Thursday 4th March
Friday 5th March
Saturday 6th March
Sunday 7th March
Monday 8th March
Tuesday 9th March
Wednesday 10th March
Thursday 11th March
Friday 12th March
7:30pm
7:30pm
6pm
12 noon
7:30pm
7:30pm
7:30pm
7:30pm
7:30pm
Fr. Tony Byrne & Sr. Kathleen Maguire - The Power of Prayer
Tom Purcell - Passing on the Faith
Fr. Pat McNamara -Guests in our country.
Fr. Terence Harrington - Repentance
Fr. Paddy Boyle - Reconciliation
Fr. John Hughes
Sr. Marie Gribbon - Compassion
Fr. Sylvester cfr - Eucharist
Fr. Joe Ralph OP - Scripture
4th March - Fr. Tony Byrne & Sr. Kathleen Maguire *** Power of Prayer
When Fr. Tony returned from the missions sixteen years ago, he was shocked at the fact that Ireland had the highest rate of suicide in the world. With government support, he started giving programmes on Suicide, Bereavement, Bullying and Harmony in the Home. Following an interview on RTE and Fr. Tony was contacted by a caller who told him he had just taken tablets and was intent on killing himself. The caller had lost his family, his home and everything he held dear. As the two men talked, Fr. Tony commended him for his bravery in admitting that he was on the edge. The caller agreed to meet with a counsellor. Fr. Tony talked to him about the power of prayer and told him he would contact his priest friends and ask them all to pray for him. The priests in Kimmage Manor started praying for him but very soon Fr. Tony heard that his friend had taken tablets again, but this time, both he and his car were missing. Everyone feared the worst. Another phone call, and our friend was on the phone talking to Fr. Tony! What happened? Well, he took the tablets, drove up the Mountains of Mourne and lined up the car to drive off the mountain. Out of nowhere, two joggers came by. They saw him very distressed behind the wheel, pushed him into the passenger seat and drove him to hospital where he recovered very well. How did it happen? The Power of Prayer
Sr. Kathleen worked for many years in Pakistan. She was five years in a particular parish, when the parish organised three days of prayer. There was gentleman in the area who was a cripple - he had lost his legs sometime before that. At the end of one of the days of prayer, Sr. Kathleen was leaving the parish hall with the priest who had led the prayer, when she met the gentleman outside crying. He wasn't a Catholic and had not entered the hall for the prayers, but he had watched from outside. He was so upset because he had watched the people being prayed over. The power of prayer he witnessed moved him to tears and gave him the courage to ask the priest to pray over him. His prayer was that he could walk again. Seeing that he had no legs, the priest told him he couldn't pray for him to walk, but that he would pray for his heart to be changed to a more accepting heart. As he was prayed over, Sr. Kathleen thought of an orthopaedic surgeon she knew and decided to contact him. Within six weeks of being prayed over, this gentleman was fitted with artificial legs and his only obstacle to walking was his lack of shoes! Sr. Kathleen contacted another friend and asked for a pair of shoes - she received two pairs! Despite knowing this gentleman for five years, it was The Power of Prayer during the few minutes that the priest prayed over him that prompted her to contact the surgeon.
Let us allow The Power of Prayer to help us to be attentive to the needs of those close to us. Our prayer must influence others.
5th March - Tom Purcell SFO *** Handing on the Faith
Handing on the Faith is a difficult title for this talk since I don't believe one can hand on the faith since faith is a gift from God which is freely available to all. As a school chaplain, I see my role as one who helps awaken the God given faith which is within all people. But all of us as baptised Christians influence the faith of others by the way we live our lives. As a school chaplain, the official description is faith presence, but all baptised Christians are called to be a faith presence in the world.
6th March - Fr. Pat McNamara CSSp
Guests in our Country
Fr. Pat worked in Brazil for twenty years before returning to Ireland in the 1990s. When he came back to Ireland, he met up with Brazilians who came to him for help with their employment problems, legal issues and language struggles. He quickly realised that Irish workers were better paid and better looked after than those who came in to work in Ireland from other countries. Many signed employment contracts in their homelands based on the local wages only to have to work in Ireland for considerably less than is needed to cover the essential to live in this country.
Fr. Pat contacted SIPTU to help him obtain better conditions for these migrant workers. Cases continue to be brought before the Courts, but unfortunately, even when the Courts find in favour of the worker, some employers still fail to honour the judgements. A group was formed to help with legal, advocacy, health, employment and translation issues. Besides the everyday issues that are being looked after by this group, the pastoral needs of the migrant workers are a big responsibility too. The pastoral care includes sacramental preparation - baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, weddings, funerals and the all important links with their home parishes.
The battle for equal rights goes hand in hand with the prayer life of the group. Fr. Pat asked all of us to pray the Missionary Rosary for the people of the world.
