Dear friends,
At every Mass, before we receive Communion, we address the Lord Jesus as the “Lamb of God”. This Sunday’s Gospel reading, as once again we enter what is called “Ordinary Time” (or, more properly, the season of patient growth), introduces us to the scriptural scene in which this name is first given to the Lord, by St John the Baptist.
The very first words of the Gospel reading (John 1.29-34) afford us a vital key to growth in our own faith: we read that, ‘Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look..’ Thus, we find two important aspects to growth in faith: first, with St John, we must fix our attention on the Lord, noticing and welcoming his approach in our lives – and we must do this through time made for prayer and study of the Scriptures; second, and again with St John the Baptist, we must then draw the attention of others to the One whom we call the “Lamb of God” – and this is done by lives of witness, service, fellowship and charity, speaking of our faith in Christ by word and by deed, coming faithfully to Mass, and bringing others with us when we come.
Growth in faith will be one of the subjects under discussion by members of the Parochial Church Council (PCC) a week on Saturday, 21 January, during a day of mission action planning – but it ought to be a priority for all members of our parish family: we all have a responsibility to see ourselves, and the Church, grow. PCC members – please ensure this date is in your diary, as well as others required to undertake the Safeguarding training scheduled for that afternoon.
Although I will be away from Kenton this weekend, as I conclude my post-Christmas break, nevertheless the normal Sunday Masses will be celebrated as usual, and you are very welcome to join us on Saturday at 6pm or on Sunday at 10.30am.
With my prayers and best wishes,
Fr Richard