Mersey Leven Catholic Parish
Parish Priest: Fr Mike Delaney mob: 0417 279 437
email: mike.delaney@catholicpriest.org.au
Assistant Priest:
Fr Alexander Obiorah Mob: 0447 478 297
email: alexchuksobi@yahoo.co.uk
email: alexchuksobi@yahoo.co.uk
Postal Address:
PO Box 362, Devonport 7310
Parish Office:
90 Stewart Street, Devonport 7310
Office Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday,Thursday 10am-3pm
Office Phone: 6424 2783 Fax: 6423 5160
FaceBook: Mersey Leven Catholic Parish
Weekly Newsletter: mlcathparish.blogspot.com.au
Weekly Homily Podcast: podomatic.com/mikedelaney
Parish Mass Times: mlcpmasstimes.blogspot.com.au
Parish Magazine: mlcathparishnewsletter.blogspot.com.au
Secretary: Annie Davies/Anne Fisher Pastoral Council Chair: Mary Davies
Archdiocesan Website: www.hobart.catholic.org.au for news, information and details of other Parishes.
Weekday
Masses 24th - 27th February, 2015
Tuesday: 9:30am
Penguin
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe
Thursday: 12noon
Devonport, 7:30pm Penguin (Healing Mass)
Friday: 9:30am
Ulverstone
Next
Weekend 28th February & 1st March, 2015
Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Penguin & Devonport
Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell (LWC),
9:00am Ulverstone,
10:30am Devonport, 11am Sheffield
5:00pm Latrobe
Eucharistic Adoration:
Devonport: Every Friday 10am - 12noon, concluding with Stations of the Cross and Angelus
Devonport: Benediction with Adoration - first Friday of each month.
Prayer Groups:
Charismatic Renewal - Devonport (Emmaus House) Commences Thursdays - 7:30pm
Christian Meditation - Devonport, Emmaus House - Wednesdays 7pm.
Ministry Rosters 28th
February & 1st March, 2015
Devonport:
Readers:
Vigil: A McIntyre, M Williams, C Kiely-Hoye
10.30am: E Petts , K Douglas
Ministers of
Communion: Vigil M Doyle, M Heazlewood, S Innes,
M Gerrand, P
Shelverton
10.30am: B Peters, F Sly, J Carter, E
Petts , B Schrader, P Bolster
Cleaners 27th Feb: P Shelverton, E Petts 6th March: M.W.C.
Piety Shop 28th Feb: H Thompson 1st March: P Piccolo
Flowers: Lent
Ulverstone:
Reader: K McKenzie Ministers of Communion: E Reilly , M & K McKenzie, M O'Halloran
Cleaners: B & V
McCall, G Doyle Flowers: Lent Hospitality: B O'Rourke
Penguin:
Greeters: J & T Kiely Commentator: M Kenney Readers:
A Guest, J
Garnsey
Procession: A Landers, A Hyland Ministers of Communion: T Clayton,
E Nickols
Liturgy: Penguin Setting Up: E Nickols Care of Church: M Murray, E Nickols
Port Sorell:
Readers: D Leaman, P Anderson
Clean /Prepare/ A Hynes
Latrobe:
Reader: M Eden
Ministers of
Communion: P
Marlow, Z Smith Procession: I Campbell
Your prayers
are asked for the sick:
Frank Fitzpatrick, Michele Nickols, Emma
Newton, Valerie & Tom Nicolson, Reg Hinkley, Margaret
Hoult, Tony Hyde, Peter Bolster, Tim
Hancock, Leonie Heron, Eva Zvatora, Adrian
Brennan, Candida Tenaglia, Yvonne Harvey, Shirley White, Kath Smith & ...
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Lisa Roach, Dorothy Leary, Ted Dolliver, Stan
Tibble, Doug Howard, Andrew Cooper, Bob Lovell, Tony Wesley, Veronica
Obiorah, Irena Vorlicek, John Mansfield, Noreen Sheehan, Peter Burton, Allan Conroy, Dorothy Bell and Barry
Lyons. Also Catherine McLennan, Jeffrey & Genaro Visorro, Patrick Robert
King, Bruce Smith and Ma Arah Deiparine.
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time:
18th – 24th February
Bobby Rothwell, Brian Maller, Frederick Breen,
Mervyn Burke, Joyce McConnon,
Collin Morgan, Rita Sullivan, Laurence Duggan, Michael Duggan, Kristine Morgan, Thea Nicholas, Glen
Clark, Enid Stubbs and deceased relatives and friends of the Clark &
McLennan families; also Constancia Dag-uman, Patricio, Emeterio, Apolinario and
Jessie Daug.
May they rest in Peace
First Reading : Genesis 9:8-15
RESPONSORIAL PSALM (R.) Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep
your covenant.
Second Reading
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, king of endless glory!
No one lives on bread alone, but
on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ,
king of endless glory!
Gospel: Mark 1:12-15
PREGO REFLECTION ON THE GOSPEL
As I begin my prayer, I try to become still in body and
mind, using whatever way is helpful for me. Slowly, I read the gospel message,
taking time to notice any word or phrase that seems to speak to me.
I may like to imagine myself sitting with Jesus, or walking
alongside him, in the stillness and silence of the desert. What do I want to
say to him? Perhaps I may wish to ask that, in some measure, his stillness and
attentiveness to God may become my own, now and during this time of Lent.
In the silence of the desert, Jesus was tempted. I may like
to consider: what are my recurrent temptations? Where and how do I become
forgetful of God’s goodness?
I speak freely with Jesus who loves me and looks after me
in the silence of my prayer. Whatever I am thinking and feeling now, I remember
that he looks on me with compassion and love. I listen as he says to me too,
“The time has come...the Kingdom is close to you...Repent and believe.”
I end my prayer slowly, in what ever way seems best for me.
Glory be ...
