23/11/14 The Lord is my shepherd

Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe (Year A)

Welcome back to a little liturgy.  Thanks for logging on again!  This week we are focusing on kings and our relationship with God. I have tried to look at the idea of height and God being above us, whilst debunking the myth of God floating about in the clouds.  However, I couldn't resist referencing the glorious Michelangelo "Creation" which may throw the spanner back in the works!  I have talked to my son about seeing God in other people and trying to identify his character rather then becoming fixated on what he actually is.  For those of you who are new - the green section is designed to be printed and taken to Mass.  I hope you find something useful!

Summary of Liturgy of the Word

First Reading
Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17
Ezekiel tells us that the Lord has promised to look after his sheep and rescue them if they are lost in the dark.  He will also care for any sheep that are injured  and watch over the healthy ones.  He will be a "true shepherd".

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 22:1-3, 5-6. R.v.1
The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Second Reading
1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28
St Paul tells us that just as Adam brought death into the world, Christ brings life.  He also describes how one day the world as we know it will end and earthly powers and authorities will cease to matter.  Death will be defeated and God will then be "all in all".

Gospel
Matthew 25:31-46
This week Jesus talks of the Last Judgement.  He says that there will be a time when God judges people and separates them out as if they were different like sheep and goats.  The sheep will be placed at his right hand and will be able to enter the kingdom of heaven.  The goats will be placed on his left hand and will suffer eternal punishment.  The people who are kind and generous to their neighbour are like the sheep; they have recognised God in the people they help.  The people who are like goats are those who neglected to follow Christ's example and did not behave like Christians towards their neighbours.

Discussion

This week's readings focus on God as shepherd, God as saviour and God as judge.  Recently we have heard about God being like a master or a rich man and have heard Christ use parables to describe what the kingdom of heaven is like.  Here the comparisons are more straightforward and God features as himself in the readings.  We however, are described as being like sheep or goats.

It is not easy for us to understand God as we are often trapped by our human perceptions of the world.  To help us understand we must listen to the scripture readings carefully and think about how the ideas presented affect our lives and the way we behave.

Ezekiel tells us that God will look after us as a shepherd and help us in difficulty.  This idea is continued in the psalm.  We hear the psalmist say how the Lord accompanies him on all his journeys and provides food and rest.  In the Gospel we are still encouraged to think of ourselves as sheep but are also warned about behaving like goats.  The sheep who have led a virtuous life are rewarded by being accepted into God's Kingdom but the goats who have behaved badly are thrown into eternal fire with the devil.  God will guide us and help us in many ways as a good shepherd but we have to take our part.  In this case, the virtuous people are those who have recognised Christ in others and shown charity and kindness to those in need.

St Paul talks about Christ coming to save us from death.  He says that in the end, we will all be subject to God who is "all in all".  This gives us an image of God as being beyond any human world and being the life in everything.

Activity at Mass

You might like to print out parts of the Mass from this website to help with this week's activity:

Liturgy Office Website

This week, as we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, we think about how we might honour God as King.  Often we think of God being above us because a king is superior and rules "over" his people.  (think of "long to reign o'er us" in the British national anthem")  We put ourselves below someone to show respect.  It is interesting to note that even on the cross God was above us.

We also have evidence from the Old Testament that God was found up a mountain or speaking from the sky.  Clearly, we do not believe that God is somehow sitting on a cloud but these spaces were often inaccessible to humans and showed the distance between God and us in a physical way.

We reflect the idea that God is high with our physical movements throughout the liturgy and with the design and layout of the church.  Look out for the things listed below.  Tick them when you see them:

we genuflect

we kneel down

the tabernacle is raised behind the altar

there are steps up to the altar

incense wafts upwards

the book of the Gospels is raised above our heads

the consecrated host is raised

the chalice is raised

the priest genuflects

the processional cross is raised high

Look out also for words to do with God being above us:

"You alone are the most high"

"He came down from heaven"

"he ascended into heaven"

"Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord"

"hosanna in the highest"

"and with eyes raised to heaven" (Eucharistic Prayer I)

We could also pay particular attention to the Gloria this week.  It is our song of praise for God and we will not sing it again until Christmas Day.

"Glory to God in the highest"  or "Gloria in excelsis Deo"

Make a special effort to join in with this today and think about all the different words we use to give glory. 

praise, bless, adore, glorify, give you thanks

Notice that we address God  by using the word "you" many times.  This makes us feel that we are talking directly to God.

