(Liturgical Year A - 27th Sunday)

As we know, Our Father has created each us to know, love and serve Him, and so fulfil His Plan that we live eternally with Him in Heaven. As we also know, Adam and Eve, through disobedience, lost for themselves and us, original Innocence and the joy of going straight to Heaven. As we proclaim in the Creed, in His Infinite Love, God sent His Son, who took on Human flesh and was born of Mary. Perfect man, through total and loving obedience to the Will of His Father, while living on Earth, He founded the Catholic Church and died on the Cross to atone for sins committed since the beginning of the world and for all that will be committed until the end of time. Having perfectly paid the ‘debt’, Our Lord Rose from the dead and ascended to Heaven, having promised that He would be with us, ‘until the end of time..’.
 
How was this promise carried out? The immediate answer is through the Church He established, passing His Godly Power and Authority to the Apostles, the first Pope, Bishops and Priests, commanding them to teach and make people holy, bringing Grace to us through the Mass and the Sacraments and ever proclaiming Truth and correcting error. The Bishops had the power to ordain men who would carry on this mission on His behalf until the end of time. Pope Francis, Archbishop Peter and Bishop Pat are part of an unbroken line reaching back to the Apostles at the Last Supper, back, therefore to God Himself. Every Priest has that link with the Saviour; he is ordained to be an alter Christus (another Christ) especially when, at Mass, with Christ’s Power, he re-enacts the once-for-all Sacrifice of Calvary and, in Confession when he absolves (forgives) us from our sins.
 
Since Holy Mother Church was founded, She has celebrated countless men and women who, through their example and, sometimes through sacrificing their lives, have given great lessons in living the Faith. We also celebrate the Angels, spirits created to serve God (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church 325ff). The following is a summary, given in the hope that it will provide a stimulus for research.
 
Friday, 29th September. Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels: Michael (Revelation 12:7), credited with leading the Angels obedient to God against the rebellion of Satan. Those who came to be known as fallen angels, in refusing to serve God, literally sent themselves to that eternal separation from the Creator we call Hell. Pope Leo XIII composed the prayer seeking his intercession (‘Holy Michael Archangel….’). Very sorely needed today, you can find the full text in the prayer section of our Parish Website. Gabriel (Luke 26ff) brought Mary the news of her Vocation to be Mother of our Redeemer. Raphael appears in the Old Testament book of Tobit.
 
Saturday, 30th September: Saint Jerome a Doctor (particularly, a teacher of Theology or Doctrine) of the Church who, most notably, translated the Bible, a lot of it originally written in Greek and, perhaps Hebrew, into Latin, still the language of the Universal Church.

Guardian Angel painted in 1656 by the Italian artist
Pietro da Cortona (1596-1669)

Monday, 2nd October. The Holy Guardian Angels: Although not formally defined as Catholic Doctrine, the Church holds that, at creation, each of us is given an Angel who is exclusively there to watch over us, another helper in the struggle to live a Christian life. Pope Francis has spoken warmly on this subject. This beautiful prayer, essential for children and adults alike, is also to be found through the prayers link on our Website.
 
Wednesday, 4th October. Saint Francis of Assisi: From Italy, originally the son of wealthy parents, he renounced money and possessions, content to trust in God and Christian Charity to provide for his needs and those of his followers, now making up the Worldwide Franciscan order.
 
Saturday (traditionally a day dedicated to Our Lady), 7th October. Our Lady of the Rosary: Saint Pius V established this feast in 1573, in order to thank God for the victory of Christians over the Turks at Lepanto. The Rosary which, time and again, Mary has called on her children to say, presents us with an overview of the History of Salvation in the New Testament. Saint John Paul II (Read his Rosarium Virginis Mariae) added the Luminous Mysteries, meditating on Christ’s adult life from His Baptism in the Jordan to His institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper.