Introduction to the Homily Notes

A Pastoral Resource on the Journey to NEC2015 – Homily Notes

The weeks that lead into the celebration of ‘Christ our Hope’ at the National Eucharistic Congress are paved with the Sunday readings. They call us to renewed reflection on the place of the Eucharist in our lives, on the centrality of God’s Word in daily Christian living, the impact of Baptism and the Ephphatha prayer throughout our lives, and the relationship between our good deeds and our faith. In the joys and challenges of daily life Christ is our hope, and nowhere is this more clearly seen than in the ultimate challenge – death.  Jesus embodies hope, secures hope for us and is the reason we can live hope filled lives in every circumstance.  This is the Good News we celebrate weekly, but over the course of these 8 weeks all are invited to a renewal, or recovery or perhaps even a first personal encounter with the Hope that Christ is, celebrated in the Eucharist.

The homily notes we offer are written by a variety of people and are meant to invite all to reflect on how Christ is the source of hope in the Scriptures we hear and in the Communion we share.

Draw a thought from them or include them in your homily, and add the offered Prayer of the Faithful inspired by the readings. We also offer a thought for your Newsletter that both alerts our parishes to the up coming National Eucharistic Congress and invites all to become more attuned to Christ our Hope.