7th March - Fr. Terence Harrington OFM Cap
Repentance
Repentance is always important, but during Lent we give special attention to repentance starting with Ash Wednesday when the minister makes the sign of the cross with ashes on our foreheads saying Repent and believe in the Gospels. The word repent means turn around if you are going in the wrong direction or think again. It also applies to us when we sin - we can repent, change our ways and head back to God in the right direction.
When we sin, we damage our relationship with God. Sin is about relationship - relationship with God and relationship with others. Sin leads us to anxiety and guilt. The burden of guilt can drag us down, give us a bad self image and low self-esteem. Those caught in sin can feel burdened and very low. But we can repent - change and turn around. Turn our lives around and turn back to God. When we find someone or something coming between ourselves and God, we need to change, we need to repent.
The great act of repentance is the sacrament of confession. Talking through our burdens with others is very helpful but in the sacrament we know that God forgives us - God loves to forgive. God's regard for all of us is so great he loves us and loves to forgive us. God is more generous than any of us are - more loving, more giving and more forgiving. We must never underestimate his forgiveness.
Some years ago, a young man died in a single car collision. He was just twenty-three. While under the influence of alcohol, he lost control of his car and drove into a wall, dying instantly. His parents were devastated by their loss. They were also filled with shame over the drink-driving, filled with anger with for what he did and also anxiety because he had moved away from the church and the sacraments. A couple of weeks following the funeral, his mother talked about how she was feeling.
“My greatest fear is that he is in hell. Do you think he is in hell, Father?”
“Think about the funeral and the prayers at the end of Mass. What would you do if the coffin opened up and your son got out?”
“I'd give him a big!”
“So how about God - would he not do at least the same?
8th March - Fr. Paddy Boyle
Reconciliation
Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' (Luke 15:4-6)
We all know how frustrating it us to lose something. We put everything on hold and go searching for the missing item. Mobile phone, keys, glasses, wallet or whatever - we stop what we are doing and search until we find it. If as first we don't succeed, we may ask the help of St. Anthony! And when we find what we have lost, the relief is wonderful.
Unlike, today, in Our Lord's time, there were lots of shepherds. They guarded their flocks, fed them well and very often the shepherd gave each one of them a special name. The shepherds also led their sheep by walking in front of them, and the sheep trusted the shepherd by following closely behind him. If one of the sheep did go missing, the shepherd would leave the others and go searching until lost sheep was found.
Christ compares himself to a shepherd. He guards us, feeds us, minds us and when we are lost and turn from him, he goes out of his way to bring us back. He takes care of each and every one of us, minding us in a way no one else can. When we are lost, there is nothing he won't do to get us back.
Today, we have the Sacrament of Confession to bring us back. When we are lost, we have Confession to help us find our way. And we know that God, like the man in our Gospel, is always delighted to have us back and is always ready to welcome us with open arms. God knows what is in our hearts - our thoughts, our words and our deeds. In Confession we have the chance put aside the past and start over. For ourselves, we promise to do the best we can in future.
9th March - Fr. Richard Hendrick OFM Cap
Faith
Just recently, my mother reminded me of the time she saw the relic of St. Francis Xavier in Saint Michael and John's Church in Dublin. She queued for hours with their parents and brother to see the small, very small withered left arm of St. Francis Xavier. Her ten year brother exclaimed in a voice that was heard throughout the church - it looks like a fiddle.
Tonight as we reflect about faith - what is your understanding of faith? Is it the ability to understand fully and being absolutely certain in your belief or do you see faith as a gift freely given to each of us.
As Christians, we believe it is gift - pure gift. The gift and life of the Holy Spirit in us is grace. That divine life grows in us as we get to know its presence through prayer. This gift of faith is fragile - it can leave us and it can (and will) also return. St. Francis Xavier and all the saints placed the gift of faith at the centre of their lives. When we place the gift of faith at the centre of our lives, we strengthen the faith in others.
What do the greatest sinners and the greatest saints have in common? Both are loved by God and the relationship with God is a relationship of faith. We have the choice to accept this gift. And when we accept the gift of faith how can we nourish it? There are three ways -
1. We need to belong to a community of faith. We gather strength from others, supporting us in our weak moments. We are baptised into the Church because God wants us part of his Church. God needs our hands for healing and our hearts for loving. He needs us to support each other in our faith because we all have struggles.
2. We need moments of prayer throughout the day and we need novenas like this Novena of Grace, we need retreats and we need to ask God for renewal in our faith. We need to ask for this many times each day.
3. We need example - we need the example of the saints who have completed their journey of faith successfully and now help us in our times of weakness. We also need the example of the saints - not necessarily the canonised saints we venerate but those members of our family, friends and community who help us by their good example.
