By Fr Peter Michael Scott, Parish Priest at St Mary’s, Finchley
When I was baptised my grandad gave me a music box. No ordinary music box; it came with a book of instructions. Until I was seven the music box sat on a shelf gathering dust, then my father and I sat down and read how to activate it. I will always remember finding the secret key stored in a hidden drawer, winding up the mechanism and finally hearing a beautiful rendition of ‘Angels We Have Heard on High’.
In this Year of the Word, the Bible is like the book of instructions. For us to activate the gifts of the Holy Spirit given to us at Baptism and Confirmation we need to read the Bible to identify the beautiful sounds of God working in and through us. Like all good instruction manuals you may need someone to help decipher the directions, but every parish has a catechist or priest happy to help.
‘The God Who Speaks: The Year of the Word’ initiative gives us the perfect excuse to sit down with the Bible and do a bit of exploring. As you know, the Bible is made up of 73 books, produced over 1,500 years. Hundreds of authors were at work over the centuries. They came from many different backgrounds and cultures, very different from ours, and wrote as a people of their time. Yet, they had one thing in common; they wrote under the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit in order to lead us to God. The Bible is a collection of adventures, poems, laws, biographies and letters; it is a treasure trove of instructions!
At St Mary’s, in East Finchley, we have been celebrating God’s word in many different ways. During Advent the church was decorated with an illustrated Jesse Tree and after Christmas, children were invited to create their favourite Bible scene using Lego bricks. Recently, parishioners took part in a scriptural quiz, competing for a hamper comprising biblical foods; apples, fish, figs, grapes, lamb and wine.
The Year of the Word is a wonderful opportunity to let the ‘God Who Speaks’ instruct us in loving ourselves and each other, which is the best sort of music to God.
Please pray for all those who work or volunteer in your parish.
