Today is the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Today also is the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. It is always celebrated on the last Sunday of September.  The Church has been celebrating the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR) since 1914. It is always an occasion to express concern for different vulnerable people on the move; to pray for them as they face many challenges; and to increase awareness about the opportunities that migration offers. “Free to choose whether to migrate or to stay” is the theme chosen by the Holy Father for the 109th World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR). Pope Francis intends to promote a renewed reflection on a right that has not yet been codified at the international level: the right not to have to migrate or, in other words, the right to be able to remain in one’s own land.  Pope Francis in his message for this day states: “ ..even as we work to ensure that in every case migration is the fruit of a free decision, we are called to show maximum respect for the dignity of each migrant; this entails accompanying and managing waves of migration as best we can, constructing bridges and not walls, expanding channels for a safe and regular migration. In whatever place we decide to build our future, in the country of our birth or elsewhere, the important thing is that there always be a community ready to welcome, protect, promote and integrate everyone, without distinctions and without excluding anyone.”  The Gospel (Matthew 20:1-16) tells us today that God is not small-minded, and vindictive. God is generous, compassionate, and forgiving.   Rather than counting our sins or good works, God gives us salvation freely and generously. That same generosity of spirit is an important ingredient of discipleship. Pope Francis speaking on the theme of this day states:  “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me” (Mt 25:35-36). These words are a constant admonition to see in the migrant not simply a brother or sister in difficulty, but Christ himself, who knocks at our door” He ends his message with this prayer: 

God, Father Almighty, grant us the grace to work tirelessly

for justice, solidarity and peace,

so that all your children may enjoy

the freedom to choose whether to migrate or to stay.

Grant us the courage to denounce

all the horrors of our world,

and to combat every injustice

that mars the beauty of your children and the harmony of our common home.

Sustain us by the power of your Spirit, so that we can reflect your tender love

to every migrant whom you place in our path, and to spread in hearts and in every situation the culture of encounter and of care.

***

Feasts of the Week: Wednesday: St. Vincent de Paul (1581-1660) founded the Congregation of the Missions and the Daughters of Charity, in 1633, these were the first sisters to work outside their convents in active service. 

Friday: Sts Michael, Gabriel & Raphael – Archangels. Gabriel brought the message to Mary at the Annunciation. Raphael was guide to Tobias and Michael has been venerated as protector of Christians. Saturday: St. Jerome (340-420) translated the Bible into Latin and wrote commentaries on sacred scripture.

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Thanks for the collection last week. It came to £2045. Thank you for your generous collection. Thanks also to all who help in the week-end liturgies.

Exposition: Continues each Friday from 10am – 2pm. Shop: Monday to Saturday – 9.30 – 7pm. Sun 9.30pm – 4pm.

Guild Mass Cards: Our selection includes Deceased, Get Well, Wedding, Graduation, Wedding etc.

Cost £2. 

Sun & Mon no duty. Mass (Mon 25^th Sept) – Antony Connelly. Confessions: Tues to Fri 2pm – 5pm. 

Sat 5pm – 6pm.  Mass: Tues – Fri @ 7pm. Duty: Tues – Brian.  Wed –Victor. Thurs – Charles. 

Fri- Antony Connelly & Sat  – Arthur. 

Recently Deceased

Rita Swift, Hillview Rd, Enniskillen

Brigid Mc Sorley, Belfast & formerly Gloucester

Marion Roche, Thurles, Co Tipperary

John Brady, Swindon formerly Granard, Co Longford

Anniversaries

Elizabeth, Joseph, Sarah, Patrick Mc Gilley & the Mc Gilley family, Enniskillen & Clones

Francis (Francie)  Leonard, Tempo Rd, Enniskillen (1^st Ann.)

Vesty Healy & Margaret & Michael Healy &Hugh Sheridan,

Hugh & Peggy Sheridan & Rose & Vincie McGovern, Glangevlin

Francis & Annie Keown,Cornahilta,  Belleek

James & Peggy Keown, Roscor, Belleek

Sarah Brady, Drumeer, Maguiresbridge

Attracta, Bernard & Colette Mc Grath, Old Rossorry, Enniskillen

Eileen Mc Grail, Tempo(1^st Anniversary)

Joe Carty, Garrison

Niall & Ignatius O Neill, Lisnaskea

Patrick Mc Nulty, Roscor, Belleek

Anne Mc Carthy, Portaferry

Patrick Devenney, Newtowncunningham

Margaret Sullivan (nee Devenney), Newtowncunningham

Today is the Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time. St. Peter was an unlikely candidate to lead a religious revolution. When Jesus called this fisherman his life changed dramatically and irrevocably. He was the most prominent of Jesus followers and later became leader of the Church. He was born in Bethsaida on the north coast of the Sea of Galilee.  He was in partnership with his brother Andrew and the brothers James and John and their father Zebedee in the fishing business. Jesus seems to have made Peter’s house and home a centre for his teaching and healing. Remember Jesus even cured his mother-in- law. Peter is a mixture of doubt and faith. In today’s Gospel  (Matthew 16:13-20) we find Jesus and his disciples at the Jordan river. Jesus asked the question about who people thought he was, Peter replied that he was the Christ – the anointed. And the Lord said, “You are Peter (Petros = Greek rock) and on this rock (petra = Greek) I will build my church!” Jesus uses a play on his name to link him to the very foundation of the Church. Jesus gives Peter the “keys of the kingdom of heaven” in today’s Gospel (Matthew 16:13-20). This image of “handing over the keys” is drawn from today’s first reading (Isaiah 22:19-23). The prophet Isaiah dismisses Shebna from office and replaces him with Eliakim. Eliakim is given the “key of the house of David” and has power to open and shut the gates. Peter is invested as the master of the household and given the power to “bind and loose” Later in Matthew’s Gospel the “binding/loosing” authority bestowed here personally upon Peter is communicated to members of the Church more generally. (See Matthew 18:18). However Peter is the “rock” of this community. Jesus assures Peter that the rulings he gives on earth will have divine ratification – just as Eliakim could be confident that his rulings and directives would have the backing of the earthly Davidic King. The story of Peter’s denial of Jesus in the house of the High Priest is well known.  Peter knew his weakness. He knew he did wrong. But he did not just wallow in it. He moved on. He was later to write to his friends about his mistakes when he told them in his first letter “Simply reverence the Lord Jesus in your heart – and always have your answer ready for people who ask you the reason for the hope you have” (1 Peter 3:15) Peter was later to receive the forgiveness of Christ after the resurrection by the side of a charcoal fire at the lakeside of Galilee. Three times he was asked the question by Jesus “Do you love me?” (John 21:15).And he is commissioned to be pastor of the Lord’s flock. He was martyred in the city of Rome …hung upside down. He journeyed from being a Galilean fisherman to confessor, to being a denier, to being a proclaimer, to being a missionary, to being a bishop and finally ending up a martyr. 

