Mersey Leven Catholic Parish
Parish Priest: Fr Mike Delaney
Mob: 0417 279 437
Mob: 0417 279 437
Assistant Priest: Fr Paschal Okpon
Mob: 0438 562 731
paschalokpon@yahoo.com
Priest in Residence: Fr Phil McCormack
Mob: 0437 521 257
Mob: 0437 521 257
Postal Address: PO Box 362
Parish Office: 90 Stewart Street
(Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10am - 3pm)
Office Phone: 6424 2783 Fax: 6423 5160
Email: merseyleven@aohtas.org.au
Secretary: Annie Davies
Finance Officer: Anne Fisher
Finance Officer: Anne Fisher
Parish Mass times for the Month: mlcpmasstimes.blogspot.com.au
Weekly Homily Podcast: mikedelaney.podomatic.com
Archdiocesan Website: www.hobart.catholic.org.au for news, information and details of other Parishes.
PLENARY COUNCIL PRAYER
Come, Holy Spirit of Pentecost.
Come, Holy Spirit of the great South Land.
O God, bless and unite all your people in Australia
and guide us on the pilgrim way of the Plenary Council.
Give us the grace to see your face in one another
and to recognise Jesus, our companion on the road.
Give us the courage to tell our stories and to speak boldly of your truth.
Give us ears to listen humbly to each other
and a discerning heart to hear what you are saying.
Lead your Church into a hope-filled future,
that we may live the joy of the Gospel.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, bread for the journey from age to age.
Amen.
Our Lady Help of Christians, pray for us.
St Mary MacKillop, pray for us.
Come, Holy Spirit of the great South Land.
O God, bless and unite all your people in Australia
and guide us on the pilgrim way of the Plenary Council.
Give us the grace to see your face in one another
and to recognise Jesus, our companion on the road.
Give us the courage to tell our stories and to speak boldly of your truth.
Give us ears to listen humbly to each other
and a discerning heart to hear what you are saying.
Lead your Church into a hope-filled future,
that we may live the joy of the Gospel.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, bread for the journey from age to age.
Amen.
Our Lady Help of Christians, pray for us.
St Mary MacKillop, pray for us.
Parish Prayer
Heavenly Father,
and calling us to serve as your disciples.
as we use our gifts to serve you.
as we strive to bear witness
to the Gospel and build an amazing parish.
Amen.
Our Parish Sacramental Life
Eucharistic Adoration - Devonport: Every Friday 10am - 12noon, concluding with Stations of the Cross and Angelus
Benediction with Adoration Devonport: First Friday each month - commences at 10am and concludes with Mass
Legion of Mary: Wednesdays 11am Sacred Heart Church Community Room, Ulverstone
Prayer Group: Charismatic Renewal – Mondays 7pm Community Room Ulverstone
and calling us to serve as your disciples.
as we use our gifts to serve you.
as we strive to bear witness
Amen.
Our Parish Sacramental Life
Baptism: Arrangements are made by contacting Parish Office. Parents attend a Baptismal Preparation Session organised with a Priest.
Reconciliation, Confirmation and Eucharist: Are received following a Family–centred, Parish-based, School-supported Preparation Program.
Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: prepares adults for reception into the Catholic community.
Marriage: arrangements are made by contacting one of our priests - couples attend a Pre-marriage Program
Anointing of the Sick: please contact one of our priests
Reconciliation: Ulverstone - Fridays (10am - 10:30am), Devonport - Saturday (5:15pm– 5.45pm)
Eucharistic Adoration - Devonport: Every Friday 10am - 12noon, concluding with Stations of the Cross and Angelus
Benediction with Adoration Devonport: First Friday each month - commences at 10am and concludes with Mass
Benediction with Adoration Devonport: First Friday each month - commences at 10am and concludes with Mass
Legion of Mary: Wednesdays 11am Sacred Heart Church Community Room, Ulverstone
Prayer Group: Charismatic Renewal – Mondays 7pm Community Room Ulverstone
Weekday Masses 3nd - 5th July, 2019
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe
Friday: 9:30am Ulverstone
12 noon Devonport
Next Weekend 6 & 7th July, 2019
Saturday Vigil: 9:30am Ulverstone
6:00pm Penguin
6:00pm Devonport
Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell
9:00am Ulverstone
10:30am Devonport
11:00am Sheffield
5.00pm Latrobe
Ministry Rosters 6th & 7th July, 2019
Devonport:
Readers: Vigil: M Stewart, M Gaffney, H Lim
10:30am A Hughes, E Barrientos, P Piccolo
Ministers of Communion:
Vigil D Peters, M Heazlewood, T Muir, M Gerrand, P Shelverton
10.30am: F Sly, E Petts, K Hull, S Arrowsmith, K & K Maynard
Cleaners 5th July: M.W.C 12th July: P & T Douglas
Piety Shop 6th July: L Murfet 7th July: P Piccolo Mowing at Presbytery - June:
Ulverstone:
Reader/s: S Lawrence
Ministers of Communion: M Mott, W Bajzelj, J Jones, T Leary
Cleaners: M McKenzie, M Singh, N Pearce
Flowers: C Stingel Hospitality: M Byrne, G Doyle
Penguin:
Greeters G Hills-Eade, B Eade
Commentator: Y Downes
Readers: J Barker, A Landers
Ministers of Communion: M Hiscutt, S Coleman
Liturgy: Penguin
Setting Up: E Nickols Care of Church: M Bowles, J Reynolds
Latrobe:
Reader: S Ritchie
Minister of Communion: B Ritchie
Procession of Gifts: J Hyde
Port Sorell:
Readers: G Bellchambers, P Anderson
Ministers of Communion: T Jeffries
Cleaners: G Richey
Readings This Week: 13th
Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
PREGO REFLECTION ON THE GOSPEL:
As I prepare myself to spend some time with the Lord, It
might help to ask myself why I want to do this, and what frame of mind I am in.
