Weekly Bulletin 24th April 2022

Today is the Second Sunday of Easter. The Gospel (John 20:19-31) tells the story of the apostle Thomas who made a great act of faith before the presence of the Risen Lord – by declaring “My Lord and my God” Of course we know him as “Doubting Thomas”. It is interesting to note that Thomas was called the Twin.  And I often wonder why the writer of the Gospel threw that detail in.  Maybe his twin was one of the more well-known people in the early community, and that is why being a twin is mentioned, but we don’t know, who this twin was, so speculation abounds. We know that it was not Peter and Andrew, James or John because they are listed as brothers and not triplets.  Maybe he was Matthew’s twin or maybe Mary Magdalene was his twin sister? Or maybe Judas Iscariot and that is why the twin’s name is not mentioned. But that is all speculation we don’t really know. I think reading between the lines, Thomas’s twin is “us”.  We are Thomas’s twin because all of us are a mixture of fear and doubt, pessimism and trust, belief and unbelief. And that is a difficult place to be because for every one of us, our human condition has such a hankering for certainty. We would like to be certain that our spouse without a shadow of doubt really loves us that we really count to somebody in the world, and that no matter what happens, that there is someone who loves us with a deep, unconditional love.  We want to be the apple, the sun, the moon of somebody’s eye. If we had that as a certainty, we could put up with an awful lot? Couldn’t we?   But the fact is that we don’t have that certainty and so we become Thomas’s twin!  Thomas was not with the community when the Risen Jesus came. This was Thomas’s mistake. Even though he was depressed, withdrawn and shattered by the death of Jesus he should not have left the fellowship because he could never find his way by himself. Self-direction can lead to self-deception! Thomas needed some kind of faith, and faith is gained and shared and matured in fellowship, and communion with others. Every Christian is at different place in life’s journey on this pilgrimage parade of ours.  There are some up front who have never flinched and have always carried the banner, “Jesus is Lord.”, and they’ve never wavered from the time they were born until the time they die.  Well, good for them!  Then there is the other extreme in the back, trailing up the hindquarters, not sure that they should even be in the parade to begin with. I guess the vast majority of us are in the middle we are wavering from moving up front or lagging behind. But no matter where we are in our pilgrimage – and it is perfectly all right to be of strong faith or weak faith – the important thing is simply to be on the pilgrimage at all. That is the sign of vitality.  That is the sign of earnestness. It is a sign I haven’t, like Thomas, absented myself and withdrawn, because then I really will go wrong. I’m not my own measurement.  I need the witness and I need the discernment of others. I could not survive in my faith, in my religion, or this Catholic Church without you. I hope you cannot survive without one another, wherever we are in this parade!! 

Feasts for the Week: Monday St. Mark, evangelist. He was a disciple of St. Peter and he wrote the shortest and the earliest of the four Gospels. Friday: St. Catherine of Siena, Patron of Europe and Doctor of the Church & mystic (1347-1380). A Dominican tertiary who helped the Pope to return from Avignon to Rome

Thanks for the very generous contribution to the community last Easter weekend. We appreciate your generosity and goodness to our community & ministry here in the Graan. Thanks also to our Readers, Ushers and Ministers of the Eucharist for all your help in the smooth running of our religious services

Our Shop is now fully stocked for those wishing to buy a gift for anyone who is making their First Holy Communion or Confirmation. Guild Mass Cards: Deceased, Mass Bouquets, Get Well, Wedding etc.

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

Confessions & Duty: Sunday & Monday – No Duty. Mass Monday to Friday @ 7pm.

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