Lent begins in other countries, we pause from our lenten penances to honour Patrick, the apostle of the Irish. In our celebration of this solemn feast, we worship God, creator, redeemer and sanctifier, who brought our ancestors into the Christian fold through the preaching of St Patrick.
In today’s Liturgy, we praise the Lord of glory, who leads us through the darkness of Lent to the light of Easter.
The 40-day pilgrimage to Easter that began on Ash Wednesday is just a few days old. We pray that God, who sustained Jesus in his 40 days of temptations and suffering, will support us on our journey also.
Words matter. What we say has an effect on others, for good or ill. God’s word to us is spoken in Jesus, the Word made flesh, in whose name we gather this and every Sunday.
Loving the enemy and praying for those who make life difficult are two marks of a Christian, or so Jesus teaches us today. We gather, aware of how difficult love can be, yet united by the saving mercy of God, on which we rely.
Everyone who believes God’s word is called to pass on the Good News. Like many who have gone before us, including the prophet Isaiah and the apostles Peter and Paul, we may not feel up to the task. But God helps us every day.
There are echoes of the Christmas season in today’s liturgy, particularly in the Gospel story of the wedding feast of Cana, in which God’s glory becomes visible in Jesus, as it did at his Epiphany and Baptism. (Today is also the World Day of Migrants and Refugees.)
Today we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of the Lord: it’s the last day of the Christmas season. The baptism of Jesus marked the end of his quiet years in Nazareth and the start of his public ministry.
We gather to celebrate the first Sunday of 2022, moving with gratitude into a new year of God’s grace. We thank God for the vaccines developed to protect humanity and ask for God’s continuing care and protection until everyone is safe and COVID variants no longer threaten us.
We celebrate today an amazing mystery — God is born in time. The eternal God shares our nature, he has pitched his tent in the midst of humanity. With joy in our hearts, we contemplate the mystery of the Word made flesh.
We’re well over halfway through Advent. Traditionally, today is called Gaudete Sunday, which means ‘a day for rejoicing.’ The reason for celebration is that the day of the Lord’s coming is nearer.
John the Baptist is the focus of the liturgy on the Second Sunday of Advent each year. His challenge to us to ‘prepare a way for the Lord’ is at the heart of the Advent message. We worship the one who will surely come to us.
Advent begins today. During these days, we look forward, waiting in hope. We watch for the end times, when Christ will come in glory, Christ who was born for us just a little over 2,000 years ago.
As we move into the darker times of the year, the readings at Mass remind us more and more of the end of time, and the glory awaiting believers. We trust that God stays with us always.
Gathering together in the Lord’s house, we bring simple gifts into God’s presence – our love, our care for each other, our worshipping hearts and voices. We ask for the grace to continue to show love through the coming week.
Today and tomorrow we remember all the dead, those in heaven and those still be on the way there: God alone knows where each soul is. Today’s feast celebrates the saints in heaven, the holy men and women of every time and place: we hope some of our people are among them.
On All Saints Day and today, we remember all the dead, those in heaven and those still be on the way there: God alone knows where each soul is. Today we pray for all souls, for the faithful departed still on the journey to their heavenly home.
What is asked of us is simple – to love God and our neighbour. But without God’s grace, even these simple demands can seem beyond our grasp.
We come to God, who gives the blind new sight. We praise our creator for the gracious care we receive and ask for the strength to continue on our pilgrim journey to the Father’s house.
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