Feasts of the Week: Monday: St. Augustine (354-430). His theological influence has been most significant in the Church, especially on the understanding of God’s grace. Tuesday: The Passion of St. John the Baptist. He was found worthy of the martyr’s death, his last and greatest act of witness to Christ. Thursday: St. Aidan of Lindisfarne: Was invited by King Oswald to reconvert his people. With the aid of this king as an interpreter he was very successful in his mission. He died in 651. Friday: Today is the beginning of days of prayer for the “Care of Creation”. Pope Francis chose the theme “Let Justice and Peace Flow,” inspired by the words of the prophet Amos: “Let justice flow on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream”

Thanks for the collection last week. It came to £1975. Thanks also to all who help in our weekend liturgy

Exposition: Continues each Friday from 10am – 2pm.

Shop: Monday to Saturday – 9.30 – 7pm. Sun 9.30pm – 4pm.

Guild Mass Cards: Our selection includes Deceased, Get Well, Wedding, Graduation, Wedding etc.

Cost £2. 

Bank Holiday Monday (28^th) Mass @ 11am only. The shop and church will be open until 4pm.

Confessions: Tues to Fri 2pm – 5pm.   Sat 5pm – 6pm.  Mass: Tues – Fri @ 7pm.

Duty: Tues – Brian.  Wed – Victor. Thurs – Arthur.  Fri – Anthony  &  Sat  – Brian.  

Recently Deceased

John Barron, Kilmacormick, Enniskillen

Teresa Carney, Garrison & Graan Abbey Nursing Home

Anniversaries

Joe Taylor, Derrin Rd, Enniskillen

John & Bridget Mc Manus    &

Paddy Adams, Kellys Cottages, Enniskillen

Mary Mc Aloon, Station Road, Letterbreen

Lee Whitley, Moyletra Gardens, Enniskillen (1^st Anniversary)

Patrick & Kathleen Droogan, Tempo

Jim Gallagher, Belfast formerly Derrylin

May & Patrick James Duffy, Aughoo, Belcoo

Joe Maguire, Aughoo, Belcoo

Mary Clare Campbell, Darkley, Armagh

Kathleen & Hugh O’Kane, Enniskillen

Michael Mc Donald, Chicago & Mossfield

Eugene & Sarah Teague, Glengeen, Trillick

Pat, Mary Jane & Pat Joe Mc Aloon, Mullaghdun

Tom & Annie Keenan, Garrison

Frank & Mary Galligan, Toura, Garrison

Today is the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Today’s Gospel (Matthew 15:21-28) is the story of a woman who did not take “No” for an answer. If she was asking to be healed herself she would have left the scene long ago. But she was a mother. Her daughter was very sick. She would go to any length so that her child would be cured! The woman is an Canaanite – these people were ancestral enemies of the people that Jesus was born into. All of us have a history with people. Some good. Some bad. The coldness that Jesus displays to this woman, almost to the very end understandably troubles many.His initial responses to the poor woman’s request to free her daughter from demonic possession, do not point him out in a good light. Jesus was divine but he did not lose his humanity. Remember we are told that Jesus….is one who has been tempted in every way that we are, though he is without sin (Hebrews 4:15) and in (Luke 2:52) we read “Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature and in favour with God and man” From this woman Jesus learned a lesson.Even though Jesus told his disciples “ only to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:6) – she shows Him that God’s care, compassion, and concern extends beyond all national boundaries, and the limits that our preconceived ideas put upon us. Hear those words in today’s first reading“My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples” (Isaiah 56:7). God is not some narrow-minded bigot! This unnamed woman is one of the great heroes of the gospel tradition. She drags the Jewish Messiah from an understanding that his powers were solely for the benefit of his own people. Even though she was from the “other side” – her faith received an answer and her daughter was healed. She helps Jesus comprehend more fully what his mission was about. This woman stands in for us who, like her, are Gentiles – we can all learn from her faith. Jesus, himself, did not actively reach outside his own people but he commanded his disciples “Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations: baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). We have our religion and we belong to God’s Church, but God has no religion nor does God belong exclusively to any Church. A story: “With Christmas coming Grandma was out shopping for gifts for her grandchildren. While she was at the toy shop going through her list she noticed a small homeless girl outside wistfully looking into the shop. Grandma’s heart went out to the little girl. She invited the little girl into the shop and asked her to pick a gift for herself. As they walked out of the shop the little girl held Grandma’s hand and looked into her kind eyes and asked, “Are you God?” Grandma, somewhat embarrassed and somewhat touched said, “No, my dear I am not God” “Then who are you.” Grandma thought for a moment and said, “I am a child of God”. The little girl, fully satisfied and smiling said, “ I knew there was a connection!”  (From: “How Big is your God?” by Paul Coutinho SJ. (Loyola Press 2007) p.1)

***

Feasts of the Week: Monday: St. Pius X (1835-1914) Became Pope in 1903. Encouraged frequent communion especially for young children. Tuesday: Queenship of Mary: This feast was established in 1955 at end of Marian Year by Pius X11 to stress the connection of Mary’s queenship with the Assumption. Thursday: St. Bartholomew – identified as Nathanael of Cana whom Philip brings to the Lord. He preached the Gospel in India. Saturday: Blessed Dominic Barberi (1792-1849). An Italian Passionist who brought the Congregation to England. He contributed to the conversion of John Henry Newman. In 1963, he was beatified by Pope Paul V1.

