Across the United Kingdom last weekend, Catholic churches celebrated Mass on Remembrance Sunday.
At the Mass I attended, the priest spoke movingly about the Battle of Monte Cassino and the heroism of young soldiers who, in fighting to preserve our freedom, had risked and in many cases lost their lives. They had offered their lives for others.
In light of the vivid stories he recounted, the priest asked his congregation to reflect on how we use the freedom which others died to secure for us. Is the use we make of it pleasing to God? How can we make our own lives an offering to God who holds the key to the meaning of all suffering? By drawing the congregation’s attention to the offering of the Eucharist, the priest helped make sense of all those heroic offerings that can symbolise the one truly efficacious offering.
