THIRTY SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY

Dear Parishioners,

Today’s readings speak about Hope. Hope in the One who has conquered death, and is above Him everything.

It is remarkable how Paul understood how faith gives a new vision to the mystery of life & death in the early years of Christianity. Today we hear in 1 Thessalonians, which was written around 50 AD: “any of us who are left alive until the Lord’s coming will not have any advantage over those who have died…the Lord himself will come down from heaven, those who have died in Christ will be the first to rise, and then those of us who are still alive will be taken up in the clouds, together with them, to meet the Lord…”. He expresses very clearly that those who have died are in God’s hands and do not have any disadvantage compared with the living: this is our faith, our hope in Him. That hope is what helps us to keep going.

It is so sad when we hear what is happening in Ukraine, in Gaza, in so many places in our world. Also, here, closer to home, in London many people are living in fear, due their religion or cultural background, they do not feel safe to go around in the streets. In all of this, what does our hope say?

The Gospel invites us to believe that even in the night, when the darkness comes, we can have our lamp prepared with oil, waiting for Him because we believe He has conquered the “darkness.” I invite you to reflect: looking back over the different things that have happened to me, the different experiences I have had in my life, where can I discover that He has conquered the darkness? What experiences of hope in Him do I have that have nourished the oil in my lamp? The oil of my hope? The oil of my faith?

Together as a community we can continue praying for peace in our world in this special weekend that we remember all those who have died in conflicts.

This weekend, this Remembrance Sunday, we have a special opportunity to come together as a community to pray for our world, to pray for peace and to pray for all those who have died in conflict. We pray that in the middle of the darkness experienced by many at the moment, our prayer and our faith can be a source of hope and peace.

Anabel Gonzalez, FMVD