***

Thank you for the collection last week. It came to £1860. We appreciate your support of the Graan during these difficult financial times. Thanks also to all who help in our weekend liturgies. 

***

Exposition: Continues each Friday from 10am – 2pm. Shop: Monday to Saturday – 9.30 – 7pm.

Sun 9.30pm – 4pm.

Guild Mass Cards: Our selection includes Deceased, Get Well, Wedding, Graduation, Wedding etc.

Cost £2. 

Sun & Mon no duty. Mass Mon 21^st Aug @ 7pm –  Antony Connelly.

Confessions: Tues to Fri 2pm – 5pm. 

Sat 5pm – 6pm.  Mass: Tues – Fri @ 7pm. Duty: Tues – Arthur.  Wed – Antony Connelly. Thurs – Brian

Fri & Sat – Anthony.

Recently Deceased

Bishop Liam S. MacDaid , Bishop-Emeritus of Clogher, Monaghan Town & formerly Bundoran

James Firmager, Gavary, Enniskillen

Rita Mc Nulty, Macken, Enniskillen

June Muldoon, Cornagrade, Enniskillen

Anniversaries

Sr Kathleen Dooris, Cornagrade, Enniskillen  & Castleblaney

Kieran Curley, Boho

Owen & Ellen Kelly, Cavanacross, Garvary, Enniskillen

Bridie Mc Caffrey, Silverhill Manor, Enniskillen Month’s Mind

Benny Donegan, Enniskillen

Moya Keown, Cornahilta, Belleek

Gerald O’Neill, Lisnaskea

Baby Luca Singh, Bellanaleck

John & Agnes Mc Intyre, Derrygonnelly

Owney Mc Teggart, Sligo Rd, Enniskillen

Today is the Nineteenth Sunday of the Year. Some scholars tell us that every time we read about a “boat” in the Gospels it is an image of the Church. The boat in today’s Gospel (Matthew 14:22-33) is “far out on the lake, battling with a heavy sea, for there was a headwind” Over the centuries the church seemed to be sinking under many storms. In the early days of the church’s life the persecution of the church was initially infrequent and sporadic. The event that sparked official opposition to Christianity was the great fire of Rome (which began on July 19^th, 64 A.D.). It lasted for nine days and destroyed 10 of the 14 city districts. Although probably innocent, Nero the Emperor was accused by his enemies of setting the fire alight.  The Church was used as a scapegoat by Nero to divert attention from himself.  Both Saints Peter and Paul were martyred as a result of these events. We have had persecutions, we have had fascism in the rise of Hitler in the last century, also we have had atheistic Communism, the corruption of the Papacy, the rise of secularism but we are living through the days of another great storm created from within our ranks and that is of religious and clerical sex abuse. The Church continually struggles against storms of many kinds. In the Gospel Jesus walks on the sea towards the boat and the disciples are terrified. Jesus reassures them “Take courage, it is I, fear not” (Matthew 14:27). In these words we hear the words spoken to Moses at the Burning Bush “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14). The presence of Jesus is the saving presence of God.  The Church through its long voyage in history and seemingly abandoned by its Lord is not forgotten. This passage assures the faithful that divine concern is never truly absent but is ever ready, even in darkest moments to save. The story of Peter getting out of the boat to walk towards him is an expression of his faith but he takes his eyes off Jesus for a few moments and “sees” instead the force of the wind. His plea for rescue “O Lord save me” (Matthew 14:30) is a prayer we still pray in Church. Jesus gently asks Peter, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” speaks to all of us. Like Peter we are all mixtures of boldness and fear, strength and weakness. We can make Peter’s cry for rescue our own and feel, as he felt, the Lord’s strong hand reaching out to draw us up from the deep.  St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) prayed: “Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, All things are passing away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices”.

***

Feasts of the Week: Monday: St. Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941) Franciscan priest, He worked in the apostolate of the press in Poland & Japan and died in Auschwitz. Tuesday: The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

Thursday: Our Lady of Knock. On 21 August 1879 a miraculous apparition was witnessed by fifteen people, young and old on the south gable of Knock Parish Church. It is now a recognised Marian Shrine.

Tuesday Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Masses are at 10.30am, 12noon & 7pm. 

Thanks for the collection last week. It came to £1940. We appreciate your generosity. Thanks also to all who help in our  weekend liturgy. Thank you to August Church Cleaning Group for their continued hard work.

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We welcome Antony Connelly; a Passionist from Glasgow. Antony will be a member of this Community at The Graan for the next few months. He will be helping out in celebrating Mass and hearing confessions.   

Exposition: Continues each Friday from 10am – 2pm. Shop: Monday to Saturday – 9.30 – 7pm. Sun 9.30pm – 4pm.

Guild Mass Cards: Our selection includes Deceased, Get Well, Wedding,  Graduation, Wedding etc.

Cost £2. 

Sun & Mon no duty. Mass Mon 14^th Aug @ 7pm –  Antony Connelly.

Confessions: Tues to Fri 2pm – 5pm. 

Sat 5pm – 6pm.  Mass: Tues – Fri @ 7pm. Duty: Tues – Brian.  Wed – Arthur. Thurs – Antony Connelly.

Fri & Sat  –  Anthony.

Gluten-Free Hosts: If you are Coeliac and you wish to receive communion please come up to the altar and stand beside the Eucharistic Minsters where you will receive the gluten-free host. 

Belcoo Sports Day:  Takes place tomorrow Tuesday the 15^th. For further info: belcoosportsandfestival@hotmail.co.uk.