First Reading
Second Reading
Gospel: Mark 9:2-10
OUR LENTEN LITURGY IN 2015:
The entire Christian community is invited to live this
period of forty days as a pilgrimage of repentance, conversion and renewal. In
the Bible, the number forty is rich in symbolism. It recalls Israel
Our words, actions and music in the liturgy lead us ever
deeper into the paschal mystery this Lent:
• After the introduction, Mass begins
with the priest greeting from the rear of the church and then proceeds while
Kyrie Eleison or Lord have mercy is sung. On the 1st, 3rd and 5th Sundays of
Lent, the Rite of Sprinkling (Asperges) may take place during the singing of
the Kyrie. The name ‘Asperges’ comes from the first word in the 9th verse of
Psalm 51 in the Latin translation, the Vulgate.
• By the use
of violet/purple vestments. Violet recalls suffering, mourning, simplicity and
austerity.
• By having
moments of silence before and after the readings and after the homily RGIRM
(2007) 45.
• At the breaking of the bread (the
Fraction Rite) there will be a short narrative before intoning the Lamb of God
• By the
absence of flowers due to the penitential nature of the season.
• The congregation leaves the church
after the singing of a brief final hymn, then following the celebrant in
respectful silence.
• There is
no Gloria or Alleluia verse (replaced by a Gospel acclamation).
• Images are
veiled immediately before the 5th Sunday of Lent in accordance with local
custom.
• On the 4th Sunday of Lent (Laetare
Sunday) flowers are permitted as well as music (eg music – that is musical
instruments – being played during preparation of the gifts, or during the
communion procession). Rose vestments may be worn on this Sunday.
GROWING
FOOD FOR LIFE:
Married couple Eric and Ma had an unprofitable farm and
limited diet before they engaged in training at the Tutu Rural Training Centre,
supported by Caritas Australia. Now they have a successful farm, a sustainable
income and food for life.
Please donate to Project Compassion 2015 and help people in
isolated areas of Fiji gain the skills they need to build healthy families and
grow food for life. Go to
WEEKLY RAMBLINGS:
This week Pope Francis announced
the appointment of His Excellency the Most Rev. Adolfo Tito Yllana, titular
Archbishop of Montecorvino (Motta Montecorvino is a town and comune of the province of Foggia in the Apulia region of southeast Italy) as Apostolic
Nuncio to Australia. He is currently the Apostolic Nuncio to the Democratic
Republic of Congo. We wish him well in his appointment. (For further
information you can go to either https://www.catholic.org.au/ or www.mlcathparish.blogspot.com.au)
Elsewhere in
the Newsletter is information about the start of our Sacramental Preparation
Program for 2015. I’m really excited about the program after the successful
program that was run last year and am looking forward to talking to families on
Monday and Tuesday night about the program for this year. If you know of
children in Gr 3 and above in State schools who might be eligible for the Sacraments
this year please encourage them to come along.
Please note the Lenten
Penance Letter from Archbishop Julian to be found on the noticeboards in all
Mass Centres this weekend. It reminds us of the Church’s Lenten Discipline.
Until next week take care in your homes and on the roads
KNIGHTS OF THE SOUTHERN
CROSS:
monthly meeting at Emmaus House Devonport, commencing at 6pm with shared
tea. Interested men are welcome to attend.
STATIONS OF THE CROSS: each Friday of Lent starting at 7pm at
Ulverstone, Devonport and Latrobe. All welcome!
SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM:
Families with children in Grade 3 or above are warmly
invited to participate in our family-centred, parish-based and school-supported
Sacramental Program to prepare to celebrate the sacraments of RECONCILIATION,
CONFIRMATION and EUCHARIST this year.
Information sessions to explain the preparation program
will be held:
Monday 23rd February, 7.00pm
at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Stewart Street, Devonport
Or
Tuesday 24th February 7.00pm
at Sacred Heart Church Alexandra Road
For further information please contact
the Parish Office 6424:2783 or email: sacra@eftel.net.au
HEALING
MASS:
Catholic Charismatic Renewal, are sponsoring a HEALING
MASS at St Mary’s Catholic Church Penguin on Thursday 26th February commencing
at 7.30pm. All welcome to come and celebrate the liturgy in a vibrant
and dynamic way using charismatic praise and worship, with the gifts of
tongues, prophecy, and anointing for healing. After Mass, teams will be
available for individual prayer. Please bring a friend and a plate for supper.
If you wish to know more or require local transport, please contact Celestine
Whiteley 6424:2043, Michael Gaffney 0447 018 068, Zoe Smith 6426:3073 or Tom
Knaap 6425:2442.
MACKILLOP HILL SPIRITUALITY
CENTRE - WILLIAM ST, FORTH
SPIRITUALITY IN THE COFFEE SHOPPE:
This Monday 23rd February 10.30am – 12 noon Come along…share your issues and
enjoy a lively discussion over morning tea!
DON’T MISS THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY!!!
“Life to the Full”- Creation
and New Creation in John’s Gospel.
Presented by Associate
Professor Mary Coloe pbvm, a Presentation Sister who teaches Scripture at the
University of Divinity in Melbourne. (More information on flyers available in
the church foyers)
Friday 27th
February 6.00pm – 9.00pm Cost: $30.00 or donation. Bookings essential.
**You are welcome to
bring something to eat if required. Tea and coffee provided
All Bookings: Phone 6428:3095 email: mackillophill.forth@sosj.org.au
WORLD DAY OF PRAYER – 6TH MARCH:
Penguin: The Rock Community Church Dooley Street 10am and
Ulverstone: Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Kings Parade 1:30pm -
Everyone welcome.
LITURGY PREPARATION GROUP:
You are very warmly invited to join interested
parishioners and members of local liturgical and musical groups to assist in
the preparation of our parish Holy Week liturgies. A meeting will be held
at Emmaus House Sunday 8th March from 2.00 pm - 3.30 pm - For further
information contact: Peter Douglas on 0419 302 435
ST VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY:
The Annual Button Day is Friday 20th March, if you
are able to volunteer an hour of your time to sell buttons to raise money for
the good work of St Vincent de Paul Society please phone Trish on 6427:7100. The
Society acknowledges the generosity of parishioners both financially and
voluntary work. This Sunday at Our Lady of Lourdes Church Mrs Margaret Gerrand
will be commissioned in the role of Regional President.
Thursday Nights - OLOL Hall,
Devonport.
Eyes down 7.30pm!
