Weekly Bulletin 18th September 2022

Today is the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Jesus tells a story in the Gospel today (Luke 16:1-13) that is difficult to understand.  At a time of crisis in his own life the steward, who is facing dismissal from his master is determined to secure his future. Jesus tells the story of this man not as an uncritical support of “cooking the books” but he is impressed by the man’s urgency in securing himself a safe future. Jesus praises him not for his dishonesty but for his astuteness. Jesus says “The children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light” (Luke 16:8). The children of light are the disciples of Jesus. If this man was willing to take violent action against himself, how much more should the disciples of Jesus be prepared to do so? They should be ready to give away their wealth now in the form of alms so that when the great reversal comes and the poor have the privileged place in the kingdom -“How happy are you who are poor; yours is the kingdom of God”(Luke  6:20) – these same poor will welcome them into “the tents of eternity” The Gospel continues around the theme of “mammon”. This word is normally translated as “money”. However the word “mammon” means “that in which I place my trust” In today’s first reading from (Amos 8:4-7) the prophet speaks out against the so called religious rich people who cannot wait for the religious festivals to be over so that they can once more swindle the poor, powerless, voiceless people. Remember that this message from Amos comes eight centuries before Christ. There is no doubt about it, but the so called “good life” ( money, comfort, success, pleasure....) exercises an enormous pull on all of us.   We want to serve God, but we do not want our service of him to interfere with our habits, our impulses, our way of life. The pursuit of wealth is a dominant value in our society. It shows itself in many ways – the cut-throat competitor, the workaholic, the swindler, the miser, and the gambler are all greedy. Greed is evil insofar as it leads to social injustice, oppression and crime. Greed dehumanises us. As we become pre-occupied with evaluating all things, ourselves included, in terms of monetary value and worth, we lose the ability to see things for what they really are. Beauty, friendship, love and life experience are assigned as an economic value.  Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) speaking to a group of graduates in Mc Gill University, Montreal said to them. “Do not pay attention to prestige, power and possessions….some day you will meet a person who cares for none of these and then you will know how poor you are!” A little story is told about a man who lived a life of selfish luxury, died and went up to heaven.  An angel was sent to show him to his house.  They passed many lovely mansions, and each time the rich man thought: “This must be mine.”  But not so. They passed through the main street and arrived at the outskirts where the houses were very small.  Finally they came to a miserable little hut. “This is yours!” said the angel. “This is my house?  There must be a mistake,” the rich man exclaimed. “No” the angel answered, “there is no mistake. This was the best we could do with the materials you sent up.”

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Feasts of the Week: Tuesday: St. Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn & Companions. He was the first Korean priest along with 101 others who were martyred during the persecutions of the Church in Korea (1839-67). Wednesday: St. Matthew – Apostle & Evangelist. Patron saint of accountants, book-keepers and tax-collectors. Friday: St. Pius of Pietrelcina – better known as Padre Pio. (1887-1968) Italian stigmatist canonised on 16 June 2002 by Pope John Paul 11. 

Thanks for the collection last week. It came to £1930.  We appreciate your generosity and support as always. Thanks to our Ushers, Singers, Readers and Ministers of the Eucharist who help out in the weekend liturgies.

Graan Draw: Tickets are available at all the doors of our Church for our annual draw. The draw will take place on the 2nd December 2022 and can be viewed on our webcam. It is the only fund-raising activity that we have and we would appreciate your support by buying or selling tickets for us. 

Our Shop is open:  Monday to Friday from 9.30am -7pm and Sunday from 9.30 -5pm

Guild Mass Cards:  Deceased, Mass Bouquets, Get Well, Wedding, Christening, Graduation, New Born etc.

Confessions & Duty: Sunday & Monday  – No Duty. Mass (19^th Sept)  @ 7pm –  Brian. 

Duty: Tues 2pm – 5pm  –  Brian.  Wed – Victor. Thurs – Arthur.  Fri – Anthony. Sat 5 – 6pm. Sat – Anthony.