Recently Deceased

Sean Mc Henry, Torrhead, Co Antrim

Sean Martin, Kinawley

Michael Mc Girr, Coa

Art Mc Rory, Dungannon

Tony Baxter, Omagh

Felix Hannigan, Maguiresbridge

 Anniversaries

Tommy, Mary & Rosemary  Durnien, Main Street, Lisnaskea

Vincent & Frances Mulligan, Killygullen, Lisnaskea

Colum Maguire, Sligo Rd, Enniskillen

Bernie Gault, Hillview, Enniskillen

Moira Carleton, Ashwoods, Enniskillen, (Month’s Mind)

Maura Greene, Rossfad, Ballinamallard (Month’s Mind)

Caroline Cooney, Dublin & Enniskillen (Month’s Mind)

Maura Mc Mahon, Lackaghboy Park, Enniskillen

Tony Cox, Swanley formerly Garvary, Enniskillen  

Peter & May Brewster, Ashwoods, Enniskillen

Thomas & Catherine Hunter & the Hunter Family

John Gormley, Roscor,Belleek

Brigid (Bridie) Wilson, Omagh

Vincent Fee, Ratoran, Tempo

Sarah Mc Manus, Drumaraw, Springfield

The Mc Manus Family, Carngreen, Boho

Margaret & Tom Mc Kervey, Fairgreen Street, Irvinestown

Eugene & Josephine Quigley & Quigley family, Bellanaleck

Margaret Boyle & the Boyle family, Bellanaleck

Patrick & Eileen O’Connor, Aughleam, Co Mayo

Mary & Patrick Rooney, Manorhamilton, Co Leitrim

Hugh D’Arcy, Bellanaleck

Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Today in the Gospel (Matthew 17:1-9) the three disciples, Peter, James and his brother John sees Jesus in the glory that belongs to Him as “Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:17). Jesus is as much “at home” here as he is walking the roads and lakeshore of Galilee with them. This glorious scene has all the stops pulled out. There Jesus is transfigured, visions of Moses and Elijah, even God has a part, and it all has just one sole purpose, which is to make the disciples listen to Jesus. They do not want to hear what he is saying. Peter especially has shut his ears. Peter is delighted with the experience and longs to prolong it. “Lord it is wonderful for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah” (Matthew 17:4). His suggestion is inappropriate, they are called to listen to the fact that Jesus is destined to suffer and die in Jerusalem and that those who would be his disciples must be prepared to go along with him on that journey. Peter is still speaking when he is interrupted. It is as if God is saying to him, ‘Why don’t you shut up a moment and listen instead of talking all the time.’ Peter is compulsively chattering. It takes God to shut him up a moment. And if we are to grow in love of God and each other, then we must learn – how to be quiet, – so that we may hear the Word of God, and my neighbour. The word today is: LISTEN. So the first thing that I would suggest is that you try to find a moment, even just a few minutes to be with the Word of God. For example, to be with the Sunday readings. Just read them quietly before Mass. Do not interrogate them immediately. Just be present to them, silently attentive. And we must learn that silence in the presence of others. Just attend to them in stillness. Open yourself to their words. They do not have the advantage of Jesus, who can get God to tell you to shut up for a moment! If we listen to the Word of God, quietly, in silence, then it will invite us to change. It will ask to make new steps in our pilgrimage. And this is also true when we listen to others. No relationship can stay in just the same place. Either it develops or shrivels. We cannot freeze relationships. The reason why Peter does not want to listen to Jesus, of course, was because he was afraid. He knew that Jesus had invited him to take up his cross and follow him, and he was afraid to do so. Why not? The whole scene is intended to liberate Peter and the disciples from their fear. Jesus shows himself in glory to give them heart. It is a glimpse of what lies on the other side of death, the end of the journey, the Promised Land. The Transfiguration literally offers them and us light at the end of the tunnel. They fall flat and he touches them and lifts them up. It is like a mini-death and resurrection. We can lift each other to our feet, give courage to each other. Then we shall dare to open our ears to God, and even to each other. When we pray the Preface today at Mass; we say – “God revealed His glory in the presence of his chosen witnesses and filled with the greatest splendour that bodily form which he shares with all humanity that the scandal of the Cross might be removed from the hearts of his disciples….”

Feasts of the Week: Tuesday: St. Dominic ( 1170-1221) a Spaniard who founded the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) to counteract the Albigenisan heresy.  Wednesday: St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein). Patron of Europe.  Virgin & Martyr died in the gas chambers of Auschwitz on this day in 1942. Thursday: St. Lawrence, Deacon & Martyr one of the seven deacons of Rome who met his death cheerfully on the gridiron. Friday: St. Clare from Assisi (1193-1253). She followed St. Francis in his life of poverty and was founder of the Poor Clare nuns. 

Thank you for the collection last week. It came to £2005. Thank you for your generosity and support of the Graan. Thanks also to all who help in our weekend liturgies.

Exposition: Continues each Friday from 10am – 2pm.

Shop: Monday to Saturday – 9.30 – 7pm. Sun 9.30pm – 4pm. 

Guild Mass Cards: Our selection includes Deceased, Get Well, Wedding,  Graduation, Wedding etc.

Cost £2. 

Sun & Mon no duty. Mass Mon 7^TH August  @ 7pm – Antony Connelly.

Confessions: Tues to Fri 2pm – 5pm.  Sat 5pm – 6pm.  Mass: Tues – Fri @ 7pm. Tues – Brian. 

Wed – Arthur. Thurs – Charles. Fri & Sat  – Anthony.  

Gluten-Free Hosts: If you are Coeliac and you wish to receive communion please come up to the altar and stand beside the Eucharistic Minsters where you will receive the gluten-free host. 

