Weekly Bulletin 4th September 2022

Today is the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. In the Gospel (Luke 14:25-35) today Jesus warns the large crowd following him that there will be a cost involved if they want to truly be his disciple. It is not an easy religion that Jesus sets before us.  He invites us all to radical detachment. Taken in isolation all these injunctions are stark indeed. However we need to read them in the light of his invitation to the kingdom that was offered in the preceding verses. Jesus himself will have to pay a heavy price for who He is and for what He stands for. We all will meet similar challenges. Jesus paints a picture of discipleship as a very serious calling which demands unhurried thought and unqualified commitment. Jesus is not proclaiming a Gospel of hate when he commands his followers to hate their own relatives and their own life. He has already told his disciples to love their enemies (Luke 6:27). Jesus is using a way of speaking that underlines one priority over another – the first priority of a person’s life is the kingdom of God and all other commitments are of subordinate importance. Jesus does not want people to become disciples under false pretences. Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem where he will face his own death. He is in a serious frame of mind. His own thoughts are being clarified. He does not need qualified commitments or momentary enthusiasms, which fade away when difficulties arise. Jesus understands that the disciple will be no stranger to hesitation and doubt. The second reading today from the Book of Wisdom describes the human condition as fragile. “The reasoning’s of mortals are unsure and our intentions unstable; for a perishable body presses down the soul, and this tent of clay weighs down the teeming mind” (Wisdom 9:13). Despite the frailties of the human condition Jesus wants his disciples to be as sure as possible what they are getting themselves into! Philemon, a friend and fellow disciple of St. Paul, is asked to receive back his runaway slave Onesimus by Paul in one of his shortest letters in today’s second reading. Philemon is called to act like a disciple of Jesus and to receive Onesimus back into his household; “….you could have him back forever, not as a slave any more, but something much better than a slave, a dear brother…” (Philemon Verse 16). Growing in the virtue of detachment – like deepening our discipleship of Jesus – is often a gradual process.  It involves growing to trust God and his providence, believing that what we need for each day will be provided, and slowly realising that the four “p”s (power, pleasure, possessions, and pride) do not give us the security we think they will.   St. Teresa of Calcutta spoke to her sisters on the importance of detachment. She said: “God doesn’t ask that we succeed in everything but that we are faithful. However beautiful our work may be, let us not become attached to it. Always remain prepared to give it up, without losing your peace”

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Feasts of the Week: Thursday: The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Friday: St. Ciaran – born in Rathcrogan Roscommon 512. He founded the famous monastery of Clonmacnoise in 545 in Offaly. He died at the age of 33 while the monastery was still being built. Saturday: St. Peter Claver (1580-1654) He worked among the slaves for 33 years at a flourishing centre of the slave trade in Colombia. He ministered to their needs. 

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Thanks for the collection last week. It came to £1650. We appreciate your generosity and support during these financially straitened times. Thanks to our Ushers, Readers, Singers and Ministers of the Eucharist who help in the celebration of Masses over the weekend. Thank you for giving your time and energy for these important ministries. 

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The September Church cleaning group will meet this Wednesday to clean our Church immediately after the 7pm Mass.

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 (5^th Sept)  @ 7pm – Victor.      

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

Lisnaskea & Maguiresbridge Parish Mission takes place from 11^th – 16^th September.   For further info go to www.lisnaskeamaguiresbridgeparish.com  or call the parish office. 02867721088. Mon – Thurs 2-6pm. Fri 10.30am – 1pm). Everyone is welcome to attend.