Newsletter - 22 June 2025
The Body and Blood of Christ: the Unity of Scripture and Liturgy
When we look at the front of the church there are two centres of attention: the lectern where we are nourished by the Word of God and the altar where we are fed with the Body and Blood of Christ. Bible and liturgy – the heart of every Eucharist.
They are in union and nowhere is this illustrated more profoundly than in our Parish Atrium, the centre for the religious life of children 3-6, where we use the method known as the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.
One of the earliest presentations we give is Jesus as the Good Shepherd — a concrete image of a God who loves them, knows them, guides them and gives them everything they need.
But how to introduce children to the Eucharist, is a much more abstract concept. The founder of our method, Sofia Cavalletti, says it took her 20 years to arrive at the most profound way to talk about it to children. Yes, we teach them about all the objects they see at Mass and many of the gestures the priest does. But then she realised that the Mass is the time and place where we can encounter the Good Shepherd in a most particular way.
We have a beautiful work in our atrium where the Good Shepherd calls the sheep from the sheepfold to come around the altar where he feeds them, this time with his own self. We remove the statue and ask, “is the Good Shepherd still there?” Yes, in the bread and the wine. We can think of the words of Psalm 23: “he prepares a banquet before me.” We slowly replace the sheep with people, one of whom is the priest who says the words of Jesus, “this is my body, this is my blood.”
She says that this is the clearest illustration of the unity between the Bible (the Good Shepherd) and the Liturgy (where the Good Shepherd feeds his sheep with himself).
She writes in the Religious Potential of the Child, “There does not exist a Bible that we read and a Liturgy that we live; there is a Bible that we live with the whole of our life and especially so in the Liturgy. The former without the latter is deprived of its most intense moment of life; the latter without the former would be based on a void.”
May these words inspire you as we celebrate the beautiful feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.
Nancy Wood ccn
Focus of the week
Sacrament of Confirmation
Please return registration forms by Monday 30 June to confirm your child’s place on the programme.
The first session will be on Thursday
11 September at 6–7.30pm and every
Thursday until Confirmation date.
Forms are available in the entrance hall.
Please contact Caterina Schifano : cockfosterspa@rcdow.org.uk
An Ecumenical evening with Christ the King, St Andrews, Southgate and the CCN Community. We are happy to welcome Rev Edward Turner as our guest speaker.
No 11am Mass on Saturday 28 June
There will be no 11.00am Mass on Saturday 28 June.
All are welcome to attend the ordination to the priesthood of Deacon Sean Power, from Potters Bar. This will take place at 10.30am in Westminster Cathedral.