With utter honesty I tell the Lord what is in my heart.
After a while I pick up
the leaflet and start reading the Gospel.
I may need to read it several times
before I become familiar enough with it to put it aside and reflect.
What
picture do I have of Jesus walking 'resolutely' to Jerusalem?
With hindsight, I
know what will take place there.
How does that make me feel?
I may now want to
turn to the three would-be disciples.
Two of them want to follow Jesus … but
not just yet!
Their requests seem eminently reasonable.
I ponder.
Do I
recognise myself in one – or possibly all – of them?
What has been, is, or will
be my response to Jesus’s call: 'Follow me'?
Is it 'I will follow you if…’ ….
or 'I will follow you even if…'?
I speak to the Lord, aware that he will never
ask of me more than I can freely give.
In time, I slowly bring my prayer to an
end.
I thank the Lord for allowing me to travel along with him today.
Glory
be...
Your prayers are asked for the sick:
Geoff Heazelwood, Joy Carter, Marie Knight, Allan Stott, Christina Okpon, Robert Luxton, Adrian Drane, Fred Heazlewood, Jason Carr, Thomas & Frances McGeown, Charlotte Milic, John Kelly, David Cole & …
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Lillian Bannerman, Phillip Roden, Rose Stanley, Mary Hoye, Jean Phillips, Don Bower, Arlene Austria.
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 27th June – 3rd July, 2019
Basil Triffett, Terry Charlesworth, Fr Michael Fitzpatrick, Herbert Smith, Rosslyn Wilson, Leonard Hamilton, Donald Wilson, Eileen White, Hazel Gaffney, Kathleen Edwards, Geraldine Roden, Josephine Stafford, Ellen Joyce, John Csoka, Frances Preston, Marg Woodcock, Panela Withers, Kora Pembleton, Paul Mulcahy, Charles Desire, Laurance Gibbons, Maud Powell, John Cochrane.
Weekly
Ramblings
On my wall I have a copy of a painting done by Holman
Hunt. It is called the Light of the
World. The original was painted in 1850.
Someone writing about it says; “Jesus light of the world
stands at the door. The door represents
our inner life. The door can only be
opened from the inside. Jesus stands
there and waits”.
I would visit the man who had the painting each
week. Because I admired it he promised
to give it to me. A Parishioner put a frame
of Huon Pine and Figured Eucalyptus (worth more than the picture now). Whenever I look at the picture I am reminded
of what a good man Dodger was and pray for him.
My Unit is at Lock up Stage, joinery is being done!!!
Fr Paschal and myself are looking forward to Fr. Mike's
return – it’s hard being the boss. We
hope he has had a relaxing and restful holiday.
PLANNED GIVING PROGRAMME:
New envelopes are available for collection THIS weekend. If you are not already part of this programme and would like to join, please contact the Parish office 6424:2783.
Please note: The new envelopes (Red in colour) should not be used until the starting date Sunday 7th July, therefore once you start using the new envelopes you must throw out the old envelopes (Blue in colour)
Thank you!
KNIGHTS OF THE SOUTHERN CROSS: The next meeting will be at Devonport this Sunday 30th June at 5:00pm
ST MARYS PENGUIN: A big thank you to everyone who contributed to the Soup, Sandwich and Sweets night last Saturday after Mass. It was wonderful to see so many helping to set the hall up before Mass and helping to clean up and put things away afterwards. It was a great night with lots of yummy food, which was enjoyed by the lucky people who were able to be there. Thank you to everyone who brought soup, sandwiches and sweets - they were all delicious.
THURSDAY 4th July – Eyes down 7:30pm. Callers Merv Tippett & Rod Clark
FOOTY MARGIN RESULTS:
Round 14 (Friday 21st June) Sydney Swans won by 19 points. Congratulations to the following winners; Veronica Mahoney, Tony Davies & …
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
THE JOURNEY CATHOLIC RADIO PROGRAM – AIRS 30 June 2019
This week on the Journey, our Gospel reading is Luke 9:51-62.
We are so lucky to have some amazing contributors to the Journey Catholic Radio Program with some names and voices that you have come to love over the years. This week we are blessed with Mother Hilda from the Abbey and Bruce Downes, the Catholic Guy. Go to www.jcr.org.au or www.itunes.jcr.org.au and to ensure that you never miss a show it can be sent to you each week as a podcast via email – for free
SOLEMNITY OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL
Carmelite Monastery, 7 Cambridge St., Launceston
Tuesday 16th July 9.30am Sung Mass
Celebrant and Homilist: Archbishop Julian Porteous, DD
A Novena of Masses and Prayers July 7th – 15th
Intentions may be sent to Mother Teresa Benedicta via post or
Morning Tea after Mass
All are welcome
The Divine Alchemy
Guest writer and CAC faculty member Cynthia Bourgeault ties the dynamic outpouring of Trinity to
Jesus’ path of self-emptying.
The Trinitarian mystery has immediate implications for us as
we try to live Jesus’ path. All too often our attempts at self-emptying feel
isolated and pointless. They seem like dead ends, with no real connection to
the world at large or even to our own best intentions. Even Jesus’ crucifixion
seems in some sense to be a waste. Why should a good and wise man who could
have been a teacher of many die meaninglessly on a cross? Often our own small
acts of heroism and sacrifice seem pointless as well—except that the Trinity
assures us no act of kenosis is ever isolated, no matter how meaningless it
looks, no matter how disconnected, no matter how unproductive in terms of
reward and gain. Through the Trinity all kenosis is a tiny hologram of
perichoresis [which is the “circle dance” in which love and being are exchanged
between the three persons of the Trinity]. It belongs to that great relational
field of “the divine exchange” and connects us instantly with the whole of God,
allowing divine love to become manifest in some new and profound dimension. As
Raimon Panikkar beautifully expresses it, “I am one with the source insofar as
I act as a source by making everything I have received flow again—just like
Jesus.” [1]
[1] Raimon Panikkar, Christophany (Orbis Books: 2004), 116.