Callers for Thursday 26th February
are
Jon Halley & Bruce Peters
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
BURNIE/WYNYARD PARISH: warmly welcome Rev Dr Elio Capra
to their Parish for the weekend 13th - 15th March at the McAuley Centre, Marist
Regional College, Burnie entrance off Futuna Avenue. Everyone is invited to an
inspirational time with Fr Elio whose talks will be based on the Joy of the
Gospel of Pope Francis. Please contact Burnie Parish
if you would like to attend.
Prayer
for Lent
O
God, Eternal Brightness,
You
invite us to walk in the light of your Grace.
The
sign of an ashen cross calls us to rise from the dust of our lives
To
seek the clarity of new consciousness.
Bathe
our hearts in the wisdom of your loving word during these forty days of Lent.
May
the light of our baptism shine so brightly within us
That
we may become bearers of light for the world today.
We
ask this prayer in the name of Jesus, the Light of the World,
And
in the power of your Enlightening Spirit,
One
God forever and ever.
Amen.
Evangelii Gaudium
“This loving attentiveness is the beginning of a true concern for their person which inspires me effectively to seek their good. This entails appreciating the poor in their goodness, in their experience of life, in their culture and in their ways of living the faith.”
Par 199 from Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis, Nov. 24, 2013
Saint of the Week – St Polycarp, bishop & martyr (February 23)
The opening prayer for Mass on Monday, February 23 is a prayer by this Saint.
Born circa 69, St. Polycarp was a Greek bishop from Smyrna and an important 2nd century figure in Christian theology. His Letter to the Philippians was a significant foundation of early Christian literature, establishing the role of Apostle Paul and referencing the existence of other texts of the Bible’s New Testament. Polycarp’s dedication to religion ultimately led to his death. He was arrested and killed by the Romans for refusing to abandon Christianity circa 155.
Words of Wisdom –
“Living out one’s faith is either no way to live or the only way to live; it’s either imprisonment, or the only path to freedom. It offers happiness, or it frustrates the pursuit. There is no half-love, half-religion, half-worship, half-belief, half-truth. There is no kinda-sorta.”
This week’s meme requires a bit of reading to appreciate it. But stick with it!
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
FOR LENT 2015
“Make your hearts firm” (Jas 5:8)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Lent is a time of renewal for the whole Church, for each communities and every believer. Above all it is a “time of grace” (2 Cor6:2). God does not ask of us anything that he himself has not first given us. “We love because he first has loved us” (1 Jn 4:19). He is not aloof from us. Each one of us has a place in his heart. He knows us by name, he cares for us and he seeks us out whenever we turn away from him. He is interested in each of us; his love does not allow him to be indifferent to what happens to us. Usually, when we are healthy and comfortable, we forget about others (something God the Father never does): we are unconcerned with their problems, their sufferings and the injustices they endure… Our heart grows cold. As long as I am relatively healthy and comfortable, I don’t think about those less well off. Today, this selfish attitude of indifference has taken on global proportions, to the extent that we can speak of a globalization of indifference. It is a problem which we, as Christians, need to confront.
When the people of God are converted to his love, they find answers to the questions that history continually raises. One of the most urgent challenges which I would like to address in this Message is precisely the globalization of indifference.
Indifference to our neighbour and to God also represents a real temptation for us Christians. Each year during Lent we need to hear once more the voice of the prophets who cry out and trouble our conscience.
God is not indifferent to our world; he so loves it that he gave his Son for our salvation. In the Incarnation, in the earthly life, death, and resurrection of the Son of God, the gate between God and man, between heaven and earth, opens once for all. The Church is like the hand holding open this gate, thanks to her proclamation of God’s word, her celebration of the sacraments and her witness of the faith which works through love (cf. Gal 5:6). But the world tends to withdraw into itself and shut that door through which God comes into the world and the world comes to him. Hence the hand, which is the Church, must never be surprised if it is rejected, crushed and wounded.
God’s people, then, need this interior renewal, lest we become indifferent and withdraw into ourselves. To further this renewal, I would like to propose for our reflection three biblical texts.
1. “If one member suffers, all suffer together” (1 Cor 12:26) – The Church
The love of God breaks through that fatal withdrawal into ourselves which is indifference. The Church offers us this love of God by her teaching and especially by her witness. But we can only bear witness to what we ourselves have experienced. Christians are those who let God clothe them with goodness and mercy, with Christ, so as to become, like Christ, servants of God and others. This is clearly seen in the liturgy of Holy Thursday, with its rite of the washing of feet. Peter did not want Jesus to wash his feet, but he came to realize that Jesus does not wish to be just an example of how we should wash one another’s feet. Only those who have first allowed Jesus to wash their own feet can then offer this service to others. Only they have “a part” with him (Jn 13:8) and thus can serve others.
Lent is a favourable time for letting Christ serve us so that we in turn may become more like him. This happens whenever we hear the word of God and receive the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. There we become what we receive: the Body of Christ. In this body there is no room for the indifference which so often seems to possess our hearts. For whoever is of Christ, belongs to one body, and in him we cannot be indifferent to one another. “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honoured, all the parts share its joy” (1 Cor 12:26).
The Church is the communio sanctorum not only because of her saints, but also because she is a communion in holy things: the love of God revealed to us in Christ and all his gifts. Among these gifts there is also the response of those who let themselves be touched by this love. In this communion of saints, in this sharing in holy things, no one possesses anything alone, but shares everything with others. And since we are united in God, we can do something for those who are far distant, those whom we could never reach on our own, because with them and for them, we ask God that all of us may be open to his plan of salvation.
2. “Where is your brother?” (Gen 4:9) – Parishes and Communities
All that we have been saying about the universal Church must now be applied to the life of our parishes and communities. Do these ecclesial structures enable us to experience being part of one body? A body which receives and shares what God wishes to give? A body which acknowledges and cares for its weakest, poorest and most insignificant members?
Or do we take refuge in a universal love that would embrace the whole world, while failing to see the Lazarus sitting before our closed doors (Lk 16:19-31)?
In order to receive what God gives us and to make it bear abundant fruit, we need to press beyond the boundaries of the visible Church in two ways.
