Let the children grow up and choose for themselves what religion to follow. Everything I have in life and everything I own is by my own hard work and achievements. All my time is for my family and work, God will understand if I have no time left for Him or church. You should not be greeting or hugging one another on Good Friday. You should not be praying over your family or friends only priests can do so. Whose thoughts are all of these? God’s or ours?
If we realise that all the above are our own thoughts then what are we doing to deepen our relationship with our Lord? To make Him the centre of our lives? So that we can hear His voice and know His Will for us. For we will be transformed by Him to be more and to do more.
Through our baptism we too have a share in the office of priests. Though our hands are not consecrated as those called specifically into the priesthood. We too must exercise our duty and the grace given to us, to pray for one another and to pray over one another when the need arises. To offer sacrifices for ourselves and for one another. To bless our children so that they may lead fruitful lives. To offer thanksgiving to God our heavenly Father for all that He has done for us. To honour, worship and praise Him all the days of our lives. Amen
First reading
Hebrews 5:1-10
Every high priest has been taken out of mankind and is appointed to act for men in their relations with God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins; and so he can sympathise with those who are ignorant or uncertain because he too lives in the limitations of weakness. That is why he has to make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people. No one takes this honour on himself, but each one is called by God, as Aaron was. Nor did Christ give himself the glory of becoming high priest, but he had it from the one who said to him: You are my son, today I have become your father, and in another text: You are a priest of the order of Melchizedek, and for ever. During his life on earth, he offered up prayer and entreaty, aloud and in silent tears, to the one who had the power to save him out of death, and he submitted so humbly that his prayer was heard. Although he was Son, he learnt to obey through suffering; but having been made perfect, he became for all who obey him the source of eternal salvation and was acclaimed by God with the title of high priest of the order of Melchizedek.
Gospel
Mark 2:18-22
One day when John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, some people came to Jesus and said to him, ‘Why is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of fasting while the bridegroom is still with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they could not think of fasting. But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then, on that day, they will fast. No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak; if he does, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. And nobody puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins too. No! New wine, fresh skins!’
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