Twenty Fourth Sunday -13 September 2009
Gospel : Mark 8 : 27 – 35 Year B Who do people say that I am? ….. For 2000 years, this question is asked. Answers have come, numerous, varied ….. But these answers, even the best of them, are still fall short of the truth. You surpass us to such an extent, Lord! The heavens are as high above the earth as My thoughts are above your thoughts (Is.55:9). Nevertheless, You want us to progress in knowledge of Your Mystery, and You continue to call us personally: But you, Who do you say that I am? Peter’s answer is good…. many have subscribed to it. But what was underlining these words? Peter dreams of a Messiah in line with the ideas of his times, a Messiah Who will come to restore the kingdom of Israel, a Messiah Who...
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Funeral Homily: Fr. Maurice Rouleau: 1929 – 2009
Like the disciples in the Gospel we have just read, our hearts are troubled at the death of Fr. Maurice. We were stunned and saddened by the speed at which he succumbed to his illness – just a few weeks. But we can take consolation from Jesus’ words in the Gospel that he has gone to prepare a place for Maurice, the place set aside for him for all eternity. We are happy for him because he has achieved the goal of his life – adoration, the goal he set for himself all those years ago, sixty in fact, on the day of his First Profession. He joined the Congregation in order to see this blessed hour. He had already started to live in this heavenly presence here on earth through his fidelity to adoration. How often he must...
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Lourdes Pilgrimage Diamond Jubliee
Over 2,000 people will travel to Lourdes next week and celebrate 60 years of the Archdiocese of Dublin’s Pilgrimage to the shrine. The first Diocesan pilgrimage was made by boat and plane in August 1949. The pilgrimage begins on Monday 7th September and finishes on the 12th. This year, 45 Diocesan priests will accompany Archbishop Diarmuid Martin on the pilgrimage, 168 sick pilgrims will travel, helped by 620 volunteers. There will be 50 nurses, 8 doctors and students from 15 secondary schools in the Diocese. The Diocesan office of Evangelisation and the social care agency of the Diocese, Crosscare will also be represented. The Dublin Lourdes choir, under the direction of Director Fr. Pat O’ Donoghue will once again provide music for the pilgrims. Archbishop Martin said the sick were at the heart of the pilgrimage, yet it offered...
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Twenty Second Sunday – 30 August 2009
Gospel: Mark 1:1-23 Year B The Pharisees and some scribes had come from Jerusalem…. They are faithful observers of the law…. with their qualities, but also with their faults…. like each one of us! They have zeal for the Word of God: they read It, study It, and teach It. But they are not sufficiently concerned about the light of the Spirit to understand It. They remain stuck with their human interpretation, and they want to impose that on others. Why do Your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders? They challenge You about the behaviour of some of Your disciples: They take their meals without washing their hand …. what a scandal! We are tempted to smile …. and yet! Isn’t it just the same with us also sometimes, even during the Eucharistic Feast? Often we argue...
read moreMaurice Rouleau, SSS, 79
We have been stunned and saddened by the death early on 28th August of our beloved Fr. Maurice Rouleau. He had been ill for less than three weeks, and following hospital admission, he eventually succumbed to massive infection, secondary to abdominal Lymphoma. His death was peaceful and prayerful. His life is changed, not ended. Born in Gardner City, Massachusetts in 1929, he joined our Minor Seminary at Suffern, New York in 1943 and our Novitiate in Barre, Mass. in 1949 making his First Profession of Vows on 8 September 1951. Following completion of his studies, he was ordained on 22 September 1956 at our New York church of St. Jean Baptiste. We fondly remember the celebration of his Golden Jubilee in 2006. In the intervening years he had served in our houses in Cleveland (Ohio), and Hyde Park (New...
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Twenty First Sunday – 23 August 2009
Gospel: John 6: 60-69 Year B Many of His disciples …. Those around You, Lord, are Your disciples, people who followed You for a long time, who listened to You to the point of forgetting about providing for their body. Among them there is neither scribe, nor Pharisee ever ready to criticise You; it’s a long way from the crowd at Nazareth who wanted to be rid of You. There are only disciples, men and women who trust You and follow You, like every one of us. So You can speak in all simplicity. That’s what You do in announcing the Eucharist to them. But what a reaction! What a sudden turnabout! This is intolerable language! It’s crisis amongst Your friends, amongst those who follow You. It is true that Your language is rather shocking. What are You going...
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Theresian Day
On Wednesday, 23rd September, 2009, a special Mass will be celebrated in the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament, Dawson Street, Liverpool, in honour of St. Therese of Lisieux, at 12.10 pm, by Fr. Frank Gallagher, O.C.D. At 2.00 pm Father will give a Talk on St. Therese followed by a Question and Answer Session in St. Joseph’s Hall, below the...
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Nineteenth Sunday – 9 August 2009
Gospel: John 6: 41-51 Year B I am the Bread come down from heaven You had fed the crowd by multiplying the child’s five loaves. Amazed, the people wanted to hold on to You to make you King. Their motive is not very high. You mention it to them: You are seeking Me because you have eaten your fill of bread. You came for something else, something more important: Work for the food which will last for eternal life! I am the living Bread, come down from heaven. We’re not just passers-by on earth. We were made in the image of God, called to live with Him, eternally. You bring us food which will sustain and develop this life. You Yourself are this Bread: living Bread and Bread of eternal life. You are this Bread through Your Word: they...
read moreEighteenth Sunday – 2 August 2009
Gospel: John 6: 24-35 Year B The people set out in search of Jesus …. It’s lovely to see the crowd seeking You out, Lord! It was the attitude of Your first disciples (Jn. 1:38), that of Mary Magdalene on Easter morning at the tomb (Jn. 20:15). This should be our approach by everyone. To seek God, is this not the deepest goal of our life? It is the call constantly reiterated in the Bible: Seek unceasingly the face of the Lord! (Ps. 104:4). Apply yourself whole-heartedly to the search for the Lord! (1Chr. 22:19). God, You are my God, from the dawn I search for You; my soul thirsts for You (Ps. 62:1). With all my heart I seek You (Ps. 118:10). To seek You, Lord …. It is nothing other than a response to Your love, a...
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