Recently Deceased

Mary Hourigan, Limerick (Fr Augustine’s sister)

Pat Lynch, Ballybay

Kiea Mc Cann, Clones

Dlava Mohamed, Clones

Rosaleen Corrigan, Enniskillen

Anniversaries

Bernard Mc Daid, Whaley Terrace, Enniskillen

Michael, Kathleen & Gerard Greene, Ferney Rise, Enniskillen

Fr Salvian Maguire, Killesher

Desmond Shannon, Floraville, Enniskillen

Kevin Bannon, Boho

Jim Breen, Brockagh, Tempo

Louis Gullion, Sandhill, Derrygonnelly

John Mc Gullion, Derrygonnelly

Una Buchanan, nee Burns, Belfast & Derrygonnelly

John & Annie Burns, Derrygonnelly

James & Bridget Carroll, Derrygonnelly

Kathleen & Joseph Mc Elhatton, Co Tyrone

George Mc Kinley, Omagh

Today is the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Today’s reading gives us, the third Sunday in a row, Matthew’s chapter on parables. Seven parables of Jesus appear in Chapter 13 of his Gospel. The parables today are not found anywhere else in the New Testament. The Gospel reading begins with two parables: the treasure buried in the field, and the pearl of great price. Jesus is instructing his disciples and tells them that once one encounters the kingdom of heaven, a proper response is to reprioritise all else in favour of this. It is worth selling everything else to possess this one thing. It is to be noted that Jesus is using the language of metaphor. The kingdom is not a treasure, or a pearl; but Jesus describes what it is like within a person when they discover something of such great value. Their world is overturned. St. Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916) who was canonised on May 15 last year, was a man of prayer and lived among the Muslim people in the Sahara desert. He spoke about his conversion, his “encounter with Christ”, that enlivened his faith and turned his life around. “The moment I realised that God existed, I knew that I could not do otherwise than to live for him alone”.  Pope Benedict XV1 in his encyclical letter “Deus Caritas Est” (25/12/2005) describes the act of faith thus: “Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but an encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction” (No1).  The presence of God’s Kingdom is so overwhelming that those who recognise it will drop any activity and will do everything to enter it. The presence of God’s Kingdom is to be seen and experienced not only on the personal, internal level but in the concrete situation of public life as well. Where we find real growth in justice, where oppression is defeated and freedom is granted, there the Kingdom is present. The Kingdom of God is both a gift and it is  also a task that we are called to bring into our world. We pray in the Our Father “Your Kingdom come”. A little story: “A Russian youth who had become a conscientious objector to war through the reading of Tolstoy and the New Testament was brought before a magistrate. With all the strength of his convictions, he told the judge of the life which loves its enemies, which does good to those who despitefully use it, which overcomes evil with good, and which refuses war. “Yes”, said the judge, “I understand. But you must be realistic. These laws you are talking about are the laws of the kingdom of God and it has not come yet! “The young man straightened and said, ” Sir, I recognise that it has not come for you, not yet for Russia or the world , BUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS COME FOR ME ! I cannot go on hating and killing as though it has not come.” 

Feasts of the Week: Monday: St. Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) from Northern Spain and is founder of the Jesuits, the Order that Pope Francis joined in his youth. Tuesday: St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) founder of the Redemptorist Congregation lived around the same time as our Founder St. Paul of the Cross. Friday: St. John Mary Vianney (1786-1859) Parish priest of Ars spent 12/16 hours, a day, in the confessional bringing God’s consolation to his people. Patron saint of priests. Friday is also the First Friday in the month.

World Youth Day takes place this week 1-6 August in Lisbon, Portugal

Thanks for the collection last week. It came to £1840. In these difficult financial times we are so grateful for your generosity. Thanks also to all who help during our weekend liturgies. 

Exposition: Continues each Friday from 10am – 2pm.

Shop: Monday to Saturday – 9.30 – 7pm. Sun 9.30pm – 4pm. 

Guild Mass Cards: Our selection includes Deceased, Get Well, Wedding,  Graduation, Wedding etc.

Cost £2. 

Sun & Mon no duty. Mass Mon  31^st July  @ 7pm – Arthur.  Confessions: Tues to Fri 2pm – 5pm. 

Sat 5pm – 6pm.  Mass: Tues – Fri @ 7pm. Tues – Brian.  Wed – Arthur. Thurs – Charles. Fri & Sat  – Anthony.  

August Church Cleaning Group will meet on Wednesday next 2^nd Aug @ 7.30pm. New members are always welcome.

Gluten-Free Hosts: If you are Coeliac and you wish to receive communion please come up to the altar and stand beside the Eucharistic Minsters where you will receive the gluten-free host. 

Recently Deceased

Sr Teresa Keohane, Cork

Pauline Gorman, nee Herbert, England & Enniskillen

Liam Collins, Lisnaskea

Gerard Quinn, Irvinestown

Anniversaries

James Collins, Tarmon Brae, Enniskillen

James & Margaret Curran, Carrigallen, Co Leitrim

Peter Curran, Ballymahon, Co Longford

Margaret & John Mc Caughey & the Mc Caughey Family   

The Mc Keaney Family, Coolcran Tempo

Dolores Mc Manus, Kilmacormack Rd, Enniskillen

Elizabeth Mc Cusker, Ballyreagh, Tempo

The Mc Teggart Family, Tullycrevey, Monea

Vivian Clarke, Belfast & Enniskillen

Kathleen Gallagher, Gorteen, Garrison

Annie & Noble Britton, Coolarkin, Boho

Ignatius & Niall O’Neill & the O’Neill Family, Lisnaskea

The Casey Family, Garrison

Peter & Bridget Reilly, Killesher

Hugh & Lizzie Reilly, Killesher

Pat Gilmartin, Manorhamilton

Today is the Sixteenth Sunday of the Year: The Gospel today (Matthew 13:24-43) consists of three small parables. It describes what the kingdom of heaven is like. In all three parables of the kingdom the outcome is assured: justice/judgement will come; the smallest seed will grow; yeast will leaven. The kingdom of heaven is like growth, and it grows in the midst of so much evil. AlexanderSolzhenitsyn was a Russian writer who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1970. He was born in 1918 he died back in Moscow in 2008 at the age of 89. He wrote a letter to a friend against Stalin the Russian dictator calling him the “man with the moustache” and as a result he spent the years 1945-1953 in Russian labour camps called “Gulags”. This was a chain of prison camps where about 60 million people were interned at various times during the life of the Communist system in Russia.  In 1974 Alexander was exiled from Russia spending some time in Switzerland and then in Vermont in USA. While he was here in the West he also criticised its form of government because of its moral degeneration, its lack of faith and political cowardice. When the Soviet Union fell Solzhenitsyn returned to Russia in 1994. He wrote of his time in the labour camp:  