In this prayer we also ask God to do two things for us.  Write these requests here:

1. 


2. 


Other activities and resources

Listen to the start of Vivaldi's Gloria which is sung in Latin.  How does the music encourage us to feel about God?

Vivaldi's Gloria on youtube

At the Epiphany the three Kings visited Jesus and brought gifts for a king:  gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Look up the significance of these gifts at:

Gifts for a king

You might also enjoy looking at these paintings that appear in the Sistine Chapel in Rome.  They show the ideas that a past generation used to portray our relationship with God.  You could think about making your own piece of art to describe how you feel about God and the kingdom of heaven.

Michelangelo's Creation of Adam

Michelangelo's Last Judgement

Questions

Last week's question

Why do we sometimes say "Christ" and sometimes "Jesus"?

Answer

The name "Jesus" is related to the Hebrew name "Joshua" which means "God saves".  In Luke's Gospel we see the Angel Gabriel telling Mary that this is the name she should give her son.

"Christ" is a Greek title meaning "anointed".  It is a translation of the Hebrew word meaning "Messiah" or "chosen one".  When Jesus asks Peter who he thinks he is  Peter says "You are the Christ" (Mark 8,29).

So when we use the term "Jesus Christ" we are referring to a name "Jesus" and recognising who we believe him to be i.e."Christ" (God's chosen one).  This is a bit similar to how  we might refer to "Mrs Smith, the teacher"; we use a personal name and then a job title.

The different writers of the New Testament swap between these names.  Often they refer to "Jesus" when they are telling us stories about what happened in day to day life and "Christ" or "Lord Jesus Christ" when they are referring to the purpose of Jesus as Son of God.  

We use many different titles for Jesus in our liturgy and prayers.  I think we tend to use "Jesus" when we are being a little less formal and want to stress our friendship with God and "Christ" when we are showing more official respect.  What do you think?

Consider these lines from famous hymns:

Christ the Lord is risen today
The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay
Shine Jesus Shine
Christ be beside me


Of course the words "Christmas" and "Christian" are derived from the name "Christ".  They mean "Mass of the anointed one" and "follower of the anointed one".  

This week's question

How will I be able to tell that it's Advent when I come to church next week?

Have a good week!

Maria

26/10/14 - Love your neighbour as yourself.

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

Welcome again to a little liturgy.  I hope you have been able to find something useful.  I have certainly enjoyed discovering more about Isaiah over the last few weeks in an attempt to make more sense of the first readings.  Today we come to rather more comfortable territory for me in Exodus - phew!

My son reports that he was a bit unsure about what to do in the activity for Mass last week.  I now realise that it was one that required a bit of explanation and preparation!  My aim is for the Mass activity in green to be simple and be able to be done by the child alone during Mass.  Its focus is the liturgy and its purpose to enhance concentration and awareness of what is happening at Mass.  Older children may also wish to read the discussion in yellow. The activity in red deals with the wider issues arising in the readings or prompted by the season and is designed for use at home.

Summary


First Reading
Exodus 22:20-26
The Lord speaks to Moses and says that the Israelites must behave well to all people.  He reminds them that they were once strangers when they were slaves in Egypt so now they must be kind to strangers.  God says that he will listen to those who cry out to him because they have been mistreated and he will take revenge for them.  


Psalm
Ps 17:2-4, 47, 51. R. v.2
Response: I love you, Lord my strength.
(Praised be the God who saves me)


Second Reading
First letter of St Paul to the Thessalonians 1:5-10
St Paul congratulates the people of Thessalonika for following Christ and imitating him, despite encountering great opposition.  They left their old religion (idolatry) and are now waiting for Jesus to come again from heaven.  


Gospel
Matthew 22:34-40
The Pharisees continue to try to test Jesus and ask him "which is the greatest commandment of the Law?"  he replies:
"You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."
He says that that is the first and greatest commandment and that the second commandment is:
"you must love your neighbour as yourself."
He states that the rest of the Jewish Law and the writings of the prophets are all based on these two ideas.  


