Gone in a flash

It’s gone in a flash. Every Sunday, every time we go to Mass, it’s there for a few seconds while we stumble to our feet and try to focus on the words projected on the wall, or in the bulletin, or our Mass book.

I’m talking about the Gospel Acclamation. It’s a thing of beauty. So much so, that we book-end it with exclamations of Alleluia.

Today, we exclaim “Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.”

It’s just the words we need as we hurtle towards Christmas, out of the year from hell, into the summer holidays, counting down the last days of school.

So often our focus is on the footpath, as if searching for a dropped $5 note, or seeking meaning in the depths of a swamp or muddy pool.

But, no, that’s not where it’s all happening. Look up, greet the elderly passerby, smile at the giggling kids, gasp at the flowering tree, bask in the warm sun. Then look higher.

God is there, smiling back, reaching out.

Just lift up your heads and see redemption.