BCL Newsletter Week 27
A heart filled with love has no room for hate.
14th Sunday Ordinary Time - 3rd & 4th July 2021
We welcome Fr. Willie Hennessy as part of our Pastoral Team and Pastoral area, who will reside at the Parochial House, Conahy, effective from August 28th 2021. We wish him well in his new appointment. Fr. Willie is no stranger to all of us, for he served in the parish of Conahy while teaching in St. Kieran’s College for fifteen years and we are blessed by his return and happy to have Fr. Willie as a member of our team.
When you look at how people responded to God in the Old Testament the picture is pretty bleak. Very often they did not respond in faith to God’s word. Each time we see a faithless response on someone’s part to God’s word we also see that in the long term it brings its own punishment. It really doesn’t pay to go against God even if at the time it seems to be great fun. And we also see that it pains God when we do not respond to his word and reject it. Despite the fidelity of some to God and the fidelity of some to Jesus, we see that there is an obvious independent streak in humanity, wanting to go it on our own without God.
It is really an element of pride that is in humanity, thinking that we are God and forgetting that we are God’s creatures and not God. But the Bible teaches us that each time humanity tried to go it on its own without God we only hurt ourselves. It really doesn’t pay to go against God even if at the time it seems to be great fun. And we also see that it pains God when we do not respond to his word and we reject it. And what is sad is that very often it seems that people were actually blind to the fact that they were turning their backs on God. If they were blind to the fact that they were turning against God that begs the question, “Could we also be blind to the fact that we are in some way turning our backs on God?” I see our first reading (Ezek 2:2-5) and Gospel today (Mark 6:1-6) calling us to repentance.
Jesus is always waiting to respond to us, to make us new and whole. Paul says in one of his letters that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). In Phil 2:5 Paul writes, “Make your own the mind of Christ Jesus.” In Nazareth Jesus could work no miracles because of their lack of faith. We pray for the grace to respond to God’s word in humility and lay aside our pride so that we may be numbered among the faithful like Our Lady, John the Beloved Disciple, Mary Magdalene and all the apostles so that unlike what happened in Nazareth Jesus can work miracles in our lives. Amen.
Anniversaries Occurring At This Time
Tom O’Shea, Maudlin
Mime O’Shea, Maudlin
Month’s mind: Nora Feehan, Esker
Bridget Maddigan, Castle Street
Recent Deaths
Michael Gleeson, Fermoyle
