Weekly Bulletin 24th January 2021

Today is the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time: During this year at Mass we will be reading from Mark’s Gospel. It is the shortest Gospel. It has only sixteen chapters.  Today in the Gospel we hear about the call by Jesus to two sets of brothers. However before they are called we are told that the Kingdom of God has come and as a result we must “Repent and believe the Good News” (Mark 1:15). One meaning of the word “repent” is to “change your attitude”. It is a call to enter into a real relationship with the living Lord. God waits, as it were, in the basement of our soul. God waits for us to respond to His request. Conversion is a turning of the human being to the One who is the source of their life.  God is no bully. This is a relationship. The Divine Lord does not elbow a way into a relationship. We may note that there is something missing from our lives. God comes to meet us where we are as he met Simon, Andrew, James and John doing their ordinary jobs, as fishermen. I am sure they were good at their jobs!  And it is to this real person that God comes! God does not come to an illusion that we create for ourselves. And I wonder – even though we spend an inordinate amount of time with ourselves, strangely, it’s remarkably difficult to develop a proper understanding of how we operate: what we want, how we feel and why we react as we do. This lack of self-knowledge can be acutely dangerous. In Ancient Greece, when the philosopher Socrates was asked to sum up what all philosophical commandments could be reduced to, he replied: ‘Know Yourself’.  The anonymous mystic of the 14^th century who wrote the “Cloud of Unknowing” captures the central importance of the skills of personal reflection when he wrote: “Should all the saints and angels of heaven join with all the members of the church on earth, both religious and lay at every degree of Christian holiness and pray for my growth in humility, I am certain it would not profit me as much nor bring me to perfection of this virtue as quickly as a little self-knowledge” God’s grace can be discovered at work within the structures of human development.  Human growth is simultaneously a natural development  and a surprisingly graceful event.  Alcoholics Anonymous Group maxim  states, “God always comes to the meetings!” In other words God always comes to where we are at!  Human development is at once secular and sacred! We say that God loves me as I am. That is true. But God loves you enough not to leave you as you are. He calls, challenges, confronts and cries out to us to be the mature disciple that we are called  to be. The two sets of brothers learned that following Christ will cost them but their reward is out of this world! A line from today’s psalm: “Make me walk in your truth, and teach me for you are God my Saviour” (Psalm 24)

Feasts for the Week: Monday: The Conversion of St. Paul. Today the week of prayer for Christian Unity ends but the work for unity among Christians is always ongoing. Tuesday: St. Timothy and Titus. They learned to follow Christ from St. Paul. Timothy was the first bishop of Ephesus and Titus organised the Church in Crete. Thursday: St. Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274).Dominican priest. Called the “Angelic Doctor” Taught that human knowledge and Christian revelation are aspects of a single truth. He is patron saint of schools, universities, students and booksellers

Thank you for your tremendous support during this time of lockdown. We recognise the financial burdens that many are facing at this time, and despite your own personal financial difficulties your kindness is remarkable. Some have found difficulty in using the DONATE button on our website. When you are logging in the lists of countries named is Ireland and the United Kingdom. However this site also named Northern Ireland as a distinct entity. If you are looking for your county’s name and you are from the North of Ireland you will find it under that title. 

Lockdown continues however, if you have the facility, you can pray with us over our web-cam. Masses are at 7:00 pm from Monday to Friday. Weekend Masses are on Saturday at 6:30 pm and Sunday at 10:30 pm, 12 noon and 4:00 pm. Our Church will be open from Monday to Saturday from 9:30 to 4:00 pm and on Sunday from 12:45 pm to 3:00 pm for private prayer. Eucharistic Adoration will be cancelled until further notice. 

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