The Loss of Heaven and the Fear of Hell
This article is taken from the archive of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find this article and many others by clicking h
ere
Growing up as a Roman Catholic, like the rest of my generation, I was taught a prayer called, The Act of Contrition. Every Catholic back then had to memorize it and say it during or after going to confession. The prayer started this way: Oh, my God, I am truly sorry for having offended thee and I detest all of my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. …
To dread the loss of heaven and fear the pains of hell can seem like one and the same thing. They’re not. There’s a huge moral distance between dreading the loss of heaven and fearing the pains of hell. The prayer wisely separates them. Fear of hell is based upon a fear of punishment, dreading the loss of heaven is based upon a fear of not being a good, loving person. There’s a huge difference between living in fear of punishment and living in fear of not being a good a person. We’re more mature, humanly and as Christians, when we’re more worried about not being loving enough than when we’re fearful that we will be punished for doing something wrong.
Growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, I breathed in the spirituality and catechesis of the Roman Catholicism of the time. In the Catholic ethos then (and this was essentially the same for Protestants and Evangelicals) the eschatological emphasis was a lot more about the fear of going to hell than it was about being a loving person. As a Catholic kid, along with my peers, I worried a lot about not committing a mortal sin, that is, doing something out of selfishness or weakness that, if unconfessed before I died, would send me to hell for all eternity. My fear was that I might go to hell rather than that I might not be a very loving person who would miss out on love and community. And so I worried about not being bad rather than about being good. I worried that I would do something that was mortally sinful, that would send me to hell; but I didn’t worry as much about having a heart big enough to love as God loves. I didn’t worry as much about forgiving others, about letting go of hurts, about loving those who are different from me, about being judgmental, or about being so tribal, racist, sexist, nationalistic, or narrow in my religious views that I would be uncomfortable sitting down with certain others at the God’s banquet table.
The heavenly table is open to all who are willing to sit down with all. That’s a line from a John Shea poem and it spells out succinctly, I believe, a non-negotiable condition for going to heaven, namely, the willingness and capacity to love everyone and to sit down with everyone. It’s non-negotiable for this reason: How can we be at the heavenly table with everyone if for some reason of pride, wound, temperament, bitterness, bigotry, politics, nationalism, color, race, religion, or history, we aren’t open to sit down with everyone?
Jesus teaches this too, just in a different way. After giving us the Lord’s Prayer which ends with the words, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”, he adds this: “If you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you.” Why can’t God forgive us if we don’t forgive others? Has God arbitrarily singled out this one condition as his pet criterion for going to heaven? No.
We cannot sit at the heavenly banquet table if we are still selective as to whom we can sit down with. If, in the next life, like here in this life, we are selective as to whom we love and embrace, then heaven would be the same as earth, with factions, bitterness, grudges, hurt, and every kind of racism, sexism, nationalism, and religious fundamentalism keeping us all in our separate silos. We can only sit at the heavenly banquet when are hearts are wide enough to embrace everyone else at the table. Heaven demands a heart open to universal embrace.
And so, as I get older, approach the end of my life, and accept that I will soon face my Maker, I worry less and less about going to hell and worry more and more about the bitterness, anger, ingratitude, and non-forgiveness that still remains in me. I worry less about committing a mortal sin and more about whether I’m gracious, respectful, and forgiving towards others. I worry more about the loss of heaven than the pains of hell, that is, I worry that I could end up like the older brother of the prodigal son, standing outside the Father’s house, excluded by anger rather than by sin.
Still, I’m grateful for the Act of Contrition of my youth. Fear of hell isn’t a bad place from which to start.
A Fresh Look
What we Learned About Technology While Updating The Blog
This article is taken from the Blog posted by Fr Michael White, Pastor of the Church of the Nativity, Timoneum, Baltimore. You can find the original blog by clicking here
If you’re visiting for the first time in a while, you may have noticed that the blog has undergone a transformation. Over the past few weeks we’ve done a complete overhaul of the site – both visibly and behind the scenes. Here are a few lessons we learned while updating the blog:
1. Make it mobile friendly
The old design was built in 2009 – when only 17% of Americans were using smartphones to access webpages on-the-go. A decade later, nearly everyone has a smartphone. Over 60% of readers of this blog are using mobile devices, and we expect this number to only increase as mobile devices become more ubiquitous.
Opening a website on a phone is a fundamentally different experience than opening it on a computer. The size of the screen and the ability to use touch gestures make it necessary to build your website with mobile in mind.
We realized that the old design was not producing a good experience for a majority of readers. Our new look incorporates responsive design, which automatically adjusts the page to fit on any screen. This means that if you open the blog on your phone, the site will display the page in a way that is accessible to touch gestures and easy to read.
2. Make it easy to find you
93% of all online experiences start with a search engine. But, too often, the blog wasn’t showing up on the top of Google results.
Search results are determined by an algorithm that prioritizes relevant, fast, mobile-friendly, and modern websites. The process we took to make the blog more attractive to the algorithm is called search engine optimization (SEO). There are a variety of tools that can help you in this process but we started by identifying key words that may be included in a search about you. By planting these keywords in your posts, you make it easier for the search engines to find you. Now, when you search for “Fr. Michael White blog,” we are right on top.
3. Make it easy to read
Perhaps the most noticeable change is in the visual appearance of the blog. The new design is cleaner, simpler, and more modern. The most important content – the blog posts themselves – are now positioned prominently on the left side of the page.
The rapid pace of development in technology demands that we not only adopt new technologies but also keep our existing tools up-to-date. Increasingly, the way people find and interact with our parishes will be determined by the accessibility of our online presence.