I learnt one great lesson from my years in prison camps. I learnt how a person becomes evil and how he becomes good. When I was young I thought I was infallible, and I was cruel to those under me. I was madly in love with power and, in exercising it, I was a murderer and an oppressor. Yet in my most evil moments I thought I was doing good, and I had plenty of arguments with which to justify my deeds. It was only when things were reversed, when as a prisoner I lay on rotten straw, that I began to feel within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually I came to realise that the line which separates good from evil passes not between states, or between classes, or between political parties – but right through every human heart. Even in hearts that are overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained. And in the best of all hearts, there remains an un-uprooted small corner of evil. We are all made up of weeds and wheat, demons and angels, good and bad, light and dark. Jesus in the story about the weeds growing among the good wheat counsels patience and prudence in the face of evil. There is sin and disharmony in the life of the community and that is apparent to all but only the Lord of the harvest can see beyond the confused state of things. The farmer in the story does not think that the power of the weeds to choke is superior to the power of the wheat to grow and thrive. Paul in today’s second reading (Romans 8:26-27) tells us that in our weakness the Spirit of God comes to help us.

Feasts for the Week: Tuesday: St. James Apostle. He was the son of Zebedee and a brother of John called the Greater. He was put to death by Herod Agrippa in the year 44 being the first of the Apostles to die for Christ. His shrine is in Compostela in Spain. Wednesday: St. Joachim and Anne: Traditionally named the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and grandparents. This week we pray for grandparents. Saturday: Sts Martha, Mary & Lazarus – friends of the Lord. 

Thanks for the collection last week. It came to £1790. Thank you for your generosity. Thanks also to our Readers, Singers, Ministers of the Eucharist and Ushers all who help in our weekend liturgies.

Exposition: Continues each Friday from 10am – 2pm.

Shop: Monday to Saturday – 9.30 – 7pm. Sun 9.30pm – 4pm. 

Guild Mass Cards: Our selection includes Deceased, Get Well, Wedding,  Graduation, Wedding etc.

Cost £2. 

Sun & Mon no duty. Mass Mon  24^TH July  @ 7pm – Charles. Confessions: Tues to Fri 2pm – 5pm. 

Sat 5pm – 6pm.  Mass: Tues – Fri @ 7pm.  Tues – Brian.  Wed – Victor. Thurs – Charles.   Fri – Arthur.

Sat  –  Brian.  

Gluten-Free Hosts: If you are Coeliac and you wish to receive communion please come up to the altar and stand beside the Eucharistic Minsters where you will receive the gluten-free host. 

Recently Deceased

James Mc Donnell, Dromore

Daire Maguire, Lisnaskea

Leo Mc Aloon, Monea

Mary Mullarkey, Moycullen, Galway formerly Enniskillen

Tom Leonard, England formerly Belcoo

Bridie Mc Caffrey, Silverhill Manor, Enniskillen

Anniversaries

Thomas, Kathleen, Anna & Hugh Quinn, Sligo

Tom Brazil, Cornagrade, Enniskillen

Eugene & Teresa Foy & family, Derrygonnelly

James & Margaret Dundas & Family, Derrygonnelly

Bart Teague, Mountview Drive, Lisnaskea

Ben & Margaret Keown, Roscor PO, Belleek

Joseph & Annie Mullan, Omagh

Cabrina Mc Grath (nee Mullan), Omagh

Today is the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: This Sunday we begin a whole series of gospels that present us with one after another of Jesus’ parables about the Kingdom of God. Parables take every day familiar things and situations and weave them into a story that teaches us something. Scholars tell us that Matthew’s Gospel is structured around five major sermons. Chapter 13 is the third such sermon and is structurally the centrepiece of Matthew’s Gospel and thus it is the core of Jesus’ teaching. This chapter contains seven parables, namely – the sower, the weeds among the wheat, the mustard seed, the leaven, the treasure found in the field, the pearl and the dragnet. One of the big urgent questions that the early Christians asked themselves concerned the Jewish people’s lack of faith in what they said about Jesus. The Gospel today (Matthew 13:1-23) goes some way in trying to answer that question. The sower scatters the seed and much is lost for one reason or another. Similarly, many are like the person on the pathway, the word cannot reach them, it is swiped away. Or many prove to be shallow – ready enough to receive, but they do not persist. Many are like the seed under the thorns: – they hear, but the word fights a losing battle against cares and distractions. The shallow mind, the wayward heart, worldly preoccupations, persecutions – all these are the obstacles which frustrate the growth of faith. However when the seed (word) and the soil come together effectively the result is an abundance of growth – an excellent harvest takes place beyond all imagining. “A legend tells the story how at the beginning of time, God resolved to hide himself within creation. One of the angels said; “Hide yourself deep in the earth.” God said “No. It will not be long before they learn how to mine the earth and discover all the treasures they contain. They will discover me too quickly and they will not have had enough time to do their growing” Another angel said: Why don’t you hide in the moon? God said: “No human kind will learn to fly through space. They will arrive on the moon and discover it’s secrets and they will discover me too soon before they had enough time to their growing”. There was silence. Where was God to hide himself? And one little angel piped up and said: “I know, why don’t you hide yourself within their own hearts? They will never think of looking there!”

“That’s it” said God, delighted to have found the perfect hiding place. And so it is that God hides secretly deeply within the heart of every one of God’s creatures, until that creature has grown enough in spirit and in understanding to risk the great journey into the secret core of its own being. And there the creature discovers its creator and is re-joined to God for all eternity” (Wisdom Stories by Margaret Silf (p32) Lion Book 2003) 

Feasts of the Week: Saturday: St. Mary Magdalene. The “Apostle to the Apostles”. She stood at the foot of the Cross of Jesus; with two other women she discovered the empty tomb; she was granted an appearance of the Risen Lord. 

