Weekly Bulletin 7th August 2022

Today is the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. We are called to trust in Our Father whose message does not imprison or confine us but frees us to be who we truly are! “There is no need to be afraid little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). Remember that Luke was writing his Gospel for a Christian community that were being persecuted.  Even in our day many see life as a dominant project of survival. Jesus, however tells us that life is a gift that we called to live joyfully and freely. Many of us of a certain vintage have been raised on a diet of sermons on hell-fire and the vengeful justice of God. This may have made fear and anxiety the dominant force in our lives. The second reading today talks about faith (Hebrews 11:1-19) Faith is not merely an intellectual acceptance to a body of truths, but it is more an act of trust in God’s love and care for each one of us.  The psalm puts it well today: “Our soul is waiting for the Lord// The Lord is our help and our shield// May your love be upon us as we place all our hope in you” (Psalm 32). Anxiety can cripple us. It is like an imprisonment. The word “anxiety” has its roots in the word “narrowness”. When we are anxious our chest can feel constricted. It is like a wall closing in on us. No disciples of Jesus should be confined by anxiety; no follower of Jesus should allow themselves to be manipulated by the thinking and advertising which capitalise on human anxiety. Jesus offers us the alternative: trust in His Father. The letter to the Hebrews will be read for the next three Sundays. It was written for a community of Christians that were growing slack in their faith. They too were having a very hard and anxious time and they were tempted to drift away. We are all called to loving trust in a God that eases our anxieties. In our happy moments,- praise God!    In our difficult moments,-  seek God! In our quiet moments – worship God! In our painful moments – trust God! In every moment – Thank God!

My God sometimes I do not want to grow to move forward in freedom, 

to leave my comfortable captivity.

I cling to the familiar smallness

of my old world

pulling back from the vast wilderness of the exodus journey.

Help me to open to the stretching of your Spirit;

to allow my heart

to be expanded beyond my

immediate comfort and control.

Lead me into that larger life that wide land of plenty

where my narrow self

can blossom with new life.

Enlarge my heart, O God;

fill me with your boundless love

Phillip Bennett (Let yourself be loved) (Paulist Press 1997)

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Feasts of the Week: Monday: St. Dominic (1170-1221) A Spaniard who founded the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) to counteract the Albigensian heresy. Tuesday: Edith Stein (Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) Born in 1891 and died in the gas chambers of Auschwitz on the 9 August 1942. She is one of the Patrons of Europe. Wednesday: St. Laurence – Deacon & Martyr. He died in 258 and was one of the seven deacons of the Roman Church in charge of the material needs of the faithful

Thursday: St. Clare (1193-1253).  She followed St. Francis of Assisi and is founder of the Poor Clare nuns. 

Thank you for the collection last week. It came to £1770. We appreciate your generosity and support. A word of thanks also to our readers, ushers, ministers of the Eucharist and singers who help in the celebration of our weekend Masses

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

We have a range religious items, statues, pictures, medals, candles, rosary beads, etc.

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

Confessions & Duty: Sun & Mon – No Duty. Mass Mon (8^th Aug) @ 7pm: Charles. Monday to Friday Mass @ 7pm.                                                                                                                                        Duty: Tues 2pm – 5pm  – Brian.   Wed – Arthur.  Thurs – Charles.  Fri – Anthony.    Sat 5 – 6pm. Sat – Anthony.   

Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament continues each Friday from 10am – 2pm.

Church Cleaning Group: Thank you to the August cleaning group for their hard work as always.