In the first place, by uniting ourselves in prayer with the Church in heaven. The prayers of the Church on earth establish a communion of mutual service and goodness which reaches up into the sight of God. Together with the saints who have found their fulfilment in God, we form part of that communion in which indifference is conquered by love. The Church in heaven is not triumphant because she has turned her back on the sufferings of the world and rejoices in splendid isolation. Rather, the saints already joyfully contemplate the fact that, through Jesus’ death and resurrection, they have triumphed once and for all over indifference, hardness of heart and hatred. Until this victory of love penetrates the whole world, the saints continue to accompany us on our pilgrim way. Saint Therese of Lisieux, a Doctor of the Church, expressed her conviction that the joy in heaven for the victory of crucified love remains incomplete as long as there is still a single man or woman on earth who suffers and cries out in pain: “I trust fully that I shall not remain idle in heaven; my desire is to continue to work for the Church and for souls” (Letter 254, July 14, 1897).
We share in the merits and joy of the saints, even as they share in our struggles and our longing for peace and reconciliation. Their joy in the victory of the Risen Christ gives us strength as we strive to overcome our indifference and hardness of heart.
In the second place, every Christian community is called to go out of itself and to be engaged in the life of the greater society of which it is a part, especially with the poor and those who are far away. The Church is missionary by her very nature; she is not self-enclosed but sent out to every nation and people.
Her mission is to bear patient witness to the One who desires to draw all creation and every man and woman to the Father. Her mission is to bring to all a love which cannot remain silent. The Church follows Jesus Christ along the paths that lead to every man and woman, to the very ends of the earth (cf. Acts 1:8). In each of our neighbours, then, we must see a brother or sister for whom Christ died and rose again. What we ourselves have received, we have received for them as well. Similarly, all that our brothers and sisters possess is a gift for the Church and for all humanity.
Dear brothers and sisters, how greatly I desire that all those places where the Church is present, especially our parishes and our communities, may become islands of mercy in the midst of the sea of indifference!
3. “Make your hearts firm!” (James 5:8) – Individual Christians
As individuals too, we have are tempted by indifference. Flooded with news reports and troubling images of human suffering, we often feel our complete inability to help. What can we do to avoid being caught up in this spiral of distress and powerlessness?
First, we can pray in communion with the Church on earth and in heaven. Let us not underestimate the power of so many voices united in prayer! The 24 Hours for the Lord initiative, which I hope will be observed on 13-14 March throughout the Church, also at the diocesan level, is meant to be a sign of this need for prayer.
Second, we can help by acts of charity, reaching out to both those near and far through the Church’s many charitable organizations. Lent is a favourable time for showing this concern for others by small yet concrete signs of our belonging to the one human family.
Third, the suffering of others is a call to conversion, since their need reminds me of the uncertainty of my own life and my dependence on God and my brothers and sisters. If we humbly implore God’s grace and accept our own limitations, we will trust in the infinite possibilities which God’s love holds out to us. We will also be able to resist the diabolical temptation of thinking that by our own efforts we can save the world and ourselves.
As a way of overcoming indifference and our pretensions to self-sufficiency, I would invite everyone to live this Lent as an opportunity for engaging in what Benedict XVI called a formation of the heart (cf. Deus Caritas Est, 31). A merciful heart does not mean a weak heart. Anyone who wishes to be merciful must have a strong and steadfast heart, closed to the tempter but open to God. A heart which lets itself be pierced by the Spirit so as to bring love along the roads that lead to our brothers and sisters. And, ultimately, a poor heart, one which realizes its own poverty and gives itself freely for others.
During this Lent, then, brothers and sisters, let us all ask the Lord: “Fac cor nostrum secundum cor tuum”: Make our hearts like yours (Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus). In this way we will receive a heart which is firm and merciful, attentive and generous, a heart which is not closed, indifferent or prey to the globalization of indifference.
It is my prayerful hope that this Lent will prove spiritually fruitful for each believer and every ecclesial community. I ask all of you to pray for me. May the Lord bless you and Our Lady keep you.
FRANCIS
From the Vatican, 4 October 2014
Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi
WALK THE PATH OF REPENTANCE
LENTEN PASTORAL LETTER 2015
My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The Lenten period of forty days each year is a time for each of us to engage in a process of spiritual renewal. It is above all a “time of grace” (2 Cor 6:2) but to receive this grace we need to walk a particular path. That path is the path of repentance.
We know that we all need spiritual renewal. We need to constantly seek to deepen and enrich our faith lest it become stale and our hearts become cold.
The Lenten period provides the opportunity for spiritual renewal. It helps to remind us of the finitude of our lives and focus on what is most important. The ashes we place on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday are a graphic reminder of the shortness of our lives and the fragility of our existence. As this is done we are exhorted to, “turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel”.
The call to repentance is a key element of the Christian life. Repentance involves being sorry for having offended God and the resolve to amend one’s life in order to avoid occasions of sin. It should be the outcome of a regular examination of conscience, where we take the time to pause from our busy daily lives and examine our actions recognising our sin. As Christians we are called to ongoing conversion fostered by a spirit of repentance.
Repentance is a central theme in the preaching of St John the Baptist, Jesus himself, St Peter and St Paul. St John the Baptist, heralding the coming of Christ, urged people to be baptised in the Jordan River as a sign of their desire to reform their lives (Mt 3:2). Jesus began his preaching with the message – “Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is close at hand” (Mt 4:17). On Pentecost day when St Peter was asked by his hearers what they should do in response to his message he unhesitatingly said, “You must repent of your sins and be baptised” (Acts 2:38). And St Paul in his letter to the Romans declared “We are dead to sin, so how can we continue to live in it” (Rom 6:2).
Repentance is inextricably tied to the proclamation of the Gospel yet it is probably one of the hardest messages for us to hear and respond to. We must be careful to never forget the reality of sin in human life. This is not something that can be glossed over. We are not perfect beings. The redemptive work of God in Christ only makes sense when we are able to confront the reality of our sinfulness. Sin separates us from God. But Jesus came to redeem us from sin and restore our relationship with God.
Dealing with sin
We need to acknowledge the fact of sin in our life. We need to be able to say, “I am a sinner”. Yet, many find it hard to identify as a sinner and resist the idea of coming before God in humility and asking for forgiveness. Sin is a reality in every person’s life. St John is very blunt about this: “If we say we have no sin in us, we are deceiving ourselves and refusing to admit the truth” (1 Jn 1:8).
