大象传媒

Please note:

This script cannot exactly reflect the transmission, as it was prepared before the service was broadcast. It may include editorial notes prepared by the producer, and minor spelling and other errors that were corrected before the radio broadcast.

It may contain gaps to be filled in at the time so that prayers may reflect the needs of the world, and changes may also be made at the last minute for timing reasons, or to reflect current events.

This script is not complete due to copyright restrictions of the Mass.

Radio 4 Opening Announcement:

大象传媒 Radio 4. The Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Reverend Malcolm McMahon is the preacher on Sunday Worship now, which comes live from Liverpool鈥檚 Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King. On this Feast of Corpus Christi the Cathedral Choir sings Haydn鈥檚 Little Organ Mass. The Celebrant, who also introduces the Mass is Father Ged Callacher and the service opens now with the hymn 鈥楢lleluia, Sing to Jesus鈥�.

MUSIC 1: HYMN 鈥楢LLELUIA, SING TO JESUS鈥�

SPEECH: GREETING (FR CALLACHER)

Good morning and welcome.听

At this mass and at every mass we come to receive the Body and Blood, the very life of Christ. We come to be nourished by that Eucharist and to be challenged by it. Gathered in this dramatic Twentieth Century icon of Christian faith we appear almost transfigured in light from the coloured lantern windows above us. Gradually very gradually, we become changed people, living less and less for ourselves, growing in our love for the Lord and in love and compassion for others.

Archbishop Malcolm McMahon, the congregation, the choir and myself warmly invite you to celebrate with us on this feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ 鈥� Corpus Christi. Let us thank the Lord for the precious gift of this wonderful Sacrament, through which we share the very life of Jesus, the living bread who satisfies our deepest longings.

MUSIC 2: GLORIA
Little Organ Mass
Franz Josef Haydn

SPEECH: Reading - Exodus 24:3-8

A reading from the Book of Exodus, Chapter 24, beginning at verse 3.

Moses went and told the people all the commands of the Lord and all the ordinances.听 In answer, all the people said with one voice, 鈥榃e will observe all the commands that the Lord has decreed.鈥櫶� Moses put all the commands of the Lord into writing, and early next morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve standing-stones for the twelve tribes of Israel.听 Then he directed certain young Israelites to offer burnt offerings of bullocks to the Lord as communion sacrifices.听 Half of the blood Moses took up and put into basins, the other half he cast on the altar.听 And taking the Book of the Covenant he read it to the listening people, and they said, 鈥榃e will observe all that the Lord has decreed; we will obey.鈥櫶� Then Moses took the blood and cast it towards the people.听 鈥楾his鈥� he said 鈥榠s the blood of the Covenant that the Lord has made with you, containing all these rules.鈥�

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

MUSIC 3: Responsorial Psalm 115 (CANTOR AND CHOIR)

SUNG: ALLELUIA

听

SPEECH: GOSPEL (DEACON 鈥� REV MANNINGS)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark, Chapter 14, beginning at verse 12.
Glory to you, O Lord.

On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was sacrificed, his disciples said to Jesus, 鈥榃here do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the passover?鈥櫶� So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them 鈥楪o into the city and you will meet a man carrying a pitcher of water.听 Follow him, and say to the owner of the house which he enters, 鈥淭he Master says: Where is my dining room in which I can eat the passover with my disciples?鈥澨� He will show you a large upper room furnished with couches, all prepared.听 Make the preparations for us there.鈥櫶� The disciples set out and went to the city and found everything as he had told them, and prepared the Passover.

And as they were eating he took some bread, and when he had said the blessing he broke it and gave it to them.听 鈥楾ake it,鈥� he said 鈥榯his is my body.鈥櫶� Then he took a cup, and when he had returned thanks he gave it to them, and all drank from it, and he said to them, 鈥楾his is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is to be poured out for many.听 I tell you solemnly, I shall not drink any more wine until the day I drink the new wine in the kingdom of God.鈥�

After psalms had been sung they left for the Mount of Olives.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

