BCL Newsletter Week 26

13th Sunday of the Year 26th & 27th June, 2021

To say that the human body is a complex entity is an understatement. When you think of it, and without wishing to get too technical, there are at least seven areas of wellness covering such aspects as physical, emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual, environmental and occupational. All of these can be sub-divided; for example, within the physical there are fourteen systems covering such things as digestion, respiration, genitourinary etc., etc., so if ever you are feeling below par and are unable to put your finger on the cause of your “unwellness” don’t be too surprised! The important thing is to acknowledge that you are not ‘firing on all cylinders.’

In today’s gospel we are confronted with two people who had problems – both physical and one with an emotional adjunct. The saving factor for both was firstly, they both knew that they had a problem and secondly they brought that problem to Jesus. I wonder, as I listen to this gospel passage, if and what my problem might be? How easy it can be to point out what’s wrong with another, without recognising my own ailment – seeing the proverbial splinter in my brother’s eye while not recognising the beam in my own! What is the healing that I am in need of? Is it, for example: my need to be healed of prejudice or even a hatred of others? That is Need to be healed of a hardened heart, of anger and grudges and resentments that I carry within me? I might have some need to be healed of worry and fear, of self-pity and self-interest, of pride and jealousy? Maybe I need to be healed of my selfishness, my laziness, my recurring failure to meet my responsibilities? I might even need to be healed of not really wanting to be healed of some unhealthy, unhappy, even unholy things in my life. I know they’re there – but I want to hold on to them. Perhaps I need to answer the question that Jesus asked the paralytic who had been ill for thirty eight years i.e. “Do you want to be healed?” (Jn. 5:6).

We are told that the most important step on an alcoholic’s road to sobriety and eventual recovery is that s/he begins with the admission: “I am powerless over alcohol and my life has become unmanageable”. Once the problem is acknowledged and accepted, something can be done about it. As the old saying puts it: “You need to name it, claim it and the tame it!” Remember, it was only when Peter cried out: “Lord save me I perish” (Mt. 14:30) that Jesus reached out and held him by the hand or when the blind man cried out: “Lord, that I may see” (Lk. 18:41) that Jesus restored his sight.

Often we are healed without being cured and you might well ask: what’s the difference? Being cured usually means the elimination of all symptoms of disease while being healed means becoming whole. Strange as it my sound, I can actually be healed without being cured, in other words, my physical aliment may persist but I’m now able to accept it and even to see it as a hidden blessing. People who go on pilgrimage to places like Lourdes are often healed even though they return in their wheelchairs or with their crutches. What I feel today’s gospel is challenging me to do is to honestly ask myself: “What do I want Jesus to do for me?” and then to go to Him and to present it to Him. If, as I mentioned above, I don’t actually know what it is I need to be healed of, perhaps I could make my own words of the centurion – “say but the word and I shall be healed” (Mt. 8:8)

Fr. Eamonn       Fr. Pat



Anniversaries Occurring At This Time

Bridget Maddigan, Castle Street;

Michael and Bridget Dooley and their son Gerard Dooley, Attanagh;

Nellie Donovan, Brookfield

Noel Kavanagh and Jimmy Kavanagh, Byrnesgrove

Mary Healy, Moate Street

Tommy and Bridget Doheny, Moate Street

Bill and Margaret Lacey, Tinnalinton

Christy Doheny

Recent Deaths - Requiescat In Pace

Annie Saunders, Grove Terrace

Kathleen Cummins, Castlemarket



James (Jim) Sen. Walshe, Rathbeagh