Thanks for the collection last week. It came to £1850. Thank you for your generosity. Thanks also to our Readers, Singers, Ministers of the Eucharist and Ushers all who help in our weekend liturgies.

Exposition: Continues each Friday from 10am – 2pm.

Shop: Monday to Saturday – 9.30 – 7pm. Sun 9.30pm – 4pm. 

Guild Mass Cards: Our selection includes Deceased, Get Well, Wedding, Birthday, Graduation, Wedding etc. Cost £2. 

Sun & Mon no duty. Mass Mon  17^TH  July  @ 7pm – Charles. Confessions: Tues to Fri 2pm – 5pm. 

Sat 5pm – 6pm. 

Mass: Tues – Fri @ 7pm.  Tues –  Brian.  Wed – Victor.   Thurs – Charles.  Fri – Anthony & Sat  –   Anthony.  

Gluten-Free Hosts: If you are Coeliac and you wish to receive communion please come up to the altar and stand beside the Eucharistic Minsters where you will receive the gluten-free host. 

Recently Deceased

Maura Greene, Rossfad Road, Ballinmallard

Rose Nolan, Newtownbutler

Sarah Mc Menamin, Ederney

Barbara Creevy, nee Haire, Mullingar & Ballagh, Lisnaskea

Anniversaries

Paddy & Eileen Farmer, Scaffog, Enniskillen

William & Elizabeth Mc Elhill, Bellanaleck

Hugh & Margaret Quinn, Tempo

The Prunty Family, Coonian

Clare Flanagan, Cornagrade Road, Enniskillen (Month’s Mind)

James & Sarah Howe, Caldrum, Derrygonnelly

Patrick Gormley, Roscor, Belleek

Peter & Phyllis Keown, Roscor, Belleek

Michael & Molly Clarke, London

James & Mary Jane Swift, Kilrid,  Magheraveely

William & Nora Mc Quade, Killymitten, Coa

Michael Keaveney, Erne Drive, Enniskillen

Terry & Brigid Mc Ginley, Eskra

Eamon Drugan, Dublin formerly Innishmore

Today is the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Jesus in today’s Gospel (Matthew 11:25-30) invites those “who labour and are overburdened” to come to Him. We are called to learn from Him because He is “gentle and humble in heart”. Today’s first reading (Zechariah 9:9-10) speaks of a future Messianic leader who will come, not as a proud warrior, but as a humble and gentle champion of peace. The Responsorial Psalm today (Psalm 144) speaks of our God who will “support all who fall, and raise up all who are bowed down” “The Message” is a readable translation of the Bible by Eugene H Peterson and he translates part of today’s Gospel thus: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy and ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly” Another word for “gentleness” is the word “meekness”. The virtue of meekness is a complex one closely associated with humility. It is a supernatural, moral virtue that demands  a certain self-mastery over anger and in this sense is related to the virtue of temperance. Meekness requires tolerance of the failing of others, which in turn demands patience and hence the virtue of fortitude. Finally, meekness requires forgiveness of injury and benevolence towards all, including our enemies. Meekness is not that weakness of character that attempts to hide resentment behind a suave demeanour. On the contrary it is something deeply interior that exists in both the will and emotions in order that peace may reign in the soul. This peace allows us to accept all things that God sends, even the most adverse, with calm and serenity. It enables us to bear the faults of our neighbours. It also helps us reproach ourselves quietly and kindly when we commit a fault such that by the experience we may learn to be more on our guard. Jesus taught us meekness in numerous ways.  In order to draw people to himself, he announced the gospel not with bitterness or animosity but with calm and serenity: “He will not contend or cry out, nor will his voice be heard in the streets. The bruised reed he will not crush; the smouldering wick he will not quench,”(Isaiah 42:2) that is, the spark of faith and love that still remain in the sinners’ soul. In conduct he bore the faults, ignorance and rudeness of his Apostles, while tactfully revealing to them the truth in the measure in which they were capable of receiving it. He preached meekness by demanding that his followers have the simplicity of the doves as well as the cunning of the serpent. They must be as lambs among wolves; they must not resist evil but offer the left cheek to him who strikes them on the right; they must pray for those who persecute them. As the Good Shepherd He gives his own life for his sheep.

Feasts of the Week: Tuesday: St. Benedict (480-547) Named Patron of Europe in 1964. His monastic rule, observed by the Benedictines and Cistercians is distinguished by its wisdom and balance. Sat: St. Bonaventure (1221-1274) born in Tuscany, Minister General of the Franciscans, Cardinal Archbishop of Albano, theologian at the Council of Lyons. 

Thanks for the collection last week. It came to £1885. Thank you for your generosity and support of our work here at the Graan. Thanks also to all who help in our weekend liturgies – our readers, ushers, Ministers of the Eucharist, and singers. A special word of thanks to the July cleaning group who helped to clean this church on Wednesday

Exposition: Continues each Friday from 10am – 2pm.

Shop: Monday to Saturday – 9.30 – 7pm. Sun 9.30pm – 4pm. 

Guild Mass Cards: Our selection includes Deceased, Get Well, Wedding, Birthday, Graduation, Wedding etc. Cost £2. 

Sun & Mon no duty. Mass Mon  10^TH  July  @ 7pm –  Brian. Confessions: Tues to Fri 2pm – 5pm. 

Sat 5pm – 6pm. 

Mass: Tues – Fri @ 7pm.  Tues –  Brian.  Wed – Victor.   Thurs – Charles.  Fri – Anthony & Sat  –   Anthony.  

Gluten-Free Hosts: If you are Coeliac and you wish to receive communion please come up to the altar and stand beside the Eucharistic Minsters where you will receive the gluten-free host. 

