Peoples\u2019 desires, wishes and dreams in life are different to what they were pre-Covid. What seemed important then, may not be now quite as important. People recognise the value and gift of health, so precious and fragile. The images of medical staff attending the sick in hospital ICUs, \u00a0testing and administering the vaccine, exhausted frontline workers, people wrangling and\u00a0 complaining on chat shows; all paint a sombre picture.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, people strive to draw new life and hope from signs of spring as snowdrops, varieties of crocus; daffodils and more flowers push their way through the ground. Hope is present as light in darkness. Jesus promised to be with us always until the end of time. Now people realise is the time \u2018to be content with whatever we have\u2019, as proclaimed in the Word at Mass.<\/p>\n
The first reading proclaimed from Hebrews (Hebrews 13:1-8) instructs God\u2019s people to love. God teaches the people to continue to love one another and to welcome strangers, to remember those who are in prison and those who are badly treated. The Word reminds the faithful of the importance of honouring Marriage. God cautions people against greed and invites people to be \u2018content with whatever we have.\u2019 Lastly, God invites us \u2018to remember your leaders who preached the word of God to you.\u2019 In remembering, we \u2018reflect on the outcome of their lives\u2019 and \u2018imitate their faith.\u2019 We thank God.<\/p>\n
The psalm (Psalm 26) proclaimed reinforces the instruction in the Word. Disciples believe that \u2018The Lord is my light and my help\u2019 repeated six times. Can we believe the psalmist who says, \u2018The Lord is the stronghold of my life\u2019; \u2018He hides me in the shelter of his tent, on a rock he sets me safe?\u2019 The Lord always enlightens and helps his disciples.<\/p>\n
The Gospel (Mark 6:14-22) proclaimed reveals how a person who is jealous and fearful acts irrationally and seeks revenge. This resulted in John the Baptist\u2019s death and St Agatha\u2019s in later years.<\/p>\n
The Church celebrates the memorial of St Agatha today. She was born in Catania, Sicily in the third century. \u00a0She was young, beautiful, rich and lived a life consecrated to God. The governor of Sicily, Quintian noticed her beauty and kindness. Agatha rejected his illicit advances and he sent her to prison for being a Christian and eventually her martyrdom at Catania for her loyalty to and love of Christ. In prison, they subjected Agatha to much cruelty and torture.<\/p>\n
St Methodius from whom the Church reads in the Office of Readings described St Agatha \u2018as a good woman, coming forth from God in whose goodness she shares.\u2019 He continues, \u2018\u201cGood\u201d is the force and meaning of her name, Agatha in Greek, for she has been granted us, given as a gift, by God himself, the very fount of goodness.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The Church honours St Agatha for her courage in suffering and her love for Christ. God\u2019s people hear St Agatha\u2019s name mentioned in the first Eucharistic prayer of the Mass.<\/p>\n
\u2018St Agatha is patron of diseases of the breast; of nurses; against fire and earthquakes; and of her home town of Catania, Italy.\u2019<\/p>\n
At this time of pandemic, let us pray for courage to do what is right. Help us never to act out of jealousy or seek revenge.<\/p>\n
Jesus\u2019 teachings on love are reflected throughout the Grow in Love\/I nGr\u00e1 D\u00e9<\/em> programme at all levels in the Catholic Primary School. Resources including the Grow in Love\/I nGr\u00e1 D\u00e9<\/em> Children\u2019s e-book for each class standard are freely available on the VERITAS Grow in Love\/ I nGr\u00e1 D\u00e9<\/em> website. To access the website:<\/p>\n