So now an invitation - how do you view this Novena of Grace? Is it a way to ask for a special favour, or is it an acknowledgement of the life of the spirit in you?
The help and assistance offered to us here today is the same help and assistance that was offered to the saints over many years. It is our choice to accept this help, this assistance - it is pure gift.
Tonight we offer a prayer of thanksgiving for all those who have helped us in our journey of faith.
|
10th March - Sr. Marie Gribbon DC
Companions on the Journey
The story of the Good Samaritan is a story we all know very well but it's a story with simple message for a lifetime. But let's compare it with another story - the story of 'The Road' which was in the cinemas recently. The film, 'The Road' is based in America in a year away into the future. Something happens leaving behind a world that was bleak, desolate, grey, in ruins, cold, stark, lifeless, dead vegetation and no animal life. In the middle of all this desolation, a father and son survive. They are seen trudging along a road fraught with attacks, robbery, tiredness, ill-health, fear and hunger - just like the man in the Gospel this evening. They are searching for a better life and think all will be well if they can find the coast and the blue ocean.
In the midst of all this misery, there is something very beautiful and hope-filled and that is the relationship between the father and his son. We never knew their names - maybe they could be you and me, but their love for each other and how they show it was evident. They give and receive, sharing their burdens, protecting each other in their strengths and in their weaknesses. They challenged each other, like the time they met a beggar along the road, and the father wanted to keep going on like the priest in the Gospel, but the son pleaded with him to share what they had - and they did. Along the road of life, we meet other people who need our help today and tomorrow we might need help from them (or others). Who is the person who walks down your road and needs help?
On a few occasions the dad said he couldn't go on but his son would reassure him telling he him “I am right beside you, you will be OK”. How often in life we need to hear those same words. Let us pause for a moment and ask Jesus to stay beside us, in whatever our situation in life is, and to tell us that it will be OK. On many occasions the son asked the father how would they be able to keep going and the father kept saying “Keep the fire alive” and when the son questioned this, he told him that the “fire is within”.
At the end of the film, the father dies and the son is left alone, reminding us how we lose people along the road of life through death. The boy accompanied his father as far as they could go together and then their ways had to part. They said their goodbyes but not before the son said to his father - “You said you would never leave me”. The father said “I know. I'm sorry. You have my whole heart. You always did. You're the best guy. You always were. If I'm not here you can still talk to me. You can talk to me and I'll talk to you. And with practice, you will be able to hear - just don't give up.”
Here we see how bonds can continue to exist between those who have died and ourselves. It is not about letting them go, but about finding a way of continuing that relationship in a meaningful way. The boy asked his father who would be there to find him if he got lost. The answer was - “Goodness will find you. It always has. It always will.”
When we are lost, God will find us. He always has. He always will. Goodness led the boy to a new family and they took the boy to look after him. Through everything we encounter on the road of life, God is following us and looking out for us - often in unexpected ways. We need to be open and prepared for the unexpected. As Dickie Rock tells us “we walk the road of life together day by day”. Let us take care of one another and carry the fire within. As we walk the road of life with Jesus, hear him tell you “I am right beside you - you will be OK”.
11th March - Fr. Sylvester cfr
Eucharist
Eucharist is the source and summit of all Christian life. Everything we do derives its power from the Holy Eucharist. Everything we do leads us back to the same Eucharist.
Many years ago, before I was a Franciscan Friar, I was a teacher and a youth worker in Brooklyn. I had to speak to the children about Catholic faith. It wasn't easy. But sometimes I would talk to the children about miracles - miracles that actually happened. I decided to auction a Bona Fide true miracle to one of 5th Class groups. I offered them the use of pretend $1 million each to help them bid for the miracle. The successful bid would win the chance to go to see the miracle - but only one person could win. The bidding started slowly - $1, $2 … Eventually, one little boy was willing to offer everything he had for the chance to be the one and only boy in the class to see the miracle. Just as going, going, gone was being called out, a little voice shouted up - I bid $7 million. I asked the little boy how he could bid $7 million when I had only given the use of $1 million to each of them. Seven boys pooled their monies and agreed on which of them would go and see the miracle. The plan was to take a video of the event to show the other six. So the lucky boy got his 'admission ticket' to the miracle. It was in a sealed envelope which he opened and reluctantly read out to the class. The bearer is entitled to admission to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. But I bid $7 million for something I can go to any day I like for free!
The Mass is a miracle that puts us in touch with God's holy power. There are three ways to experience this power.
1) In the Mass itself.
This is my body. This is my blood. In the Mass, Jesus gives us his whole body, and even more than that, we recall his betrayal, scourging, agony, speaking his last words, Mary at the foot of the cross, his death and resurrection. All this is present to us in this mystery of our redemption.
