Canon Brendan Hoban (V.G. Emeritus - Diocese of Shrewsbury)
at St Winefride's, Well Street, Holywell at 1130am on Sunday 26th November.
Hence, the general theme appropriately refers to the end of the world. In preparation for our final judgment, we beseech God to arouse “our wills” for “divine service” (Prayer), to be on our guard, awake and active, lest our faith sleep or be merely sentimental.
The Epistle, therefore, begs us to be filled with a “knowledge of God,” to be “fruitful in every good work,” to recognize our duty and privilege to work with and for one another in true Christian community, which is the Communion of “saints,” all for the sake of Him Who shed “His Blood.” Lest “His Love” fail to inspire us, the Gospel fills us with sentiments of holy fear, as we consider the destruction of the Jerusalem's of this world, the end of all time, and the beginning of eternity; as we consider further the necessity of fleeing to the “mountains” of God from the Judea of “false Christs” and false leaders, who sometimes are so clever as “to deceive even the elect,” enslaving, misleading, corrupting their minds, especially in the modern world via the press, internet and television.
Today, we may well implore God through our Sacrifice to turn “our hearts” to Him (Secret) and to heal through our Sacrament what “is diseased in our hearts” (Postcommunion).
The 26th November is the Feast of St. Sylvester Abbot, Benedictine, who died in 1267 at age 90 and who founded the Sylvestrine Branch. Commemorated in the Mass of the Saint is St. Peter of Alexandria E. M. beheaded for the Faith in 311, a model of charity and mercy toward sinners. Although not commemorated in the 1962 Missal, pray to the Saints for their help to be pleasing to Our Lord!