We need to acknowledge the fact of sin in our life. We need to be able to say, “I am a sinner”. Yet, many find it hard to identify as a sinner and resist the idea of coming before God in humility and asking for forgiveness. Sin is a reality in every person’s life. St John is very blunt about this: “If we say we have no sin in us, we are deceiving ourselves and refusing to admit the truth” (1 Jn 1:8).
Even if we do accept that we have sinned there is the tendency to minimise its seriousness. We readily make excuses for ourselves. We blame others or particular circumstances as the cause for our sin. It is tempting to forget our failings.
When we sin we are marked by what we have done, even if we dismiss its seriousness or try to move on from what we did. The effect of sin can be likened to the carrying of a backpack, where every time we sin a rock is placed in this backpack; small rocks for small sins, big rocks for big sins. Gradually as sins mount the weight becomes greater. As we committed sins they become part of our history and part of us. We cannot ignore that they have occurred. What is important is that we deal with them.
We can only properly deal with our sin through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This is the sacrament that liberates from sin; without it we cannot leave our sins behind and move on into full relationship with Christ. If we do not seek God’s forgiveness and healing in the Sacrament of Reconciliation we simply become more and more burdened by the baggage of sin. It is only Christ who can heal us and liberate us from this burden of sin.
This is why Jesus took on human flesh and was made man, so that he could offer himself as a sacrifice to God for our sins and allow us to be reconciled with God the Father. When we look up at the cross we can hear the Lord pleading on our behalf – "Father forgive him/forgive her ". And when we look up at the Cross we can think – Jesus has done this because of my sins. Our prayer gazing up on the crucified Christ can be: “Jesus, you did this for me”. You endured all this for me, because of my sins.
The path of repentance
Each of us needs to walk the path of repentance and so find forgiveness. This path is the path to freedom, to healing and to new life in God’s Holy Spirit.
Each of us needs to walk the path of repentance and so find forgiveness. This path is the path to freedom, to healing and to new life in God’s Holy Spirit.
God longs to bring us into the fullness of his own life. However, we are sinners. We are fragile and imperfect. We are far from God. In order that the power and love of God can transform us, we must follow the path of growing in a humble and contrite heart and through repentance allow God’s grace to purify us and raise us up in holiness of life.
The experience of St Symeon the New Theologian is worth recounting. Symeon as a young man aged in his twenties worked in the public service in Constantinople in the early part of the tenth century. He had sought spiritual advice from a wise and holy monk, also named Symeon, from the monastery of Studion near Constantinople. The old monk taught him the practice of saying many times over, “God be merciful to me a sinner”. Young Symeon took the advice and after work in his room prayed this prayer every night, sometimes going through the whole night. One night he had a special experience of God. He describes it using the third person in the following words,
One day, as he stood and recited “God, have mercy on me a sinner” uttering it with his mind rather than his mouth, suddenly a flood of divine radiance appeared from above and filled the room….He saw nothing but light all around him and did not know whether he was standing on the ground.1
This experience had a profound effect upon him and shaped his life’s journey from this time on. He had had a direct experience of the presence of God and he attributed this to his practice of acknowledging his sinfulness and invoking the mercy of God. He understood that one must enter the depths of one’s sinfulness before God in a deep spirit of sorrow. He realised that God will be moved by such a person and pour forth his grace upon them.
St Symeon is regarded as one of the greatest mystics of the Eastern Church and his mystical poetry focused as it is on the gift of the Holy Spirit is a treasure of the Church. His message is an important one. The path to holiness is discovered by walking the path of repentance. The more we can say with utter conviction – and with tears as St Symeon would propose – “God be merciful to me a sinner”, the more our heart is laid open and receptive to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.
Taking the path of repentance
When we do not approach Christ in the Sacrament of Penance we remain caught up in our sin. We resign ourselves to mediocrity. We continue through life crippled and defeated. In this the devil has won a victory over us and he can lock us off from hope and change.
When we do not approach Christ in the Sacrament of Penance we remain caught up in our sin. We resign ourselves to mediocrity. We continue through life crippled and defeated. In this the devil has won a victory over us and he can lock us off from hope and change.
We must remember that God is Mercy. He is patiently waiting for us to seek forgiveness and, like the father in the parable of the prodigal son, when we seek His forgiveness He pours out His mercy upon us. Mercy heals the soul. Mercy breathes new hope and life into us. The experience of mercy reinvigorates our spirit. The heart of Jesus is mercy, not condemnation. In the heart of Jesus is a desire to forgive and so revive our spirits. In the heart of Jesus lives the desire that we change and grow and come to holiness and human flourishing.
The message we proclaim in speaking of repentance is that God is a God of Mercy, of life and salvation. The proclamation of the call to repentance focuses ultimately not on the ugliness of our own sin, but of the freedom and new life that comes with repentance.
24 Hours for the Lord
Following the success of the initiative entitled “24 Hours for the Lord” held last year during Lent, the Holy Father has again asked that dioceses support this event. It involves a period of 24 hours of Eucharistic Adoration during which the Sacrament of Reconciliation is available, beginning on Friday evening March 13 and concluding with the evening Vigil Mass on Saturday 14 March. It will take place in St Mary’s Cathedral in Hobart.
Following the success of the initiative entitled “24 Hours for the Lord” held last year during Lent, the Holy Father has again asked that dioceses support this event. It involves a period of 24 hours of Eucharistic Adoration during which the Sacrament of Reconciliation is available, beginning on Friday evening March 13 and concluding with the evening Vigil Mass on Saturday 14 March. It will take place in St Mary’s Cathedral in Hobart.
This year it is under the theme: God rich in Mercy (Eph 2:4). The Pope will preside at a penitential celebration in St Peter’s Basilica on Friday evening. On many occasions he has highlighted how important reconciliation is for every Catholic. In his Lenten Pastoral Letter this year the Pope said, “How greatly I desire that all those places where the Church is present may become islands of mercy in the midst of the sea of indifference!”
