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Year A
Discover the deeper meaning and connections found in this week's readings, through these great commentaries written by our priests.
Explore this week's readings and hear what God is saying to us through His Word.
Find out more about how we can mark this special day in our liturgy.
See our music recommendations for the liturgy.
Our religion is very strange. Would you follow a religion that had as its symbol the guillotine of the French Revolution, or the electric chair used for execution in some American states? Yet our Catholic faith places the cross at the centre.
In the gospel, Jesus calls his disciples to take up their cross and follow him. During Jesus’ lifetime in Roman-occupied Palestine, condemned prisoners could sometimes be seen carrying their cross (or at least the crossbeam) to the place where they would be executed.
By such words, Jesus bluntly states the challenge of his call to discipleship—as bluntly as Winston Churchill told the British people near the start of the Second World War: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”
The prophet Jeremiah knew the challenge of responding to God’s call. His mission was to warn the people of Jerusalem that if they did not repent, the enemy Babylonians would come and destroy their city—which is what eventually happened.
In today’s first reading, he complains to God that his daily message has to be: “Violence and ruin!” When he first encountered God, the divine word was his delight, but now it just causes him pain and grief. Yet he cannot stop speaking God’s message, because it is like a fire burning in his heart.
In our second reading, St Paul calls us to be united with Christ’s self-sacrifice. If we offer our living bodies as a holy sacrifice, we will discover what God wants from us day by day.
We know that Jesus’ cross was not the end, because he rose again on the third day. The disciples on the Emmaus road encountered him risen. Although they first did not recognize him, they felt a fire burning within them. It was only at the breaking of bread that they fully recognized him. So too for us.
Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Catholicism of the Catholic Church References:
CCC 618: Christ calls his disciples to take up the Cross andfollow him
CCC 555, 1460, 2100: the Cross as the way to Christ’s glory
CCC 2015: way to perfection by way of the Cross
CCC 2427: carrying our cross in daily life
Liturgical Situation
Autumn is beginning, the Schools are returning, Parish programmes for Sacramental initiation may be getting under way at this time after the summer break.
This Sunday we remember St. Gregory the Great, Pope(+AD 604). Gregory sent a mission to the Kingdom of Kent in AD 597 which brought Roman Christianity to Anglo Saxon England. And Friday 8th is the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady.
The Prayer over the Offerings
These little prayers, pivotal to the Roman Rite of Mass, can be illuminating. In the ancient Roman tradition they concluded a gathering up of small loaves (known as ‘oblationes’) and flasks of wine from members of the congregation. This was an elaborate rite and must have taken some time.
Today’s prayer contrasts two words, in the Latin ‘mysterio’ meaning the ritual of the Eucharist, and ‘virtute’ meaning the effects of the sacrament. The structure of the Latin text places the words ‘sacra .. oblatio’ in the exact middle of the prayer, asking that this rite bring a saving blessing on us.
An English interpretation might be: ‘This offering is a religious ritual. May it bring us your saving blessing. Let what is performed as a ritual be brought to powerful fruition in our lives.’
Christ intends that the offering of his Eucharist change our lives and make us more conformed to the pattern of his Gospel.
These hymns have been picked and chosen from different sources.
Father, hear the prayer we offer (CFE158, L933, TCH214)
He who would valiant be (CFE248, L862, LHON331)
Take my life (CFE677, L874, TCH263)
Unless a grain of wheat (CFE754, L748, LHON697)
When I survey the wondrous cross (CFE801, L756, LHON731, TCH72)
Will you come and follow me (CFE812, L877, LHON740)
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.