2) In Holy Communion
Jesus is physically present in us, not just a part of him, but all of him. We receive Jesus in the Eucharist and then sent out to touch the lives of others.
3) In the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament we have the opportunity to sit in the presence of the Lord - Jesus fully present with us and for us.
We celebrate the Eucharis because it is the source and summit of Christian life. Everything we do in the church is derived from the Eucharist. And now a poem to conclude:
The Touch of the Master's Hand - Myra Brooks Welch
It was battered and scarred,
And the auctioneer thought it
hardly worth his while
To waste his time on the old violin,
but he held it up with a smile.
"What am I bid, good people", he cried,
"Who starts the bidding for me?"
"One dollar, one dollar, Do I hear two?"
"Two dollars, who makes it three?"
"Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for three,"
But, No,
From the room far back a gray bearded man
Came forward and picked up the bow,
Then wiping the dust from the old violin
And tightening up the strings,
He played a melody, pure and sweet
As sweet as the angel sings.
The music ceased and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said "What now am I bid for this old violin?"
As he held it aloft with its' bow.
"One thousand, one thousand, Do I hear two?"
"Two thousand, Who makes it three?"
"Three thousand once, three thousand twice,
Going and gone", said he.
The audience cheered,
But some of them cried,
"We just don't understand."
"What changed its' worth?"
Swift came the reply.
"The Touch of the Masters Hand."
And many a man with life out of tune
All battered with bourbon and gin
Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd
Much like that old violin
A mess of pottage, a glass of wine,
A game and he travels on.
He is going once, he is going twice,
He is going and almost gone.
But the Master comes,
And the foolish crowd never can quite understand,
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
By the Touch of the Masters' Hand.
12th March - Fr. Joe Ralph OP
Scripture
The readings we have just heard are the readings for next Sunday. During each week we are invited to meditate and reflect on the Word of God. When we hear the Word 'raw', it doesn't impact as much as when we have taken time to reflect on it. The Word is meant to nourish and feed us just as much as the bread and wine in the Eucharist nourishes us. The deeper one's appreciation of the Word is, the deeper our relationship with God.
We come to church to be nourished, to become the 'image and likeness' of Jesus. Together as a community of faith we become the Body of Christ, and the Scripture, the Word of God, is our nourishment towards that goal. Catholics often shy away from the Scriptures, leaving them to the clergy and religious. But we are invited to take the Scripture, and hold it close. It has the power to nourish, to give us life and deepen our relationship with God. In tonight's Gospel, the story of Prodigal Son, we are invited to allow the Scripture to touch our own lives. Ask yourself
* When and how have you seen the Scripture passage lived out?
* When and how have you seen a young man leave home?
* When and how have you been the parent worrying about their child's choices?
* When and how have you been the elder son?
The challenge is to allow the Scripture to touch into our own story. All our stories are sacred stories, being nourished by the Word of God, uplifting us as it touches us. Meditating on this passage, one person told me he was reminded of when he was a child. He used to visit his grandmother who always had a special biscuit tin full of treats. Each time he visited, she always gave a treat. He stayed over for a weekend and noticed that his granny gave treats to everyone who visited. He was worried that there wouldn't be enough left for him, so he broke into the tin and took fistfuls of treats. He then retreated to the end of the garden and gorged them all. Later in the evening, his grandmother headed out into the garden looking for him and when she found him, she took him by the hand into the kitchen. I know you are a good boy, and sometimes, good boys do bad things. She opened the biscuit tin and it was full to the brim with treats and she gave him one. In that moment, he experienced the unconditional love of his grandmother. And now reflecting on the Gospel, he can see himself heading off to the bottom of the garden with treats as the young son headed off to a far country with his inheritance.
His grandmother gave him a lesson in love and mercy mirroring the selfless and abundant love of the father. Parents and grandparents know the story of the father in the Gospel. You worry about the choices of the younger generations but always welcome them back with open arms filled with love.
Another couple, Dan and Mary, spoke of their upset over their son's involvement in drugs. They had little or no contact with him, but everyday they would wait for a phone-call, a letter or best of all, his return. Regardless of what he has done, when he comes home, I'll take my son and dance for joy, Dan would say. Dan is like the father in our Gospel - ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly. A wonderful example of the unconditional love of a parent.
Take a quick look at the elder son and his reaction to the return of the younger son. He doesn't appreciate the love of the father for him - you are with me always and all I have is yours. We all know how easy it is for us to be self righteous, resentful and angry. A married woman mentioned how she could see in the elder son. She and her husband couldn't have children and she grew to resent all those who had children. She resented unmarried mothers more than most! She couldn't feel the love of God and the gifts given to herself and her husband as they reared two beautiful children they had adopted.
