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 10 prepared a Liturgy of the Word, featuring the season of Easter Gospel for the feast of the Ascension.  The liturgy is available below:   

 

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

 

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 feast of the Ascension

 

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.

 

Where is the body?

When one thinks about it, our Risen Lord Jesus Christ could have continued to appear to groups of disciples, generation after generation, century after century – until now! But, he didn’t.

 

After appearing to 500-600 disciples after his death, Our Lord dis-appeared. Why? Basically, because our Lord’s Resurrection isn’t all about us!

 

The disciples had to be weaned of his Risen-mode of appearance among them lest they think that the victory over Death and its warriors – chaos, decay, entropy, exhaustion – is meant for human beings alone.

 

But, as St Paul says, the Risen Lord is the One who ‘fills all creation’. Elsewhere (in Romans) St Paul portrays the whole of creation as groaning in eager expectation that it may share in the transfiguring power of Our Lord’s resurrection.

 

The whole universe is now filled with His Resurrected presence and the power radiating out from his Risen Humanity.

 

But dis-appearance is not the same as absence. We believe that Our Risen Lord is present –

in our little fraction of time – the early 21st century,

in our little fraction of space – here [between the river and the sea].

 

The Risen Lord is present. How? In many ways, but here are two.

Of course, in the Heavenly Bread and Spiritual Drink of Holy Communion.

But, Our Lord Jesus Christ is present in another way – more challenging, more disturbing.

St Paul says ‘… the Church is His Body’. What does that mean… ‘The Church is His Body’?

 

We are one of the ways in which Jesus, the Risen Lord of the whole universe, has chosen to be present on earth, in our little part of the universe.

 

Why did the figures in white rebuke the disciples: ‘Why do you stand looking into Heaven?’

Because the disciples had to ready themselves for an earthly role – to be the Spirit filled body of Jesus Christ in their own time and place – first century Jerusalem in the first instance and then into other parts of the Roman empire.

 

In the same way, we have to ready ourselves to be the Spirit-filled embodiment of Jesus Christ in our own time and place. That is what is disturbing and challenging, about this feast day.

 

Our Lord still has hands and arms to embrace those needing comfort or love, to uphold, to work, to play, to create a new world. Your hands, my hands, your arms, my arms.

 

Our Lord still has a tongue to speak the healing/consoling word, to sing a song that transforms a situation, to tell the truth under pressure. Your tongue, my tongue.

 

Our Lord still has eyes that gaze on others, a way of looking at others which only wants the best for him or her, rather than the condemning glare which wounds. Your eyes, my eyes.

 

During this phase of the history of planet earth Jesus wants no other hands, no other tongues, no other eyes than our hands and tongues and eyes.

 

Here on this planet, in our time, we who are baptised are His body to continue his saving work for the earth and human history.

 

We can only be so if, like the disciples on this feast day, we stop staring into Heaven as though mourning an absence. Instead we need to ready ourselves to receive the Holy Spirit. Then, we will be able to really fulfil St Paul’s description of us: ‘The Church which is His Body.’

 

© Michael Tate