SPEECH: SERMON

I was very surprised like many other people when a national chain of bakers stopped selling bread.听 Actual loaves that is. How could that be? In a small way it shook the nation, or at least it made the national news bulletins.听 Of course the baker continued to sell and bake bread but it did it under other forms such as filled baguettes or wraps, sandwiches and savoury pastries.听 Bread is so important to us as the symbolic food that describes what we eat that even though there was a reduced demand for loaves of bread which justified the change in marketing strategy it felt as though something fundamental to our make up was being threatened. [(Tampering with) Any change to long held habits such as the way we sell bread unsettles us all. there an implicit suggestion with the word 鈥榯ampering鈥� that we are degrading or adulterating the product which is potentially misleading? Or you could omit this altogether鈥�]

So you can imagine how much more unsettling it was for Jesus鈥檚 followers when he took what even then was the staple food of everyday life at the Jewish Passover meal and gave a new meaning to the bread and the wine. Those at the meal must have been very shocked indeed.听 Not only was Jesus reinterpreting the most important feast of the Jewish year but also he was saying that in the breaking of bread and blessing of the wine he would be present for those who did this in memory of him. His death on the cross was anticipated in these sacred actions and words, and by his crucifixion our sins would be forgiven.

When Christians meet to remember Jesus in this way they are doing what he commanded. Catholics, the Orthodox and some other Christians believe that Jesus is really present on the altar.听 It is as if by repeating Jesus鈥檚 words from the past, the priest brings the promise of future glory into the present moment.
It is our hidden God alone who can satisfy the hun卢gry heart and quench the thirst of our yearning spirits. From the Eucharistic vantage point,better to omit this it sounds like a theological treatise or At the Eucharist we see the past, the present and the future, in the perspective of God's ever-presence. For it is there that we are seated at table with our God.

At the Eucharist, Christ is among us as one serves, offering his life as a ransom for many (Lk 22:7; Mk 20:28). It makes present for us, now, Christ's sacrifice of his entire self for me. That鈥檚 what this feast of Corpus Christi is all about. And so, each time we eat the Bread of Life and drink the Blessing Cup, we associate ourselves intimately with that offering of the Lord. We are saying 'Amen, yes, so be it', to his invitation to a life of committed and self-sacrificing love and service. For Christ has left us as an example that we are to copy: [[an example expressed in the simple gesture of washing feet and a call to do the same for one another (Jn 13:1-15). Even though it鈥檚 an aposite comment This idea is new and not covered in the readings 鈥� I think it would be tighter without it]

Strengthened by the gift of the Eucharist, we can say 'Amen' to this challenge to die to self-love. We say 'Amen' to the reality that we too must allow ourselves to be broken, poured out and offered in service to' all our sisters and brothers.

Christ has given himself in the eucharist, not only for the spiritual growth of those who follow him, but also for the life of the world; so that the Church - all who believe - can be an efficient wouldn鈥檛 鈥榚ffective鈥� be a better word? medium of his loving forgiveness, merciful gentleness and saving justice. Our having life from him should, therefore, be an advertisement that will attract others into his friendship.

The eucharist is a call to become, more and more, what we receive - a challenge to allow Christ to transfigure the substance of our hidden selves so that, daily, we will become more clearly recognisable for our fellow pilgrims on the journey of life, as signs of the presence of the living God.

The Eucharist is a cry for justice; it is strange how we can be shocked when a baker stops selling loaves but indifferent when a hungry person asks for food by the roadside. The Eucharist is the prayer of God who was himself victimised and brutally treated. It is the plea of Christ who was unjustly con卢demned to a shameful death, who laid down his life and who has now taken it up again forever (Jn 10:17). The Eucharist is the reply of God to a hungry world; to a people deprived not only of mat卢erial bread, but some of their very dignity and livelihood.

Yes the Body of Christ is God's demand for such a world: a world that is no longer a lonely place but a habitation of solidarity and friendship. A world where human beings can give thanks together for the gift of life: where God and humanity are in communion and seated together at the table.听听

MUSIC 4: LAURA SION SALVATOREM (GIRLS VOICES)

MUSIC 5: HYMN 鈥楲ET ALL MORTAL FLESH鈥�

MUSIC 6: SANCTUS
Little Organ Mass
Franz Josef Haydn

MUSIC 7: AGNUS DEI
Little Organ Mass
Franz Josef Haydn

MUSIC 8: COMMUNION MOTET 鈥� Panis angelicus 鈥� Cesar Franck
C茅sar Franck (1822-1890)