This Lent, let each of us walk the path of repentance. Let each of us come before the Lord with humble hearts and confess our sins.
Archbishop Julian Porteous.
Lenten Penance
The
Church’s Canon Law reaffirms our obligation to do penance. The special times of
penance are all Fridays throughout the year and the season of Lent. We recall
that St. John the Baptist prepared for the coming of the Lord by “preaching a
baptism of repentance”. Christ began his ministry on earth with the exhortation
to repent: “Repent and believe the Gospel” Mk 1:15.
Repentance
means the rejection of sin. It implies conversion to, and reconciliation with
God. Penance is the concrete expression of repentance. It takes the forms of
prayer, self-denial, and works of charity. Each of these identifies us more
closely with our Saviour. By penance we make satisfaction for our sins, and
take real steps in the renewal of our lives. Penance is the proof of our repentance.
Repentance and conversion are central, on-going features of Christian living.
Penance has to be a constant, even daily, practice in our lives. In nominating
special times of penance, the Church encourages and promotes in all of us the
habit of penance.
Furthermore,
observance of these special times by all Catholics throughout the universal
Church emphasises what we call “the social dimension of sin”. The sin of the
individual member always in some measure infects the whole body. Therefore
during Lent and on the Fridays of the year, we do penance, not only on our own
account, but also in the name of the Church and of the world. We must take very
seriously our penitential obligations and be sure to carry them out. The
Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference has not restricted our penance to fast
and abstinence in all cases, it has left room for our own responsible choice.
Where we make the choice, we should carefully select the form of penance that
we consider most appropriate for our own circumstances and growth in the
Christian life.
DAYS
OF PENANCE
1.
Rules for Lent follow in (a), (b), and (c).
2.
Abstinence from meat, and fasting, are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good
Friday.
3.
On all other Fridays of the year the law of the common practice of penance is
fulfilled by performing any one of the following:
(a) Prayer – for example, Mass attendance; family
prayer; a visit to a church or chapel; reading the Bible; making the Stations
of the Cross; praying the rosary.
(b) Self-denial – for example, not eating meat; not
eating sweets or dessert; giving up entertainment to spend time with the
family; limiting food and drink so as to give to the poor of one’s own country.
(c) Helping others – for example, special attention to
someone who is poor, sick, elderly, lonely or overburdened.
All who have completed their eighteenth year and have
not yet begun their sixtieth year are bound to fast. All who have completed
their fourteenth year are bound to abstain.
LENT
LASTS FROM ASH WEDNESDAY (18th FEBRUARY) TO THE MASS OF THE LORD’S SUPPER EXCLUSIVE
(2nd APRIL).
ON GOOD FRIDAY AND, IF POSSIBLE, ALSO ON HOLY SATURDAY UNTIL THE EASTER VIGIL,
THE EASTER FAST IS OBSERVED.
PASCHAL
PRECEPT
Each
of the faithful is obliged to receive Holy Communion at least once a year. This
is to be done between Ash Wednesday, 18th February, and Trinity Sunday, 31st May, 2015
unless for a good reason it is done at another time during the year. All the
faithful are obliged to confess their grave sins at least once a year.
St.
Mary's Cathedral, Hobart
16th February
2015
Francis tells cardinals not to be 'closed caste,' seek contact with marginalized
By Joshua McElwee - An article printed in the National Catholic Reporter on 15th February 2015. The original article can be found at ncronline.org/node/96426
Forcefully repeating his message of engagement and of reaching out to those marginalized by society, Pope Francis on Sunday told the world's Catholic cardinals they cannot become a "closed caste" of prelates who do not turn to the outcast or to those in need.
Speaking during a homily at a Mass Sunday with some 160 cardinals
from around the world, Francis again outlined for the high prelates a powerful
vision of a church marked first by seeking out others and by welcoming them, no
matter their situation in life.
The credibility of the church and on the Christian message, the
pontiff said, rests entirely on how Christians serve those marginalized by
society.
"Dear brothers," Francis told the cardinals, "I
urge you to serve the Church in such a way that Christians -- edified by our
witness -- will not be tempted to turn to Jesus without turning to the outcast,
to become a closed caste with nothing authentically ecclesial about it."
Saying he urged the prelates "to serve Jesus crucified in
every person who is marginalized," the pope said they must "see the
Lord present even in those who have lost their faith, or turned away from the
practice of their faith, or who have declared themselves to be atheists."
"We will not find the Lord unless we truly accept the marginalized!" the pope exhorted. "Truly, the Gospel of the marginalized is where our credibility is at stake, is found and is revealed!'
Francis was speaking Sunday at a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica to
mark his creation of 20 new cardinals from around the world on Saturday. His words during the homily
seemed to portray a significantly new vision for how he wants cardinals --
historically called the "princes of the church" -- to go about their
work.
Reflecting on Sunday's Gospel reading -- a section from the Gospel
of Mark in which Jesus touches a leper and heals him -- Francis spoke for an
unusually long 15 minutes on the need to be compassionate, to seek to
"reintegrate" the marginalized, and to "respond
immediately" to those left most in need by society.
The pope outlined what he said were two ways "of thinking and
of having faith."
"We can fear to lose the saved and we can want to save the
lost," said Francis. "Even today it can happen that we stand at the
crossroads of these two ways of thinking."
"The thinking of the doctors of the law, which would remove
the danger by casting out the diseased person," he continued. "And
the thinking of God, who in his mercy embraces and accepts by reinstating him
and turning evil into good, condemnation into salvation and exclusion into
proclamation."
"These two ways of thinking are present throughout the
Church's history: Casting off and reintegrating," said Francis.
"The Church's way, from the time of the Council of Jerusalem,
has always been the way of Jesus, the way of mercy and reintegration," he
said.
"This does not mean underestimating the dangers of letting
wolves into the fold," said the pope. "But welcoming the repentant
prodigal son; healing the wounds of sin with courage and determination; rolling
up our sleeves and not standing by and watching passively the suffering of the
world."
"The way of the Church is not condemning anyone eternally; to
pour out the balm of God’s mercy on all those who ask for it with a sincere
heart," said Francis. "The way of the Church is precisely to leave
her four walls behind and to go out in search of those who are distant, those
on the 'outskirts' of life."
