RE News Week 7
4 Kanbi Mass Reflections
Father Josh wore a collar that means he’s a priest. His alb means he’s been baptised. His stole symbolised he is fully a priest. The cincture rope belt means God is leading him.
His chasuble is a bit like a poncho to keep you dry and warm, from times when being a priest was illegal, and they celebrated Mass in hidden places outside like tunnels.
Rachel
I learnt that it does not matter what you look like from the outside, it matters what you are like on the inside!
Nafreen
I learnt that the priest kisses the stole before he puts it on, because it is a sign of love and respect.
Ravneet
Father Josh took the Blessed Eucharist from The Tabernacle behind the altar, which is the most sacred item in the church, because it houses Jesus.
Annie
The Sacred Heart Church is the heart of our school!
Annabel
The 4th Sunday of Lent
Take some time this week to be still
and ask the Holy Spirit to be with you:
Dear Father,
Be with me as I pray.
Open my ears to hear your Word in the Gospel.
Unite me in faith, hope and love as I pray.
Send your Holy Spirit to inspire and sustain me in my life.
I ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Gospel According to John (3: 14-21)
Jesus said to Nicodemus: ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved. No one who believes in him will be condemned; but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already, because he has refused to believe in the name of God’s only Son. On these grounds is sentence pronounced: that though the light has come into the world men have shown they prefer darkness to the light because their deeds were evil. And indeed, everybody who does wrong hates the light and avoids it, for fear his actions should be exposed; but the man who lives by the truth comes out into the light, so that it may be plainly seen that what he does is done in God. ’During his stay in Jerusalem for the Passover many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he gave, but Jesus knew them all and did not trust himself to them; he never needed evidence about any man; he could tell what a man had in him.
Reflection
What words or phrases struck you in Sunday’s Gospel reading?
What might God be saying to you in and through the Gospel?
Nicodemus is the image of one who seeks, and yet initially his hesitation and uncertainty keep him from truly seeing Jesus. Today we hear his conversation with Jesus, however, in a prior passage we’re told that Nicodemus approaches only under cover of night - a night which echoes the darkness of fear and doubt in the shadows of his own heart. The night becomes his protection. Nicodemus was drawn to Jesus, yet he is not convinced. He simply ‘wades’ in the shallow pools of faith, not daring to submerge himself… at least not yet!
As people of faith, we too are all in some way like Nicodemus. The question posed to us is a serious one: Are we too just ‘wading’ in pools of faith, or are we genuinely entrusting ourselves to the Word of Life and Love which is spoken to us?
How do I show such self-surrender to Christ in my life?
As a Christian, how am I giving others the courage to come out of the dark and do the same?
(Fr Trenton Van Reesch, Administrator of St Christopher’s Cathedral)
Prayer
Lord of Light,
Grant me a deepening and trusting faith, even when things do not make sense. May I live in the Light of your Love, and the Truth of your Promise, so that, the darkness of my doubts and fears cast out, I may serve you, in serving others.
Amen
(From Formed in Prayer)