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Message from the
Parish Priest -
Monsignor Brian Arahill

 

THE GREAT MYSTERY OF LIFE

 Suffering and pain have come to people unannounced.  Across our cities, violence and human sin are evident, with so-called "drive-by" shootings and death by human conflict.

What then is it that we bring along in our hearts to the resurrection story this Eastertide of 2009?

We come with sadness and with sorrow; we come seeking forgiveness for our world and hope for those who despair of peace and security.

We come with many questions and searchings, because we do not understand, just as the disciples who came to the tomb on that first Easter morning did not understand.

The Resurrection of Christ is the great mystery of life.

It is the greatest change known to humankind that one human being died a violent and destructive death only to rise to a new life with its promise of eternal life for each and every one of us.    We are to be beacons of that resurrected life in all that we are and all that we do for humankind and for our earth.

Christ has no other presence than that in his followers.  So it is imperative that we be messengers of his peace and mercy - we who have experienced the gift of the Resurrected One deep within our being.

The message of peace that we wish to bring to our world is one based on listening, dialogue and the seeking of understanding of the differences that divide our world, whether those differences are based on religion, race, politics, economics, prejudice or intolerance.

It is only together that people of goodwill can seek to bring wholeness and healing into our troubled world.

May our experience of this Eastertide bring a new energy and freshness to our faith and to our humanity, so that we may be the messengers of peace and mercy that our Christian calling constantly invites us to be.

 I have adapted the above message from the President of the Association of Australian Religious - Monsignor Brian Arahill
 

14th Sunday of Ordinary Time
5 July 2009

Readings this Sunday
Ezekiel 2:2-5
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Mark 6:1-6

This week we find Jesus powerless to work miracles. Why not?

It is an intriguing question, because most of us think of miracles as based on power, as acts done by a mighty person. Jesus, God in human form, must have been all-powerful, just as God is. What was stopping him?

God is love and has loved all human beings since he first created them. Through the Old and New Testament God is always thirsting for a shared union with human beings. “I will be your God, and you will be my people". It is to be a reciprocal relationship.

Jesus was not a circus performer or a magician. He did not work miracles in order to be noticed or to show off. He worked miracles as acts of love towards those who accepted him, believed in him and loved him. This is why he said so often to the people he healed, “your faith has saved you.”

Now we can see what took away Jesus’ miracles. The people in his home-town did not accept him, did not believe in him, and did not love him.

Maybe the Gospel today is asking us to be open to receive and give love - both to God and each other - that would create many miracles.

Adapted from an article by Fr John Foley SJ
www.liturgy.slu.edu
Graphic:  www.cruzblanca.org/hermanoleon

 

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ORDINARY TIME

We are in the Church Season called ordinary time, characterised by the priest  (usually) wearing green vestments at Mass.


"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

John 10:10


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My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Thomas Merton

 

St Michael's Parish  -  6 Beatrice Road  -  Remuera  -  Phone 520 1226  -  stmichaels.remuera@clear.net.nz