"In a word: charity cannot be neutral, indifferent, lukewarm
or impartial!" Francis exhorted. "Charity is infectious, it excites,
it risks and it engages! For true charity is always unmerited, unconditional
and gratuitous!"
"Charity is creative in finding the right words to speak to
all those considered incurable and hence untouchable," said the pope.
"Contact is the true language of communication, the same endearing
language which brought healing to the leper."
"How many healings can we perform if only we learn this language!" he said.
"The leper, once cured, became a messenger of God’s love. The Gospel tells
us that 'he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the
word.'"
Addressing directly the 20 prelates he named as cardinals
Saturday, Francis said that the curing of the leper is the "logic, the
mind of Jesus, and this is the way of the Church."
"Not only to welcome and reintegrate with evangelical courage
all those knock at our door, but to go out and to seek, fearlessly and without
prejudice, those who are distant, freely sharing what we ourselves freely
received," said the pope.
He continued: "Total openness to serving others is our hallmark,
it alone is our title of honor!"
Earlier in his homily, Francis meditated directly on Jesus' action
in the Gospel story, saying he had wanted to touch the leper in order to
"restore him to the community without being 'hemmed in' by prejudice,
conformity to the prevailing mindset or worry about becoming infected."
"Jesus responds immediately to the leper’s plea, without
waiting to study the situation and all its possible consequences!" said
the pope. "For Jesus, what matters above all is reaching out to save those
far off, healing the wounds of the sick, restoring everyone to God’s
family!"
"And this is scandalous to some people!" Francis said.
"Jesus is not afraid of this kind of scandal!"
Jesus, said the pope, "does not think of the closed-minded
who are scandalized even by a work of healing, scandalized before any kind of
openness, by any action outside of their mental and spiritual boxes, by any
caress or sign of tenderness which does not fit into their usual thinking and
their ritual purity."
Jesus, Francis said, "wanted to reinstate the outcast, to
save those outside the camp."
Cardinals are usually senior Catholic prelates who serve either as
archbishops in the world's largest dioceses or in the Vatican's central
bureaucracy. Their principal role is to gather in secret conclave after the
death or resignation of a pope to elect his successor.
While historically cardinals have come from certain larger cities
known for their Catholic populations or global importance, Francis has sought
to diversify representation in the group -- choosing men from places long
underrepresented or even not represented in the College of Cardinals.
During Saturday's ceremony, Francis again diversified
representation in the College -- adding 20 prelates from 18 different countries,
several from places never before included in the elite group.
Beginning his homily during the Saturday ceremony, the pope
bluntly told the assembled cardinals that they should not consider their title
an honorific, saying: "The cardinalate is certainly an honor, but it is
not honorific."
[Joshua J. McElwee is NCR Vatican correspondent.
His email address is jmcelwee@ncronline.org. Follow him on Twitter: @joshjmac.]
CHRIST AND NATURE
Numerous groups and individuals today are challenging us in
regards to our relationship to mother-earth. From Green Peace, from various
environmental groups, from various Christian and other religious groups, and
from various individual voices, comes the challenge to be less-blind,
less-unthinking, and less-reckless in terms of how we relate to the earth.
Every day our newscasts point out how, without much in the way of serious
reflection, we are polluting the planet, strip-mining its resources, creating
mega-landfills, pouring carbon dangerously into the atmosphere, causing the
disappearance of thousands of species, creating bad air and bad water, and
thinning the ozone layer. And so the cry goes out: live more simply, use fewer
resources, lessen your carbon footprint, and try to recycle whatever you’ve
used as much as you can.
That challenge, of course, is very good and very important.
The air we breathe out is the air we will eventually inhale and so we need to
be very careful about what we exhale. This planet is our home and we need to
ensure that, long-term, it can provide us with the sustenance and comfort of a
home.
But, true as this is, there’s still another, very important
reason, why we need to treat mother-earth with more caution and respect,
namely, Christ, himself, is vitally bound-up with nature and his reasons for
coming to earth also include the intention of redeeming the physical universe.
What’s implied here?
Let me begin with an anecdote which captures, in essence,
what’s at stake: The scientist-theologian, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, in
conversation with a Vatican official who was confused by his writings and
doctrinally-suspicious of them, was once asked: “What are you trying to do in
your writings?” Teilhard’s response: “I am trying to write a Christology that
is wide enough to incorporate the full Christ because Christ is not just an
anthropological event but he is also a cosmic phenomenon.” Simply
translated, he is saying that Christ didn’t just come to save people, he came
for that yes, but he also came to save the planet, of which people are only one
part.
In saying that, Teilhard has solid scriptural backing.
Looking at the scriptures we find that they affirm that Christ didn’t just come
to save people, he came to save the world. For example, the Epistle to the
Colossians (1, 15-20) records an ancient Christian hymn which affirms both that
Christ was already a vital force inside the original creation (“that all things
were made through him”) and that Christ is also the end point to of all
history, human and cosmic. The Epistle to the Ephesians, also recording an
ancient Christian hymn, (1, 3-10) makes the same point; while the Epistle to
the Romans (8,19-22) is even more explicit in affirming that physical creation,
mother-earth and our physical universe, are “groaning” as they too wait for
redemption by Christ. Among other things, these texts affirm that the physical
world is part of God’s plan for eventual heavenly life.
What’s contained in that, if we tease out its implications?
A number of very clear principles: First, nature, not just humanity, is
being redeemed by Christ. The world is not just a stage upon which human
history plays out; it has intrinsic meaning and value beyond what it means for
us as humans. Physical nature is, in effect, brother and sister with us in the
journey towards the divinely-intended end of history. Christ also came to
redeem the earth, not just those of us who are living on it. Physical creation
too will enter in the final synthesis of history, that is, heaven.
Second, this means that nature has intrinsic rights, not
just the rights we find convenient to accord it. What this means is that
defacing or abusing nature is not just a legal and environmental issue, it’s a
moral issue. We are violating someone’s (something’s) intrinsic rights. Thus
when we, mindlessly, throw a coke-can into a ditch we are not just breaking a
law we are also, at some deep level, defacing Christ. We need to respect
nature, not, first of all, so that it doesn’t recoil on us and give us back our
own asphyxiating pollution, but because it, akin to humanity, has its own
rights. A teaching too rarely affirmed.
