Eastertide seasonal table

This morning as I feel a little energetic I thought I would spend a few moments working on our little Easter Tide displays. Nothing fancy, using things we have already, and it has brought joy to me and to our home. Covid certainly put a stop to many of the plans I had for Holy Week and our family Easter get together to a halt. But it has not stopped the joy, gratitude and love I feel for my life, for this community, for this world and for Christ in whom I grow everyday.

A little update on our resurrection garden which has overgrown and covered the cross! A beautiful symbol of overcoming it and hopefully this week I will sit down with the little one and we will make some butterflies for above it! We are still watering the grass and the wildflower seeds look set to bloom soon!

So I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a blessed and joyous Easter.

Of course Easter tide is 50 days, not just one Sunday and so this next 50 days I plan on setting intentions and a foundation for prayer and family ready for ordinary time (also known as Growing time) which begins at the end of Easter and lasts until Advent. Intentions set now, in growing time can blossom into deep and meaningful ways to deepen our connection to the Lord, our family, our community so we can shine a light of goodness, of hope and love to all.

Have a lovely week everybody

Sacred Chrism Mass

You may never see olive oil in the same way again 🫒

The Mass of the Sacred Chrism took place yesterday for our Diocese @salforddiocese in the beautiful @salfordcathedral it was lovely to watch especially whilst I am not feeling too well (praying it’s not covid and waiting for tests as I have avoided it for so long).

The Sacred Chrism Mass is one of the most solemn and important masses of the liturgical year, in a display of unity with the Bishop three oils are prepared for use in the sacraments in the church year, the oil of catechumens is blessed (oleum catechumenorum / oleum sanctorum), the oil of the sick is blessed (oleum infirmorum) and holy chrism (sacrum chrisma) is sanctified by the bishop and the priests in attendance.

Olive oil holds a sacred place in physical and spiritual life throughout the Bible. In everyday life people used oil as we do today, for cooking, lighting lamps, for beauty, for use with homeopathy and other natural medicinal uses. Spiritually oil was used for anointing, to make one holy, in worship and other holy practice and preparing the dead.

The most important oil, is the oil of Sacred Chrism. The Bishop mixes a sweet perfume (usually balsam) with the olive oil and breathes across the oil as the sanctification takes place. A symbol of the Holy Spirit breathing new life into those anointed with it.

Oils today will be distributed throughout the diocese and used in pastoral care and the sacraments.

So next time you are about to put a splash of olive oil into your frying pan, remember it’s enormous significance, legacy and use today not for physical needs but spiritual needs too. An oil of priests, prophets and kings right there present on your table.

Gives a lot for your cooking to live up to doesn’t it! 😉

Palm Sunday Thoughts

Palm Sunday. A day where the jovial words of Hosannah and Alleluia give away to the devastating truth and harrowing account of the Passion of our Lord. The Gospel of Luke says today:

‘He withdrew from them, about a stones throw away, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father if you are willing, take this cup away from me, Nethertheless, let your will be done not mine.” Then an angel appeaed to him coming from heaven to give him strength. In his anguish he prayed even more earnestly, and his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood”

Hematohidrosis is a medical condition where individuals sweat blood. It is caused under extreme stress and is thought to be triggered by the fight or flight response. I cannot imagine the fear He knew. As he asked this very human request, he ended humbly with ‘let your will be done not mine’. Mind blowing and eye opening to the humility of Christ.

Today in the homily our priest explored the notion of obedience being the touchstone of humility, I cannot remember the letters he referred to which he was reading, but I remember this quote from St Francis de Sales:

“Love alone leads to perfection, but the three chief means for acquiring it are obedience, chastity, and poverty. Obedience is a consecration of the heart, chastity of the body, and poverty of all worldly goods to the Love and Service of God. These are the three members of the Spiritual Cross, and all three must be raised upon the fourth, which is humility.”

The humility of Christ on the Cross, as he was removed from physical pleasure, tortured. From love and affection, reviled. From possessions, stripped naked. He still until the end, commended his life into the hands of his Father in heaven.

We have a lot to think about, a lot to work on, a lot to live up to, to be humble, to allow our lives to be lived to the fullest through him. This week is a time to empty ourselves in humility, to make room, for his joyous love and mercy at Easter. Attend to the needs of others with small gestures, go without something important, confess and pray. None of these things cost money, yet all are of more value and more healing than anything money could buy.