Intercom October 2025

Editorial

Time to Return

 

The packed summer concerts and sports events sent my mind back to teenage years and listening to pop records in my bedroom while regularly being told to ‘turn down that noise.’ Then I went with some friends to my first open-air concert, following which I was less inclined to play records alone in my room. The ‘live’ atmosphere and the company of like-minded friends gave power and potency to the music which was somewhat lacking when played alone at home.

In their invitation to reflect upon the great significance of Sunday Mass in their recent pastoral letter ‘Why Sunday Matters?’ the Irish bishops make a similar point as they remind us that Mass is not just a personal act of devotion. They quote Pope Saint John Paul II who emphasised that ‘nothing is as vital or as community-forming as the Sunday celebration of the Lord’s day and His Eucharist.’ This gathering the bishops explain creates a bond of unity, solidarity, and love, as we come together to worship as one body, with one voice, in praise of God.

The bishops acknowledge that since the COVID-19 pandemic, many Catholics have faced challenges attending Mass due to health concerns. For those still unable to attend, the Church offers Communion to the sick and housebound. For those who can they emphasise, it’s time to return and celebrate the Eucharist together.

In this month when we celebrate the Missions it is also an opportunity to renew our own sense of mission. As the bishops state when we participate in the Sunday Mass, we receive not only spiritual nourishment but also the strength to live out our Christian mission in daily life. The late Pope Francis reminded us, ‘We do not go to Mass in order to give something to God, but to receive what we truly need from Him.’ This is why attending Mass on Sundays is so vital – it nurtures and nourishes our faith and prepares us for the mission to which we are called- together.

 

Paul Clayton-Lea

Editor

 

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Official Jubilee page on CatholicBishops.ie.