Doubting Thomas
And Faith In The Resurrection
The immigration detention centre residents for whom Harry Elias SJ leads bible study draw much faith and encouragement from biblical texts, which are often their sole reading material. Fr Elias shares his reflections on their discussions about what it really means to have faith in the risen Christ: it is not about an encounter with a resurrected body, but about an understanding of God’s faithfulness to his people. Harry Elias SJ assists in the Hurtado Jesuit Centre in Wapping, East London.
Faith in the resurrection is commonly thought of as believing that life continues after death in some kind of body. St Paul talks of a heavenly body as opposed to an earthly body (1 Corinthians 15:40), but that does not leave me much the wiser about what form that body takes, nor would St Paul intend it to. All I know is what I am told about the appearances and movements of the risen Jesus in the gospels.
One such appearance is to the disciples (John 20:26-31), among them Thomas, who is most often singled out as ‘doubting’. I am not convinced that this is a fair descriptor. We know that he was called ‘the Twin’ (John 20:24); and a twin, especially if he were an identical twin, would have been accustomed from very early on in life to being mistaken for his lookalike sibling. So perhaps Thomas was making sure, in case the other disciples were deceived by a lookalike who would later embarrass them, that indeed it was Jesus, with the mark of his nails to show that he had really died and risen.
Whatever were Thomas’s motives, when Jesus asked him to feel the wounds of the nails in his body, Thomas answered, ‘My Lord and my God!’; and Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’ John continues by saying that the signs he records were done in the presence of the disciples and are written that the reader ‘may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name’. Faith needs to be mediated through the senses, it can be aroused and encouraged by what is seen, touched and heard; but it cannot be reduced to sensory experience. Thomas (and the reader of the gospel) is chided for doubting the testimony given to him by eyewitnesses, but his faith in Jesus, as his Lord and God, went beyond what he saw and heard and touched (or not).
Central to Thomas’s and our faith in the resurrection is not so much that there is life after death in a risen body, but that Jesus is vindicated as Lord and God. ‘God raised him on the third day,’ said Peter in the house of Cornelius, ‘and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead.’ (Acts 10:40-42)
The Lordship of Jesus in his resurrection is the prime testimony to the faithfulness of the God of Israel to his covenant people, who were the first to be given the gospel. It was, ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors [who] has glorified his servant Jesus’ (Acts 3:13). God is faithful to Israel, to whom belongs, ‘the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises’ (Romans 9:4); and especially to his promise to Abraham that, ‘in your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed’ (Galatians 3:8, Genesis 12:3).
The faithfulness of God in making a new covenant, in establishing his Kingdom ‘on earth as it is in heaven’, is in fact the gospel, the good news:
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people ; ….for I shall forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more’. (Jeremiah 31:33-4)
Prophecies of the new covenant had envisaged the Kingdom of God coming on earth as a new creation: in Ezekiel 36:26, ‘A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you’; and Isaiah 65:17, ‘For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth’. The Kingdom begins to be established through the life and teaching of Jesus, supported by his miracles. His resurrection is the first fruits of the new creation, followed at his coming – the parousia – by those who belong to Christ (1 Corinthians 15:23). And, in fact, all creation ‘waits with eager longing’ to be ‘set free from its bondage to decay to obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.’(Romans 8:19,21) God’s rule is now mediated by the risen Lamb that was slain (Revelation 5:13), sitting at the right hand of God (Mark 14:62 and Daniel 7:13-4).
At the Last Supper, Jesus spoke of the offering of his suffering and death for the forgiveness of sins as establishing the new covenant (see also 1 Corinthians 11:25: ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood’). He refers elsewhere to prophecies of his Lordship: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ (Mark 12:36). In Luke’s Gospel, when the risen Jesus meets the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, he tells them, ‘“Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.’ (Luke 24:26-7). Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12, one of the Suffering Servant hymns, was also believed to prophesy the atoning suffering of the Messiah: ‘But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed’ (53:5).
The faithfulness of God in fulfilling these prophecies is seen both as judgment on evil and as merciful love, bringing forgiveness. For Jesus, salvation and God’s mercy were the focus; his warnings of judgment were to enable people to repent and receive God’s mercy in the grace of forgiveness. Jesus suffered obediently the judgment of death for sin, which is common to all, but in his rising from the dead, God’s mercy comes in the Holy Spirit, with forgiveness for all who repent and believe in him and are baptised (see Acts 2:38).
Paul says the Spirit given to us is the Spirit of adoption who enables us to cry ‘Abba! Father’; ‘we are joint heirs with Christ – if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may be glorified with him’ (Romans 8:16,17). And, ‘If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you’ (Romans 11:5). The newness of life in the Spirit is experienced in faith, which is the assurance of things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1). The Spirit comforts us and enables us to endure even to the point of death. The Spirit arouses in us a personal love of the God who enters our life as Saviour, and unites us in love with the brethren of Christ, especially the ones in need, enabling even the forgiveness of our enemy. The expected conduct to be aimed at by a Christian is found concentrated in the Sermon the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and in Paul – especially in Romans 12, where he describes this newness of life in practical terms; and, of course, in his famous analysis of the sacrificial love that imitates the love of Christ (1 Corinthians 13).
Faith in God’s faithfulness to each one of us, so that ‘all things work together for good for those who love God’ (Romans 8:28), can make us read the events of our own life also in terms of personal faithfulness, God’s and ours. Yet, it is He who takes the initiative and He who finishes the work in us and of His new creation – He is the Alpha and Omega (Revelation 1:8). Paul says that the word of faith he proclaims is on the Christian’s lips and in his heart, ‘because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved’. (Romans 10:9). We have to keep asking ourselves whether we truly believe in, and so experience, the power of God’s mercy coming to us through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour risen from the dead. Can we, for whom Jesus is not made visible, not doubt, but be blessed in believing?