Discussion

The First Reading and the Gospel both explain how we should treat other people (strangers and neighbours).  This shows us the connection between the Jewish Law (in the Old Testament) and Christ's example in the Gospels (New Testament).  The commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves is one of the most famous and most challenging of Christ's utterances.  It shows a renewed focus on service to others that is based in the old law but that people may have forgotten.

The Pharisees came to Jesus to disconcert him but his answer summed up the whole of their tradition which, in turn, forms the basis of the Christian tradition.  

There are many examples of Jesus being kind to strangers and those who society shuns.  Think about the stories Jesus tells about the Good Samaritan.  He also goes to supper with Zacchaeus (a tax collector) and heals the lepers. All these people were avoided in society but Jesus treats them as neighbours.  He is also kind to women who often struggled to be respected in society.  (e.g. the widow of Nain in Luke 7:11-17 and the woman in John 8:3-11).  

We could think about people who might feel excluded from society in our own time and how we might show our love for them.  


Activity during Mass

The Gospel speaks of loving God.

We are told by Jesus that it is important to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. Consider what each of these ways of loving God means.  Can you suggest what Jesus may have meant by each of these concepts?

Below are some words and actions from the Mass to help you think about this A), B), C) and D).  Put a tick by each when you come across them today.  

A)  When we greet the Gospel we make a small cross on our forehead, our lips and our chest.  This shows that we wish God's message to influence our thoughts, our words and our feelings.  

B)  At the start of the Eucharistic prayer are the following words:

The Lord be with you.
And with your spirit
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right and just.

C)  One of the prayers that the priest says quietly before he receives communion asks God that receiving the Body and Blood of Christ may be a "protection in mind and body".  

D)  Before Holy Communion we say:

Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.

Traditionally Christians have spoken about "body" and "soul"   and also "spirit".  There have been many debates as to how these are separate or bound together.  Consider what we mean by these terms.  

Jesus also says it is important to love our neighbour.

Listen out for the phrases below during Mass.

1)  peace to people of good will

2)  as we forgive those who trespass against us

3)  peace be with you - and with your spirit

All these phrases make us aware of the need to consider our neighbour.



Other activities and useful resources

Think about the Ten Commandments that Moses received from God.  

click here to see a picture

click here for list of Ten Commandments

How do these commandments suggest that we love our neighbour?
Try to discover what other Laws are given in the Old Testament - start by finding out what is said in the Books called Leviticus and Deuteronomy.  Are all these laws relevant today?

A traditional prayer called the "Magnificat" or the "Canticle of Mary" begins with the words:

"My soul magnifies the lord 
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour"

click here for the full text

The text is based on Mary's words in Luke 1: 46-55 and it interesting to know that Mary speaks of having a soul and spirit with which to praise God.  Mary, of course, was Jewish and we can see here another link between the way we praise God as Christians and the way the Jewish people in Christ's time prayed.

Last week's question:

Q.  If we believe in the Trinity how can Jesus really have died for three days, since that would mean that God died?

(Not an easy one!)

In our limited world view, rational thinking suggests to us that if Jesus "suffered death and was buried" and if he is "consubstantial" or "of one being with the father" then God the father and indeed God the Holy Spirit must also have suffered death.  But we also often refer to God as "eternal", "immortal" and "everlasting".  

The Catechism is a good place to look to help us think more carefully about this.  It says that each of the persons of the trinity is "God whole and entire" (253).  On the other hand, it states that "the divine persons are really distinct from one another" (254).  

These statements seem rather contradictory.  And indeed, in the early church there was much debate and uncertainty about the relationships between each person of the trinity and especially how Christ could be both God and man.  Eventually it became accepted that Christ could be both fully divine and fully human.  This idea became known as "the doctrine of the hypostatic union".  Christ was the "word" who became flesh.  

If we look again at the Catechism (264-268), we can see that death is defined as the separation of body from soul.  So Jesus died in the sense that his soul left his body, just as when we die, our soul will be separated from our body.  However, at the resurrection, Jesus' soul was reunited with his human body.  So we could say that the external, physical aspect of Jesus died but his soul did not.  Just as Jesus existed before the incarnation (being born on earth), he continued to exist after he died on earth.   

I hope these ideas may go some way to helping you develop your thoughts on this question!  Please leave comments and suggest any other reading that you find useful.                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

This week's question:

My Muslim friends pray several times a day at set times.  Why don't Christians do the same?  

Watch out for the answer next week!

Have a good week!

Maria