The First Sunday in Advent (Sunday 3rd December 2023) is, in effect, a New Liturgical Year for the Church. The Sunday cycle of readings (there are 3 years in the Sunday cycle, and the weekday readings run in a 2 year cycle) change, and the Church begins a new journey through the scriptures from the birth of Jesus.
The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium), is one of the constitutions (the set of fundamental principals that govern a state/organisation) of the Second Vatican Council. It was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on 4 December 1963 – 60 years ago when this post was made! In that document the Church states that The Liturgy is; “the primary and indispensable source from which the faithful are to derive the true Christian spirit” (SC 14) and indeed that “every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the priest and of His Body which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others; no other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree” (SC7) and “The liturgical year is to be revised so that the traditional customs and discipline of the sacred seasons shall be preserved or restored to suit the conditions of modern times; their specific character is to be retained, so that they duly nourish the piety of the faithful who celebrate the mysteries of Christian redemption, and above all the paschal mystery.” (SC 107).
Most recently, Pope Francis in his Apostolic Letter Desiderio desideravi (64), (coming from the Latin version of Luke 22:15: “I have earnestly desired (desiderio desideravi) to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”) on the beauty, goodness, and truth of the Sacred Liturgy, reminds us of the Most Holy Trinity’s love and desire for us, saying “the liturgical year is for us the possibility of growing in our knowledge of the mystery of Christ, immersing our life in the mystery of His Death and Resurrection, awaiting his return in glory. This is a true ongoing formation. Our life is not a random chaotic series of events, one following the other. It is rather a precise itinerary which, from one annual celebration of the His Death and Resurrection to the next, conforms us to Him, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
So, the new Liturgical Year is also a good time to begin new things, and I am proposing this joint newsletter/bulletin for the parishes beginning today (click here to see the Bulletin).
What needs to be understood firstly, is that both parishes are remaining separate – they are not being joined, just administered by the same clergy. Therefore, we will endeavour to have a full service in both parishes; each parish will retain a separate Pastoral Council, Finance Committee, and so on. The funds raised in each parish will remain totally separate and independent.
However, as both parishes are being served by the same priests, there will be many things that we are doing, or will do – in common. There will be things happening in one parish that might have an appeal to the other, and vice versa, there will be arrangements which might have to be made to facilitate liturgies and other events happening, all of which – on a practical level – make it sensible that we have a common bulletin, which will also feature some of the Mass prayers as well as a small reflection for each Sunday.
I hope that you will find the new bulletin format a good help to you as we try to participate actively in the life of the parish at the beginning and throughout this new Liturgical Year. If you have any suggestions/comments, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Togher Parish 