Weekday Masses 3nd - 5th July, 2019
Tuesday: 9:30am Penguin
Wednesday: 9:30am Latrobe
Thursday: 12 noon Devonport
Friday: 9:30am Ulverstone
12 noon Devonport
Friday: 9:30am Ulverstone
12 noon Devonport
Next Weekend 6 & 7th July, 2019
Saturday Vigil: 9:30am Ulverstone
6:00pm Penguin
6:00pm Penguin
6:00pm Devonport
Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell
9:00am Ulverstone
10:30am Devonport
11:00am Sheffield
5.00pm Latrobe
Readers: Vigil: M Stewart, M Gaffney, H Lim
10:30am A Hughes, E Barrientos, P Piccolo
Ministers of Communion:
Vigil D Peters, M Heazlewood, T Muir, M Gerrand, P Shelverton
10.30am: F Sly, E Petts, K Hull, S Arrowsmith, K & K Maynard
Cleaners 5th July: M.W.C 12th July: P & T Douglas
Piety Shop 6th July: L Murfet 7th July: P Piccolo Mowing at Presbytery - June:
Ulverstone:
Reader/s: S Lawrence
Ministers of Communion: M Mott, W Bajzelj, J Jones, T Leary
Cleaners: M McKenzie, M Singh, N Pearce
Flowers: C Stingel Hospitality: M Byrne, G Doyle
Penguin:
Greeters G Hills-Eade, B Eade
Commentator: Y Downes
Readers: J Barker, A Landers
Ministers of Communion: M Hiscutt, S Coleman
Liturgy: Penguin
Setting Up: E Nickols Care of Church: M Bowles, J Reynolds
Latrobe:
Reader: S Ritchie
Minister of Communion: B Ritchie
Procession of Gifts: J Hyde
Port Sorell:
Readers: G Bellchambers, P Anderson
Ministers of Communion: T Jeffries
Cleaners: G Richey
Your prayers are asked for the sick:
PLANNED GIVING PROGRAMME:
KNIGHTS OF THE SOUTHERN CROSS: The next meeting will be at Devonport this Sunday 30th June at 5:00pm
ST MARYS PENGUIN: A big thank you to everyone who contributed to the Soup, Sandwich and Sweets night last Saturday after Mass. It was wonderful to see so many helping to set the hall up before Mass and helping to clean up and put things away afterwards. It was a great night with lots of yummy food, which was enjoyed by the lucky people who were able to be there. Thank you to everyone who brought soup, sandwiches and sweets - they were all delicious.
THURSDAY 4th July – Eyes down 7:30pm. Callers Merv Tippett & Rod Clark
FOOTY MARGIN RESULTS:
Round 14 (Friday 21st June) Sydney Swans won by 19 points. Congratulations to the following winners; Veronica Mahoney, Tony Davies & …
THE JOURNEY CATHOLIC RADIO PROGRAM – AIRS 30 June 2019
This week on the Journey, our Gospel reading is Luke 9:51-62.
We are so lucky to have some amazing contributors to the Journey Catholic Radio Program with some names and voices that you have come to love over the years. This week we are blessed with Mother Hilda from the Abbey and Bruce Downes, the Catholic Guy. Go to www.jcr.org.au or www.itunes.jcr.org.au and to ensure that you never miss a show it can be sent to you each week as a podcast via email – for free
SOLEMNITY OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL
ere
5.00pm Latrobe
Ministry Rosters 6th & 7th July, 2019
Devonport: Readers: Vigil: M Stewart, M Gaffney, H Lim
10:30am A Hughes, E Barrientos, P Piccolo
Ministers of Communion:
Vigil D Peters, M Heazlewood, T Muir, M Gerrand, P Shelverton
10.30am: F Sly, E Petts, K Hull, S Arrowsmith, K & K Maynard
Cleaners 5th July: M.W.C 12th July: P & T Douglas
Piety Shop 6th July: L Murfet 7th July: P Piccolo Mowing at Presbytery - June:
Ulverstone:
Reader/s: S Lawrence
Ministers of Communion: M Mott, W Bajzelj, J Jones, T Leary
Cleaners: M McKenzie, M Singh, N Pearce
Flowers: C Stingel Hospitality: M Byrne, G Doyle
Penguin:
Greeters G Hills-Eade, B Eade
Commentator: Y Downes
Readers: J Barker, A Landers
Ministers of Communion: M Hiscutt, S Coleman
Liturgy: Penguin
Setting Up: E Nickols Care of Church: M Bowles, J Reynolds
Latrobe:
Reader: S Ritchie
Minister of Communion: B Ritchie
Procession of Gifts: J Hyde
Port Sorell:
Readers: G Bellchambers, P Anderson
Ministers of Communion: T Jeffries
Cleaners: G Richey
Readings This Week: 13th
Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
First
Reading: 1 Kings 19:16, 19-21
Second
Reading: Galatians 5:1, 13-18
Gospel: Luke 9: 51-62
PREGO REFLECTION ON THE GOSPEL:
As I prepare myself to spend some time with the Lord, It
might help to ask myself why I want to do this, and what frame of mind I am in.
With utter honesty I tell the Lord what is in my heart.
After a while I pick up
the leaflet and start reading the Gospel.
I may need to read it several times
before I become familiar enough with it to put it aside and reflect.
What
picture do I have of Jesus walking 'resolutely' to Jerusalem?
With hindsight, I
know what will take place there.
How does that make me feel?
I may now want to
turn to the three would-be disciples.
Two of them want to follow Jesus … but
not just yet!
Their requests seem eminently reasonable.
I ponder.
Do I
recognise myself in one – or possibly all – of them?
What has been, is, or will
be my response to Jesus’s call: 'Follow me'?
Is it 'I will follow you if…’ ….
or 'I will follow you even if…'?
I speak to the Lord, aware that he will never
ask of me more than I can freely give.
In time, I slowly bring my prayer to an
end.
I thank the Lord for allowing me to travel along with him today.
Glory
be...
