Ordinary Time Resources

Start on time – it’s a sign of respect. It also takes preparation. Don’t rush - The best way to cut back on time, but not on Page | 1 authenticity, is to cut out waffle and being well prepared in every aspect of the celebration. Try, then, to script everything that is necessary to be spoken in as few words as possible. The Word of God of the day gifted to us always offers us lovely phrases worth echoing at key moments of the celebration. Pay attention to your body language – Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God in word and deed. The Liturgy is not just words but has key actions that, when well done and clearly visible, can speak far louder than adding more words. Remember there are four presences of Christ in every celebration of the Eucharist: In times of restrictions, people very much miss being able to receive the Eucharist. But how can we also help them to welcome [online! ] those other 3 key presences of the Lord in every Mass: Christ present in those worshipping together, the ones ministering and crucially in His Word which calls our souls to life. It doesn’t always have to be Mass! Some Christian communities have been very creative in what they have offered as well as celebrations of the Eucharist: night prayers, holy hours, Lectio Divina, talks on theology, remembrance services, scriptural rosary. Each of these can be led by lay Liturgy Online: Good practices and helpful hints, November 2020 ministers. Expanding what your community offers helps prepare us for the day when we will not be able to celebrate the Eucharist as often as we do now. Page | 2 Watching an act of worship online can be a much more passive act than being physically present: We can miss the engagement that comes with the movement of going to God’s house, that comes from following bodily gestures of standing, kneeling, processing, responding, and singing together. How can we celebrate online in a way that invites people out of passivity? How can we make them be aware that they are part of an online communion of worshippers? Liturgy is by nature dialogical – God loves us and we respond. God speaks to us and we respond. How can we use ministers and microphones to help online worshippers to respond where they are? A full celebration of the Eucharist can still involve: As well as the celebrant: a Minister of the Word, Cantor(s), Organist, Musician, Commentator, Server – all properly distanced. How can we invite people, especially families, to interact with the church when it is open for times of private prayer? Invite people to send in their petitions, collected securely in a box in the open part of the church, sent in online, presented during the Prayer of the Faithful on Sunday, some discretely read out? Pictures drawn by our children decorating the entrance.

Your action is the firstfruits of hope, a sign of the Spirit working among us. We’d be grateful to celebrate it with you. In the letter of Paul the apostle to the Romans, the biblical image pictures the Earth as a Mother, groaning as in childbirth (Rom 8:22). Francis of Assisi understood this when he referred to the Earth as our sister and our mother in his Canticle of Creatures. The times we live in show that we are not relating to the Earth as a gift from our Creator, but rather as a resource to be used. And yet, there is hope and the expectation for a better future. To hope in a biblical context does not mean to stand still and quiet, but rather groaning, crying, and actively striving for new life amidst the struggles. Just as in childbirth, we go through a period of intense pain, but new life springs forth.