+JMJ+

Dear friends,

Last Sunday's Solemnity of Pentecost brought to a close the great feasts of our redemption - those mighty acts of God whereby we are redeemed. They are summed up starkly for us in the Great Litany:

By the mystery of thy holy Incarnation; by thy holy Nativity and Circumcision; by thy Baptism, Fasting, and Temptation....By thine Agony and Bloody Sweat; by thy Cross and Passion; by thy precious Death and Burial; by thy glorious Resurrection and Ascension; and by the Coming of the Holy Spirit, Good Lord, deliver us.

And with the mystery of our redemption in Christ laid before us, the Church invites us to meditate on that redemption in a smaller cycle of feasts beginning this Sunday with Trinity Sunday, then Corpus Christi (our Feast of Title!) next Sunday, and then the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart on the following Friday. Of this sequence of feasts, Pope Benedict once said,

Each one of these liturgical events highlights a perspective by which the whole mystery of the Christian faith is embraced: and that is, respectively the reality of the Triune God, the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the divine and human centre of the Person of Christ. These are truly aspects of the one mystery of salvation which, in a certain sense, sum up the whole itinerary of the revelation of Jesus, from his Incarnation to his death and Resurrection and, finally, to his Ascension and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And so I urge you to be in Mass and give yourself over to this annual pattern of devotion, that the Holy Spirit may lead you "further up and further in" to the joy and freedom of our salvation in Christ.

As you know, Corpus Christi is a special celebration for us, and also an occasion to think and pray together about God's call to us as a community. Please do participate in the parish meeting on Saturday, June 2nd, and also do not neglect to give thanks, pray, and adore at Evensong & Benediction on Sunday the 3rd (festive wine and cheese reception to follow!). Also, your RSVP for the parish meeting would be a big help in our planning.

See you Sunday, and God bless you,
Fr Allen