A New Hope, a long time ago ...
It was 1977 and the first film of a new franchise was released. While a triumphant musical fanfare played, words scrolled up the screen - words which have become iconic to the generation who first saw them and those who followed “ A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…” and then followed a brief description of the context for the beginning of the film - a critical turning point in its story. It is a period of civil war… (there is more detail finishing with) Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy.... Strangely this new franchise was entitled “Star Wars Episode 4 - a new hope”. You see it was starting in the middle of the story. Episodes 5&6 followed - then later we got the prequels - episodes 1-3. Today’s gospel starts in the middle of the story - it is a story of a new hope but we need to go back to an earlier part of the story to understand the context and significance. The