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Dear brothers and sisters,

This Sunday’s readings speak to us about the impact of division. We hear of the fall of our first parents, resulting in a separation from the wonder of the Garden of Eden and the close relationship with God for which we are all created. In the Gospel, Jesus reminds us, in the strongest of terms, that the call to do the will of God must always come before all else.

We live in a world that is so divided, with conflict raging in so many places; in a world for which we seem to have little care; in a society where we see so many divisions; a society in which the right to life – from conception to natural death – is not always respected. In such a world, the call of the Gospel must be presented ever more insistently, grounded in prayer and the celebration of the Eucharist, that all may hear the call to conversion – to that radical "turning around" that brings us face-to-face with the God whose love is seen in the suffering, Death and Resurrection of the Son Who sends us the Spirit of truth to prompt our every action.

This call to the world is our Mission, the task that Jesus Himself has given to us. Let us pray that we shall be united in this work for Him, placing nothing in the way of our proclamation of the wonder of the Gospel.

With every blessing,

+ Richard

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