Readings Next Week: 14th
Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
First
Reading: Isaiah 66:10-14
Second
Reading: Galatians 6:14-18
Gospel: Luke 10:1-12. 17-20
Your prayers are asked for the sick:
Geoff Heazelwood, Joy Carter, Marie Knight, Allan Stott, Christina Okpon, Robert Luxton, Adrian Drane, Fred Heazlewood, Jason Carr, Thomas & Frances McGeown, Charlotte Milic, John Kelly, David Cole & …
Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Lillian Bannerman, Phillip Roden, Rose Stanley, Mary Hoye, Jean Phillips, Don Bower, Arlene Austria.
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 27th June – 3rd July, 2019
Basil Triffett, Terry Charlesworth, Fr Michael Fitzpatrick, Herbert Smith, Rosslyn Wilson, Leonard Hamilton, Donald Wilson, Eileen White, Hazel Gaffney, Kathleen Edwards, Geraldine Roden, Josephine Stafford, Ellen Joyce, John Csoka, Frances Preston, Marg Woodcock, Panela Withers, Kora Pembleton, Paul Mulcahy, Charles Desire, Laurance Gibbons, Maud Powell, John Cochrane.
Weekly
Ramblings
On my wall I have a copy of a painting done by Holman
Hunt. It is called the Light of the
World. The original was painted in 1850.
Someone writing about it says; “Jesus light of the world
stands at the door. The door represents
our inner life. The door can only be
opened from the inside. Jesus stands
there and waits”.
I would visit the man who had the painting each
week. Because I admired it he promised
to give it to me. A Parishioner put a frame
of Huon Pine and Figured Eucalyptus (worth more than the picture now). Whenever I look at the picture I am reminded
of what a good man Dodger was and pray for him.
My Unit is at Lock up Stage, joinery is being done!!!
Fr Paschal and myself are looking forward to Fr. Mike's
return – it’s hard being the boss. We
hope he has had a relaxing and restful holiday.
New envelopes are available for collection THIS weekend. If you are not already part of this programme and would like to join, please contact the Parish office 6424:2783.
Please note: The new envelopes (Red in colour) should not be used until the starting date Sunday 7th July, therefore once you start using the new envelopes you must throw out the old envelopes (Blue in colour)
Thank you!
KNIGHTS OF THE SOUTHERN CROSS: The next meeting will be at Devonport this Sunday 30th June at 5:00pm
ST MARYS PENGUIN: A big thank you to everyone who contributed to the Soup, Sandwich and Sweets night last Saturday after Mass. It was wonderful to see so many helping to set the hall up before Mass and helping to clean up and put things away afterwards. It was a great night with lots of yummy food, which was enjoyed by the lucky people who were able to be there. Thank you to everyone who brought soup, sandwiches and sweets - they were all delicious.
THURSDAY 4th July – Eyes down 7:30pm. Callers Merv Tippett & Rod Clark
FOOTY MARGIN RESULTS:
Round 14 (Friday 21st June) Sydney Swans won by 19 points. Congratulations to the following winners; Veronica Mahoney, Tony Davies & …
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
THE JOURNEY CATHOLIC RADIO PROGRAM – AIRS 30 June 2019
This week on the Journey, our Gospel reading is Luke 9:51-62.
We are so lucky to have some amazing contributors to the Journey Catholic Radio Program with some names and voices that you have come to love over the years. This week we are blessed with Mother Hilda from the Abbey and Bruce Downes, the Catholic Guy. Go to www.jcr.org.au or www.itunes.jcr.org.au and to ensure that you never miss a show it can be sent to you each week as a podcast via email – for free
SOLEMNITY OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL
Carmelite Monastery, 7 Cambridge St., Launceston
Tuesday 16th July 9.30am Sung Mass
Celebrant and Homilist: Archbishop Julian Porteous, DD
A Novena of Masses and Prayers July 7th – 15th
Intentions may be sent to Mother Teresa Benedicta via post or
Morning Tea after Mass
All are welcome
The Divine Alchemy
Guest writer and CAC faculty member Cynthia Bourgeault ties the dynamic outpouring of Trinity to
Jesus’ path of self-emptying.
The Trinitarian mystery has immediate implications for us as
we try to live Jesus’ path. All too often our attempts at self-emptying feel
isolated and pointless. They seem like dead ends, with no real connection to
the world at large or even to our own best intentions. Even Jesus’ crucifixion
seems in some sense to be a waste. Why should a good and wise man who could
have been a teacher of many die meaninglessly on a cross? Often our own small
acts of heroism and sacrifice seem pointless as well—except that the Trinity
assures us no act of kenosis is ever isolated, no matter how meaningless it
looks, no matter how disconnected, no matter how unproductive in terms of
reward and gain. Through the Trinity all kenosis is a tiny hologram of
perichoresis [which is the “circle dance” in which love and being are exchanged
between the three persons of the Trinity]. It belongs to that great relational
field of “the divine exchange” and connects us instantly with the whole of God,
allowing divine love to become manifest in some new and profound dimension. As
Raimon Panikkar beautifully expresses it, “I am one with the source insofar as
I act as a source by making everything I have received flow again—just like
Jesus.” [1]
Jesus’ teaching assures us as we move toward center along
this very reckless and in some ways abundant and extravagant path—not “storing
it all up” as in the classic ascetic traditions of attaining being, but
“throwing it all away”—that divine love is infinite and immediate and will
always come to us if we don’t cling. This is a powerful statement, so simple
and yet so radical.
This is a kind of sacred alchemy. As we practice in daily
life—in our acts of compassion, kindness, and self-emptying, both at the level
of our doing and even more at the level of our being—something is catalyzed.
Subtle qualities of divine love essential to the well-being of this planet are
released through our actions and flow out into the world as miracle, healing,
and hope.
The template for the divine alchemy is imprinted in our
soul: the Trinitarian impulse which is both the icon of divine reality within
us and the means by which that reality brings itself to fullness. As we learn
not to harden and brace even in the face of what appears to be ultimate
darkness, but to let all things flow in that great river of kenosis and
perichoresis, we come to know—and finally become—the river itself, which
circulates through all things as the hidden dynamism of love. This, I believe,
is the path that Jesus taught and walked, the path he calls us to.
