Parish News for Sunday 26th July 2009

Vol.36 No.29

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

PRIESTS OF THE PARISH
Very Rev Michael Canny Adm
Rev David O'Kane CC
Rev Daniel McFaul CC

The Need for Food

Our lives are a journey
from the weakness of the newborn child we once were to the weakness of the old person we will become.
Our lives are a journey of growth
from ignorance to wisdom,
from selfishness to self-giving,
from fear to trust,
from guilt feelings to inner liberation,
from lack of self-esteem to self-acceptance.

We human beings do not possess life.
We receive life in our fragile bodies.
And this life grows, develops and deepens
as long as we are nourished.
Without food, we wither and die.
What is true of our physical life is also true of our life in the Spirit.
We need to be nourished.
We need physical nourishment, intellectual nourishment
and nourishment for the heart.

Since early childhood we have learned to create defence mechanisms,
walls around our hearts
in order to protect our vulnerability and avoid being hurt.
One of our greatest fears is the fear of failure;
of being lonely, rejected, pushed down,
and made to feel we are no good.
These walls protect us from the dreadful feeling of being no good,
and it is from behind these walls that we try to prove our worth.
We have to be the best. We want power.
We want to be admired, seen as clever and brilliant.
We want to win in some field.
An inmate in a U.S. prison once told a friend of mine,
who was the prison chaplain,
that he was the best car stealer in his city and was proud of it.
He was the best in his field!

Others want to be the best singer, doctor, scientist, Olympic runner.
The best!
Caught up in the world of competition,
we tend to see people in the same field as rivals,
and not as people with whom we can co-operate and grow together.
Competition can certainly help us to develop our potential
but it can also become a source of great conflict.

Jesus came to lead us from this rivalry and competition,
so that we become more human, more compassionate,
more open to others.
He came to liberate us from our personal or collective selfishness,
from the fears and prejudices that enclose us in ourselves.
He came to lead us on the road of love.
We cannot move out from self-centredness to self-giving
unless we receive a new force from God.

The new life or growth in the Spirit needs to be nourished.
Jesus came to give us a special food
so that we may attain fullness of life.

- Excerpt from ‘Drawn into the Mystery of Jesus through the Gospel of John’ by Jean Vanier

Sympathy

We offer our sympathy to the family and friends of:

Cathern Doherty,
50 William Street.

Daphne Lyons,
24 Northland Drive.

May they rest in peace.

Baptism

We welcome as a member of the Christian community:

Cormac Canice McCarthy,
2 Groarty Road.

Readers - Weekdays

10.00 Gráinne Nugent
07.30 Adele McCauley

Readers on duty next Weekend

06.15 pm Garvin Kerr
07.30 pm Charlie McDermott
09.30 am Monica Garvin
11.00 am Megan Meenan
12.30 pm Marie Canning

Eucharistic Ministers
Team *B* begins its rota
at the 6.15 pm Vigil Mass
next weekend.

Books needed urgently to raise money for destitute children in India. Please bring books along to public car park adjacent to Sainsbury’s and First Trust Bank, Tues, Wed, Thurs, 7.00-8.00 pm or ring Eamon Melaugh 71364029. Details of book sale will be announced later.

Fr Canny acknowledges with thanks donations for:
Trócaire: £15. Altar Flowers: £20. St Pio: £10, €5. St Thérèse Statue: £50. Retired Priests Fund: £100. Sisters of St John: £20.

Fr Canny will forward a donation of £20 to LASCO.

Last Week’s Collection
amounted to £3,450.

National Grandparents Pilgrimage to Knock on Sunday, 14th September. There will be Anointing of the Sick at 2.00 pm. Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland will be Chief Celebrant at the Pilgrimage Mass which will be celebrated at 3.00 pm. All grandchildren have been invited to write a prayer for their grandparents. The prayers will be blessed at the Pilgrimage.

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