Finally, not least, what is implied in understanding the
cosmic dimension of Christ and what that means in terms of our relationship to
mother-earth and the universe is the non-negotiable fact that the quest for
community and consummation within God’s Kingdom (our journey towards heaven) is
a quest that calls us not just to a proper relationship with God and with each
other, but also to a proper relationship with physical creation.
We are humans with bodies living on the earth, not
disembodied angels living in heaven, and Christ came to save our bodies along
with our souls; and he came, as well, to save the physical ground upon which we
walk since he was the very pattern upon which and through which the physical
world was created.
Torah, Prophets, Wisdom
An email reflection by Fr Richard Rohr posted on 15th February 2015
The Hebrew Scriptures are divided into three major sections:
the Torah, the Prophets, and the Wisdom books. Walter Brueggemann says, and I
think it's pure genius, that these three sections represent the ordinary and
healthy development of human consciousness in a sequential way. The Torah gave
the Israelites the Law and a sense of their chosenness. For healthy
development, any culture or family must follow this pattern of first providing
structure, which develops identity, boundaries, and self-worth as beloved and
special.
The second set of books is the Jewish Prophets, and they
represent the birth of critical thinking. The Prophets have clearly been the
most neglected part of Scripture for both Jews and Christians, because neither
showed much capacity for healthy self-criticism. You can see the rise of
critical thinking in young people, but it is mostly oriented toward others
instead of themselves. Parents often feel their teenagers oppose them on
everything! And yet it is a necessary stage, though it often doesn't go far
enough.
The Roman Catholic Church did not allow prophetic/critical
thinking for almost 500 years after the Reformation, nor did America for most
of its 200-year history. (Slavery and segregation are the most obvious
examples.) When the floodgates opened in the 1960's, there was no stopping
critical thinking. Now many Evangelicals are going through the same process in
the emerging church movement.
On the individual level, self-critical thinking is necessary
to see one's own shadow self and one's own narcissism. This is a small, early
death, which only a minority undergo. Yet only when I encounter my shadow do I
realize that my biggest problem is me! We have to go through a great interior
death to get to the third stage of wisdom. Then can we begin to learn to live
with mystery and paradox. It is the birthplace of compassion and wisdom.
The Wisdom section of the Hebrew Scriptures includes the
books of Job, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, and many of the Psalms. Such
Wisdom literature reveals an ability to finally be patient with mystery and
contradictions--and the soul itself. Wisdom people have passed through a major
death to their ego. This is the core meaning of transformation. It opens you to
what Marcus Borg (who sadly died recently) and others have rightly called
alternative wisdom instead of the mere maintenance of social order
(conventional wisdom). It is from this third stage of alternative wisdom that
Jesus teaches. Yet most of Christian history tried to understand Jesus inside
the first stage of law and the need for social order. Jesus' Sermon on the
Mount is anything but maintaining the status quo, and it goes far beyond mere negative
or critical thinking!
Adapted from
Way of the Prophet (no longer available);
and Prophets
Then, Prophets Now (CD, MP3 download);
and
Scripture as Liberation (MP3 download)
· The star indicates the light of sanctifying grace;
Adolfo Tito Yllana - Wikipedia
Adolfo Tito Yllana (born 6 February 1948, Naga City, Philippines) is a Roman
Catholic archbishop and the Apostolic Nuncio to Australia. He undertook
religious studies from the Holy Rosary Seminary in the city of his
birth. On 19 March 1972 he was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Caceres. He went on to obtain a Doctor of Civil and
Ecclesial Law from the Lateran University in Rome and began his
diplomatic career after finishing his studies at the Academia Ecclesiastica,
the premier academy for the diplomatic corps in the Vatican. His first
diplomatic posts were in Ghana, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Lebanon, Hungary and Taiwan.
On 13 December 2001 he was appointed titular archbishop of Montecorvino
and Apostolic Nuncio to Papua New Guinea. He was consecrated by Pope
John Paul II on 6 January 2002 in St Peter's Basilica.
The Coat-of-Arms of Archbishop Yllana was designed by
Cardinal Andrea de Montezemolo. The colors in the four parts indicate the
faith (blue) as the beginning of grace coming from God and pervades everything,
to which the human will responds to (silver) in the practice of the virtues.
· The star indicates the light of sanctifying grace;
· The rose represents the Virgin Mary, mother and help of all Christians
(here the
rose represents Our Lady of Peñafrancia, the patroness of the Bicol
region, to whom
the archbishop, just like every Bicolano, has a special
devotion and attachment);
· The undulating waves indicate water, which penetrates everywhere it
passes making life flourish, as the pastoral work of the archbishop is
indicated in the motto "to Preach (proclaim the Gospel, announce the Good
News or evangelize) and to Serve".
· The book indicates the Gospel, as the word of God, which inspires,
teaches and guides every action of life, be it in evangelizing as in serving.
He was appointed apostolic nuncio to Pakistan on 31 March
2006. In November 2007, Archbishop Yllana joined in the celebrations to
mark the 100th anniversary of the Sacred Heart Cathedral, Lahore with
a special message from Pope Benedict XVI to the local congregation
On 21 September 2009, Archbishop Yllana presided at the ordination in St.
Joseph's Cathedral, of the new coadjutor bishop of Islamabad-Rawalpindi,
Bishop Rufin Anthony. More than 1,500 people
attended the event
On 17 April 2010 the diocese of Faisalabad organized a special ceremony
to celebrate its golden jubilee. Archbishop Yllana, Bishop Joseph
Coutts (Faisalabad), Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha (Lahore), and
Bishop Andrew Francis (Multan) spoke on the occasion. At the jubilee
mass at the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul attended by about 5,000
Catholics from 21 parishes, Archbishop Yllana said that the Vatican was happy
to see the number of priestly and religious vocations in the diocese.
On 20 November 2010, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop
Yllana as the Apostolic Nuncio to the Democratic Republic of the
Congo in Africa. On 17 February 2015, Pope
Francis appointed Yllana as the Apostolic Nuncio to Australia
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