Recently Deceased

Billy Hassard, Derrygonnelly

Bernard Monaghan, Macken

Caroline Devitt, nee Cooney, Dublin & Enniskillen

Rev Canon Philip Connelly, Clontibert, Co Monaghan

Margaret Britton, Ferney Rise, Enniskillen

Susan Shannon, Maguiresbridge

Eileen Shannon, London

Anniversaries

Joseph & Mary Quinn & their son Seamus Quinn, Fintona

Bridget & John Francis Mc Manus, Derrin Rd, Enniskillen

Helena Bradley, Hillview Rd, Enniskillen

George Ferguson & the Ferguson & Robinson Families, Gurteen Rd, Garrison

Owen Mc Caffrey, Killaculla, Tempo

Phyllis Mc Gee, Pettigo

Bella (Elizabeth) Henderson, Hillview Park, Enniskillen

Kathleen & Billy Mc Clintock, Drumcor Hill, Enniskillen

Kathleen Britney Mc Clintock, Cornagrade, Enniskillen

Anthony Alitini, Cornagrade, Enniskillen

Joseph & Josephine Henderson, Kellys Cottages, Enniskillen

Oliver Carters, Warrington formerly Tempo

Jack, John & David Nolan, Derrin Rd, Enniskillen & Belfast

Margaret Thorpe, Derrylin Road, Enniskillen

Cassie Cox, Doagh, Derrygonnelly

Charles Murphy, Drumgallon, Enniskillen

Today is the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. In the letter to the Hebrews the author says “Let mutual love endure, and remember always to welcome strangers, for by doing this, some people have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:1) Hospitality has always been integral to the story of God’s people. Abraham set the agenda when he offered three strangers water for their feet and food for their bodies. In so doing he entertained God himself and received afresh the promise (Genesis 18:1-18). The New Testament speaks frequently of the need to be hospitable. For example –Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality(Romans 12:13) “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling” (1 Peter 4:9) Today’s Gospel (Matthew 10:37-42) states clearly “Whoever receives you receives me and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. (Matthew 10:40). Hospitality involves welcoming, creating space, listening, paying attention and providing. St. Luke’s Gospel is known for being a gospel with the theme of “hospitality” right through it. Jesus in this Gospel is either coming from a party celebration or going to one!  Meals slow things down. Some of us don’t like that. We like to get things done. But meal forces you to be people-oriented instead of task-oriented. Unresolved conflict cannot be ignored when we gather around the meal table; you cannot eat in silence without realising there is an issue to be addressed. Paul uses hospitality as a metaphor of reconciliation when he says in the second letter to the Corinthians: “Make room in your hearts for us…We have wronged no one!” (7:2). We enjoy food not just because of the taste but because of the companionship and welcome it expresses. “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox with hatred with it” (Proverbs 15:17). The monks of old got it right. For upwards of 700 years the monastery was notably the centre of culture and civilisation but also of mission. Only monasticism saved the medieval church from acquiescence, petrification and the loss of its vision and the truly revolutionary character of the Christian faith. The monks kept the door of hospitality to the stranger and alien open! “Where is the dwelling place of God?” a Rabbi once asked a group of learned men “What a question to ask,” they said. “Is not the whole world full of God’s glory?” Then the Rabbi answered his own question, “God dwells wherever people let Him in”. This is our ultimate purpose: to let God in. When all the world is about “doing”, our prime concern as people of faith is about “letting” – letting God in, letting God do. One of the words that we need to take away from these readings today is the word ‘hospitality!” Dictionary definition:  a. “Welcoming guests with warmth and generosity. b. Well disposed towards strangers. c. Having an open and generous mind.  d. Promoting well-being, agreeable

Feasts of the Week: Monday: St. Thomas – Apostle. He is said to have preached the Gospel in India where he was martyred. Thursday: St. Maria Goretti (1890-1902). She is honoured as one of the first Passionist martyrs. On 5 July 1902, at the age of 12, Maria who had made her First Communion at the nearby Passionist church was attacked by Alessandro Serenelli. When she would not submit to his advances, he stabbed Maria fourteen times. We have a shrine in honour of St. Maria Goretti here in the Graan to the left of the main altar. 

Thank you for the collection last weekend. It came to £1760. A word of thanks also to our Ushers, Readers and Ministers of the Eucharist for their wonderful help during the liturgy at the weekend. 

Exposition: Continues each Friday from 10am – 2pm. Friday next is the First Friday of the month.

Mass @ 7pm.

Shop: Monday to Saturday – 9.30 – 7pm. Sun 9.30pm – 4pm. 

Guild Mass Cards: Our selection includes Deceased, Get Well, Wedding, Birthday, Exams, Wedding etc. Cost £2. 

Sun & Mon no duty. Mass Mon  3^rd July  @ 7pm –  Charles. Confessions: Tues to Fri 2pm – 5pm. 

Sat 5pm – 6pm. 

Mass: Tues – Fri @ 7pm.  Tues – Brian.  Wed – Victor.   Thurs – Charles.  Fri & Sat  –   Arthur.  

July’s Church Cleaning group will meet on Wednesday 5^th July next.

Gluten-Free Hosts: If you are Coeliac and you wish to receive communion please come up to the altar and stand beside the Eucharistic Minsters where you will receive the gluten-free host. 

Recently Deceased

Kenny Slevin, Killyvilly, Enniskillen

Moira Carleton, Ashwoods Road, Enniskillen

Catherine Teague, Lisnaskea

Anniversaries

Thomas Farmer, Drumgamph, Boho

Kay Seddon & the Seddon family, Bristol

Brigid & Edward Dolan, Dublin Rd, Enniskillen

The Bannon & Dolan families, Lisbellaw

Mary Cassidy, Cranny, Fintona

Catherine Mc Dermott, Rathfraggan, Fintona

Denis & Mary Maguire, Letterbreen

Sean Owens, Coventry

Kevin Mc Mahon & the Mc Mahon family, Roslea

Mary (Cissie) Farmer, Brian Farmer & the Farmer & Keown families, Mullaghdun

The Creegan Family, Forthill Rd, Enniskillen & Dublin

The Murphy Family, Queen Street, Enniskillen & London

Sheila O Donnell, Derrin Rd, Enniskillen

Terry Carty, Garrison