Liturgy

Community Liturgy

As a faith community, John XXIII College is finding new ways to pray and celebrate the Word during COVID -19 restrictions.

Today students from Year 7 prepared a Liturgy of the Word, featuring the season of Easter Gospel from this Sunday. The liturgy is available on video. (The duration of the video is approximately ten minutes.)

We apologise to families who tried, at 8:00 am this morning, to access the liturgy through the TEAMS Event link. Inexplicably, we experienced a glitch in TEAMS, resulting in no one being able to access the event. We are investigating the issue and hope to be able to offer the live event next week and into the future.

While unable to celebrate the Easter season in weekend liturgies, a number of other resources are available.

For the Season of Easter, the team at Emmaus Productions has provided access to a number of audio-visual resources for prayer and well-being. There are short reflections for adults as well as a range of video reflections for primary children. Click here for link.

In our own archdiocese, the Centre for Liturgy provides Praying with Sunday Gospels and other

Prayer Reflections.

Sunday Mass at the Cathedral is live-streamed each Sunday at 11:00am and is also available afterwards. Please follow the link for details.

GOOD NEWS for the season of Easter

John 14:15-21

The reflection for this Sunday’s Gospel is from Father Michael Tate and is used with permission. Rev. Prof. Michael Tate was a Senator for Tasmania from 1978-93 and Ambassador to The Hague and the Holy See from 1993-96. He is currently Vicar-General in the Archdiocese of Hobart and is an Honorary Professor of Law at the University of Tasmania where he lectures in International Humanitarian Law.

Parallel Truths

In ancient Jewish theology, there were various names for diabolical evil. ‘Satan’ was amongst them. Satan was the adversary of humankind. In particular, Satan was a prosecutor appearing before the throne of God accusing human beings of their offences and demanding retribution, that the punishment fit the crime.

On the contrary, our Lord had a very different image of himself in relating to us, the opposite of the satanic prosecutor. Did you notice in today’s Gospel, knowing he was departing from his followers, he says: ‘I will send you another Advocate to be with you forever.’ (This translates a Greek word: ‘paraclete’.) Our Lord was a Paraclete, and he would send another.

What does this strange sounding word mean? Here is a hint. We all know that parallel lines run alongside each other. A paraclete is a person who stands alongside someone and uses his voice on their behalf. A paraclete is a person who stands shoulder to shoulder with someone and pleads their case. That is how our Lord Jesus Christ saw himself in relation to his disciples. His role was not to condemn but to plead the case for mercy and compassion, to be the intercessor par excellence, to be the best character witness one might ever hope to have…

As our Lord’s visible earthly mission was coming to an end, he made a promise. That another Paraclete, another advocate, would be sent to dwell in the body of the disciples. This is a most fantastic gift. Dwelling within us, individually and as the body of Christ’s disciples, is the Holy Spirit advocating our cause, giving voice to our deepest aspirations.

This Paraclete particularly assists us by acting as the Spirit of Truth, always reminding us of the reality about our Lord Jesus Christ. For us, that includes trying to live according to the pattern revealed in His ministry, and that will have its challenges, its failures, its successes and its doubts. And one of the challenges is to check on our tendency to condemn.

Adopting this approach, with discernment, we will find a deep peace, the sort of peace the world cannot give. It is a deep down assurance that we are on the right track, that we are living our lives Truth-fully by the measure of the One who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

And here on our earthly pilgrimage, the Holy Spirit of Truth is walking alongside us as the ‘other Paraclete’, shoulder to shoulder… The assistance of the divine Paracletes is the cause of our Peace, a peace the world cannot give, the Peace which is our Lord’s Easter gift to us. Alleluia!