Year A
Discover the deeper meaning and connections found in this week's readings, through these great commentaries written by our priests.
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Pope Saint John Paul II once said, “Like the disciples of Emmaus, believers, supported by the living presence of the risen Christ, become in turn the travelling companions of their brothers and sisters in trouble, offering them the word that rekindles hospitality in their hearts. With them they break the bread of friendship, brotherhood, and mutual help.” We are travel companions of each other along this journey of life. Every person we encounter on this earth is made in the image and likeness of God. We all share in this common bond. No one is excluded from this reality. It is only fitting that hospitality, being at the heart of our faith, is found in this Sunday’s readings – Invite everyone you can find to the wedding – the Lord will prepare a banquet and will wipe away tears from every cheek. This Sunday allows us an opportunity to reflect how welcoming our parishes are to outsiders, to those on the periphery, to those who feel rejected or unwelcomed by society. How do with extend God’s hospitality to others? Do we make people feel welcome in our churches? Throughout this month, the First Session of the Synod for a Synodal Church will be meeting in Rome to discuss issues relating to the life of the Church, with specific attention on communion, participation, and mission. One specific question that the Synod will reflect upon is how can we be more fully a sign and instrument of union with God and of the unity of all humanity? In this way the communion we have with God and with each other will radiate. This is the essence of hospitality. Sometimes it is the simplest actions of life that can make a big difference to other. A simple smile. A simple handshake. A simple question – ‘How are you?’. A simple statement – ‘Welcome, it is joy for you to join us today.’ A simple approach to speaking with visitors or newcomers. These simple actions and words can make a difference by extending God’s hospitality that we experienced ourselves to others.
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Catholicism of the Catholic Church References:
CCC 543-546: Jesus invites sinners, but demands conversion
CCC 1402-1405, 2837: the Eucharist is the foretaste of the Messianic Banquet
Liturgical Situation
The continuous reading of St. Matthew’s Gospel reaches the events immediately preceding the Passion. The teaching of Jesus becomes increasingly eschatological, and this will culminate in the Parable of the Sheep and Goats, read on the last Sunday of Ordinary time, the Solemnity of Christ the King. Today’s Gospel reflects this eschatological trend.
The Prayer over the Offerings and the Prayer after Communion
These two prayers are also eschatological in tone. The Prayer over the Offerings asks that the celebration of the Eucharist - the 'duty of those who have bound themselves to faith’ - act as a portal to heavenly glory.
The Prayer after Communion takes up a theme of St. Peter’s Second Letter, where he writes about Christians ‘sharing the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).’ The prayer links this explicitly to the reception of the Lord’s Body and Blood in Holy Communion.
This theme is also present in the alternative Communion antiphon of the day from 1 John 3:2.
These hymns have been picked and chosen from different sources.
Here in this place (Gather us in) (CFE253, L475, LHON327)
All are welcome (L458)
At the Lamb's high feast we sing (CFE58, L269 LHON146, TCH73)
My God, and is thy table spread (CFE496, L651, LHON480)
Key
CFE - Celebration Hymnal for Everyone
L – Laudate
LHON – Liturgical Hymns Old and New (Mayhew, 1999)
TCH – The Catholic Hymnbook (Gracewing)
Do you have questions about the liturgy and how we are called to participate in it? Explore how the Church councils, saints, and popes have answered this key question and many more.
Every movement of the Mass is rich in meaning but we can become over-familiar with it. Rediscover the Mass and explore how it relates to the Exodus story, where many of its rituals come from, and how it makes Jesus present to us today.