[1] Raimon Panikkar, Christophany (Orbis Books: 2004), 116.
Adapted from Cynthia Bourgeault, The Wisdom Jesus:
Transforming Heart and Mind—a new Perspective on Christ and His Message
(Shambhala: 2008), 72-74.
The Loss of Heaven and the Fear of Hell
This article is taken from the archive of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find this article and many others by clicking h
Growing up as a Roman Catholic, like the rest of my generation, I was taught a prayer called, The Act of Contrition. Every Catholic back then had to memorize it and say it during or after going to confession. The prayer started this way: Oh, my God, I am truly sorry for having offended thee and I detest all of my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. …
To dread the loss of heaven and fear the pains of hell can seem like one and the same thing. They’re not. There’s a huge moral distance between dreading the loss of heaven and fearing the pains of hell. The prayer wisely separates them. Fear of hell is based upon a fear of punishment, dreading the loss of heaven is based upon a fear of not being a good, loving person. There’s a huge difference between living in fear of punishment and living in fear of not being a good a person. We’re more mature, humanly and as Christians, when we’re more worried about not being loving enough than when we’re fearful that we will be punished for doing something wrong.
Growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, I breathed in the spirituality and catechesis of the Roman Catholicism of the time. In the Catholic ethos then (and this was essentially the same for Protestants and Evangelicals) the eschatological emphasis was a lot more about the fear of going to hell than it was about being a loving person. As a Catholic kid, along with my peers, I worried a lot about not committing a mortal sin, that is, doing something out of selfishness or weakness that, if unconfessed before I died, would send me to hell for all eternity. My fear was that I might go to hell rather than that I might not be a very loving person who would miss out on love and community. And so I worried about not being bad rather than about being good. I worried that I would do something that was mortally sinful, that would send me to hell; but I didn’t worry as much about having a heart big enough to love as God loves. I didn’t worry as much about forgiving others, about letting go of hurts, about loving those who are different from me, about being judgmental, or about being so tribal, racist, sexist, nationalistic, or narrow in my religious views that I would be uncomfortable sitting down with certain others at the God’s banquet table.
The heavenly table is open to all who are willing to sit down with all. That’s a line from a John Shea poem and it spells out succinctly, I believe, a non-negotiable condition for going to heaven, namely, the willingness and capacity to love everyone and to sit down with everyone. It’s non-negotiable for this reason: How can we be at the heavenly table with everyone if for some reason of pride, wound, temperament, bitterness, bigotry, politics, nationalism, color, race, religion, or history, we aren’t open to sit down with everyone?
Jesus teaches this too, just in a different way. After giving us the Lord’s Prayer which ends with the words, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”, he adds this: “If you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you.” Why can’t God forgive us if we don’t forgive others? Has God arbitrarily singled out this one condition as his pet criterion for going to heaven? No.
We cannot sit at the heavenly banquet table if we are still selective as to whom we can sit down with. If, in the next life, like here in this life, we are selective as to whom we love and embrace, then heaven would be the same as earth, with factions, bitterness, grudges, hurt, and every kind of racism, sexism, nationalism, and religious fundamentalism keeping us all in our separate silos. We can only sit at the heavenly banquet when are hearts are wide enough to embrace everyone else at the table. Heaven demands a heart open to universal embrace.
And so, as I get older, approach the end of my life, and accept that I will soon face my Maker, I worry less and less about going to hell and worry more and more about the bitterness, anger, ingratitude, and non-forgiveness that still remains in me. I worry less about committing a mortal sin and more about whether I’m gracious, respectful, and forgiving towards others. I worry more about the loss of heaven than the pains of hell, that is, I worry that I could end up like the older brother of the prodigal son, standing outside the Father’s house, excluded by anger rather than by sin.
Still, I’m grateful for the Act of Contrition of my youth. Fear of hell isn’t a bad place from which to start.
A Fresh Look
What we Learned About Technology While Updating The Blog
This article is taken from the Blog posted by Fr Michael White, Pastor of the Church of the Nativity, Timoneum, Baltimore. You can find the original blog by clicking here
If you’re visiting for the first time in a while, you may have noticed that the blog has undergone a transformation. Over the past few weeks we’ve done a complete overhaul of the site – both visibly and behind the scenes. Here are a few lessons we learned while updating the blog:
1. Make it mobile friendly
The old design was built in 2009 – when only 17% of Americans were using smartphones to access webpages on-the-go. A decade later, nearly everyone has a smartphone. Over 60% of readers of this blog are using mobile devices, and we expect this number to only increase as mobile devices become more ubiquitous.
Opening a website on a phone is a fundamentally different experience than opening it on a computer. The size of the screen and the ability to use touch gestures make it necessary to build your website with mobile in mind.
We realized that the old design was not producing a good experience for a majority of readers. Our new look incorporates responsive design, which automatically adjusts the page to fit on any screen. This means that if you open the blog on your phone, the site will display the page in a way that is accessible to touch gestures and easy to read.
2. Make it easy to find you
93% of all online experiences start with a search engine. But, too often, the blog wasn’t showing up on the top of Google results.
Search results are determined by an algorithm that prioritizes relevant, fast, mobile-friendly, and modern websites. The process we took to make the blog more attractive to the algorithm is called search engine optimization (SEO). There are a variety of tools that can help you in this process but we started by identifying key words that may be included in a search about you. By planting these keywords in your posts, you make it easier for the search engines to find you. Now, when you search for “Fr. Michael White blog,” we are right on top.
3. Make it easy to read
Perhaps the most noticeable change is in the visual appearance of the blog. The new design is cleaner, simpler, and more modern. The most important content – the blog posts themselves – are now positioned prominently on the left side of the page.
The rapid pace of development in technology demands that we not only adopt new technologies but also keep our existing tools up-to-date. Increasingly, the way people find and interact with our parishes will be determined by the accessibility of our online presence.
