Judica Sunday

Judica me, Deus, et discérne causam meam de gente non sancta:
ab hómine iníquo et dolóso éripe me:
quia tu es fortitúdo mea

Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause against an ungodly nation:
O deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man:
for Thou art my God and my strength

- Psalm 42

The Jews therefore said to Him: Thou art not yet fifty years old: and hast Thou seen Abraham?

Jesus said to them: Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was made, I am.
They took up stones therefore to cast at Him:
but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple.

- St John's Gospel; 8:56-59

Today at the Oratory all the statues are veiled, to assist us for the last part of Lent: Passiontide. This last fortnight before Easter commemorates the last year of Our Lord's life, as illustrated in this Gospel passage, when "Jesus hid Himself" because his hour had not yet come. In like manner then, the glory of the Church's Saints and the exaltation of her images give way to the sombre tone of the Liturgy, when we recall the ignominy with which Our Lord faced. Passiontide will culminate in Good Friday, when we meditate upon the Passion and death of Jesus, making that witness of pain and sorrow which the Blessed Virgin Mary endured, our own.

Our Lady is the perfect model of the way the faithful should respond to God's Grace, and accept the Lord Jesus into their hearts. For this reason we Catholics constantly seek the help of Our Lady to conform our hearts and orientate them towards God's saving power. Her prayers for us are those of a loving and tender mother, always ready to present our lives in the most perfect way to her Divine Son.

It is only by uniting ourselves with Christ's Passion, especially at this time of year, but also at every Mass, that we can partake in the saving sacrifice which is the atonement of humanity. By finally rejoicing on Easter Day at the Risen Lord, we will therefore awaken the new creation in ourselves, which is a living reality when we receive communion at every Mass.

Meanwhile Maddy continues to invest in her new-found love of chocolate, perhaps as a preparation of her own for Easter Day (and therefore the inevitable chocolate Easter Eggs)! Its a good job our Lenten penance was not to give up this succulent and wholesome foodstuff...