Doubting Thomas
And Faith In The Resurrection
The immigration detention centre residents for whom Harry Elias SJ leads bible study draw much faith and encouragement from biblical texts, which are often their sole reading material. Fr Elias shares his reflections on their discussions about what it really means to have faith in the risen Christ: it is not about an encounter with a resurrected body, but about an understanding of God’s faithfulness to his people. Harry Elias SJ assists in the Hurtado Jesuit Centre in Wapping, East London.
Faith in the resurrection is commonly thought of as believing that life continues after death in some kind of body. St Paul talks of a heavenly body as opposed to an earthly body (1 Corinthians 15:40), but that does not leave me much the wiser about what form that body takes, nor would St Paul intend it to. All I know is what I am told about the appearances and movements of the risen Jesus in the gospels.
One such appearance is to the disciples (John 20:26-31), among them Thomas, who is most often singled out as ‘doubting’. I am not convinced that this is a fair descriptor. We know that he was called ‘the Twin’ (John 20:24); and a twin, especially if he were an identical twin, would have been accustomed from very early on in life to being mistaken for his lookalike sibling. So perhaps Thomas was making sure, in case the other disciples were deceived by a lookalike who would later embarrass them, that indeed it was Jesus, with the mark of his nails to show that he had really died and risen.
Whatever were Thomas’s motives, when Jesus asked him to feel the wounds of the nails in his body, Thomas answered, ‘My Lord and my God!’; and Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’ John continues by saying that the signs he records were done in the presence of the disciples and are written that the reader ‘may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name’. Faith needs to be mediated through the senses, it can be aroused and encouraged by what is seen, touched and heard; but it cannot be reduced to sensory experience. Thomas (and the reader of the gospel) is chided for doubting the testimony given to him by eyewitnesses, but his faith in Jesus, as his Lord and God, went beyond what he saw and heard and touched (or not).
Central to Thomas’s and our faith in the resurrection is not so much that there is life after death in a risen body, but that Jesus is vindicated as Lord and God. ‘God raised him on the third day,’ said Peter in the house of Cornelius, ‘and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead.’ (Acts 10:40-42)
The Lordship of Jesus in his resurrection is the prime testimony to the faithfulness of the God of Israel to his covenant people, who were the first to be given the gospel. It was, ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors [who] has glorified his servant Jesus’ (Acts 3:13). God is faithful to Israel, to whom belongs, ‘the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises’ (Romans 9:4); and especially to his promise to Abraham that, ‘in your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed’ (Galatians 3:8, Genesis 12:3).
The faithfulness of God in making a new covenant, in establishing his Kingdom ‘on earth as it is in heaven’, is in fact the gospel, the good news:
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people ; ….for I shall forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more’. (Jeremiah 31:33-4)
Prophecies of the new covenant had envisaged the Kingdom of God coming on earth as a new creation: in Ezekiel 36:26, ‘A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you’; and Isaiah 65:17, ‘For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth’. The Kingdom begins to be established through the life and teaching of Jesus, supported by his miracles. His resurrection is the first fruits of the new creation, followed at his coming – the parousia – by those who belong to Christ (1 Corinthians 15:23). And, in fact, all creation ‘waits with eager longing’ to be ‘set free from its bondage to decay to obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.’(Romans 8:19,21) God’s rule is now mediated by the risen Lamb that was slain (Revelation 5:13), sitting at the right hand of God (Mark 14:62 and Daniel 7:13-4).
At the Last Supper, Jesus spoke of the offering of his suffering and death for the forgiveness of sins as establishing the new covenant (see also 1 Corinthians 11:25: ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood’). He refers elsewhere to prophecies of his Lordship: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ (Mark 12:36). In Luke’s Gospel, when the risen Jesus meets the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, he tells them, ‘“Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.’ (Luke 24:26-7). Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12, one of the Suffering Servant hymns, was also believed to prophesy the atoning suffering of the Messiah: ‘But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed’ (53:5).
The faithfulness of God in fulfilling these prophecies is seen both as judgment on evil and as merciful love, bringing forgiveness. For Jesus, salvation and God’s mercy were the focus; his warnings of judgment were to enable people to repent and receive God’s mercy in the grace of forgiveness. Jesus suffered obediently the judgment of death for sin, which is common to all, but in his rising from the dead, God’s mercy comes in the Holy Spirit, with forgiveness for all who repent and believe in him and are baptised (see Acts 2:38).
Paul says the Spirit given to us is the Spirit of adoption who enables us to cry ‘Abba! Father’; ‘we are joint heirs with Christ – if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may be glorified with him’ (Romans 8:16,17). And, ‘If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you’ (Romans 11:5). The newness of life in the Spirit is experienced in faith, which is the assurance of things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1). The Spirit comforts us and enables us to endure even to the point of death. The Spirit arouses in us a personal love of the God who enters our life as Saviour, and unites us in love with the brethren of Christ, especially the ones in need, enabling even the forgiveness of our enemy. The expected conduct to be aimed at by a Christian is found concentrated in the Sermon the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and in Paul – especially in Romans 12, where he describes this newness of life in practical terms; and, of course, in his famous analysis of the sacrificial love that imitates the love of Christ (1 Corinthians 13).
Faith in God’s faithfulness to each one of us, so that ‘all things work together for good for those who love God’ (Romans 8:28), can make us read the events of our own life also in terms of personal faithfulness, God’s and ours. Yet, it is He who takes the initiative and He who finishes the work in us and of His new creation – He is the Alpha and Omega (Revelation 1:8). Paul says that the word of faith he proclaims is on the Christian’s lips and in his heart, ‘because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved’. (Romans 10:9). We have to keep asking ourselves whether we truly believe in, and so experience, the power of God’s mercy coming to us through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour risen from the dead. Can we, for whom Jesus is not made visible, not doubt, but be blessed in believing?
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