Our Lady of Lourdes,Newent
A Community of worship, love and service
Newsletter 13th June 2010
Catholic Parish of Our Lady of
and St Michael’s, Blaisdon
Priest in Charge: Fr Aidan Murray SDB,
Drumlanrig,
Phone/Fax: 01531 821647 aidansdb@newentbb.co.uk
Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C 13th June 2010
Lord, hear my voice when I call to you. You are my help; do not cast me off, do not desert me, my Saviour God.
Diocesan Prayer Link: Stonehouse & Woodchester
|
Please Pray for the Welfare of our Sick People:- OUR LADY OF
|
Mahatma Gandhi Indian political and spiritual leader (1869 - 1948)
Gospel Reflection for The Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time - Give Back A Life
Having high standards is good isn’t it? Well yes, setting high standards is important, but the problem with people who live by high standards is that they often expect others to live by the same practice, and can often exclude those who cannot step up to the mark.
Simon the Pharisee lives by high standards and has no time for the prostitute who gate crashes his dinner party. Jesus takes the opportunity to give an important lesson in forgiveness. “A creditor has two debtors,” Jesus tells Simon, “one owes just a little, and the other a lot. The creditor cancels the debt of both. Which debtor will love the generous creditor the most?”
Those of us who have made mistakes in our lives will understand the burden of sin. A wrong path chosen in life can erode our self-esteem, robbing us of our worth and tainting our future. The unexpected offer of forgiveness can give us a clean slate and take away our burdens. Forgiveness can be a truly joyous and healing experience. Understanding the relief forgiveness can bring, enables us in turn to afford others the same liberty. On the other hand, those who have never made a mistake or had their comfortable standards tested, might make harder taskmasters. Those with high standards can stubbornly withhold forgiveness in order to keep others down. Perhaps it makes us feel better about ourselves to point the finger of blame at someone else and deny that life saving second chance.
Jesus we notice has a happy knack of seeing past a sinner’s misdemeanours to the true worth of the person. To withhold forgiveness, he teaches us, is to leave a person crippled inside. To give forgiveness is to give the perpetrator his or her life back.
World Blood Donor Day
'Celebrating the Gift of Blood' - 14th June
World Blood Donor Day is celebrated June 14th every year. It is an opportunity to express gratitude to those who donate their blood in order to save lives, without expecting anything in return.
Every year, a different country hosts World Blood Donor Day and showcases their unique culture. This year,
If you would like to become a blood donor and want to know where to go and what to do visit www.blood.co.uk/giving-blood/where-can-i-go/ for England and Wales, www.giveblood.ie/ for the Republic of Ireland or www.scotblood.co.uk for Scotland.
Refugee Week 14 - 20 June 2010
Different pasts, shared future
Refugee Week is a unique opportunity to discover and celebrate the contributions refugees bring to the
During Refugee Week loads of events take place all across the
This year, we’re asking everyone to do a Simple Act. By doing one small, everyday action that can change perceptions of refugees we can help create a society we all want to live in.
COLLECTIONS:
For weekend 23/5/10 was = £393-51.
For weekend 30/5/10 was = £438-88.
For weekend 6/6/10 was = £366-38.
For the Papal Visit was = £310-25.
Priests Retirement Fund was = £381-61.
Strawberry Party (for OLLI) = £112-00
Calling all Knitters
Help knit 3000 blankets by the end of 2010!
It is estimated that there are 11.6 million orphans in sub-saharan
While other children's charities work hard to provide food and shelter, 'Kas Care' has decided to provide warmth, and you can help. If you love crocheting and knitting for charity, you can contribute by making and sending 8"/20cm squares to help keep a cold orphan warm. The goal for 2010 is 105,000 squares (.... that's 3000 blankets!)
Send your completed squares to Knit-a-Square, Soweto Comfort Club, Private Bag X900, Bryanston 2021,
For more detailed packaging and postal instructions visit:
3/6/2010 - Switzerland – Holy See’s Permanent Observer intervenes at UN Human Rights Council Meeting
(ANS – Geneva) – An urgent assembly was convened on 1st June to deal with the military operation conducted by Israel`s navy against a Turkish convoy heading for the Gaza Strip. Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, of Acelum and the Holy See`s Permanent Observer at the United Nations and its Specialised Institutions in Geneva, expressed the Holy See`s condolences and its solidarity to victims` families, observing that “violence does not lead to lasting peace; dialogue, respect for rights and mutual acceptance will do so”.
The Holy See`s delegate then went on to say that, once the facts and those responsible for the military action had been accounted for, there was still the question of resolving the situation of people living in the Gaza Strip, because their needs “have not been satisfied and all parties involved and the international community have the responsibility to cooperate so that basic human rights are respected”. Archbishop Tomasi finished by saying that in the name of the Holy See he was renewing the appeal that the Holy Land may arrive at a two independent state solution.
Safeguarding the rights of people was also at the heart of a second address by Archbishop Tomasi on the same day, speaking of the foreign debt and education. The debate focused on how to impede the proliferation of so-called “vulture funds”, manipulative practices which acquire defaulted sovereign debt at vastly reduced prices and then seek repayment of the full-face value of the debt through litigation, seizure of assets or political pressure. It simply serves to increase debt.
“While reaffirming the principle that debts must be repaid, ways must be found that do not compromise the “fundamental right of peoples to subsistence and progress”’ Archbishop Tomasi said, quoting the encyclical “Centesimus Annus” by Pope John Paull II. The debt of developing countries has to be tackled in the light of a broader political and economic system and the safeguarding of rights, where the interdependency of relationships is acknowledged as well as shared responsibility for the causes of debt.
To conclude, the Holy See`s delegate invited international experts to present normative proposals for preventive control of the financial market, which would impede the emergence of manipulative strategies that damage the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries.
As Marie Stopes advertises in
a “Patient” Dies in
As Marie Stopes International, the giant abortion business, began advertising on British television, news emerged of the death of a woman at one of its clinics in
Durga Devi Khadka went to the Marie Stopes facility to abort her 10-week-old baby. Khadka’s family members said it was sheer negligence on the part of doctors that she died. Police have detained Chitra Bahadur Karki, the local Marie Stopes manager, as part of their investigation. NepalNews.com May 24th.
Pope Explains ‘Authority’ and the ‘Priesthood’….Says Role of Clergy Is That of Guide, Teacher.
The Pope cannot do whatever he wants, and instead must obey Christ and his Church, Benedict XVI says.
The Holy Father made this reflection today at the general audience when he spoke of the last of the three primary tasks entrusted to priests. Noting that the Year for Priests is nearing its conclusion, and that he had already given catecheses on teaching and sanctifying, the Pontiff considered the theme of guiding. He acknowledged that broaching the theme of authority in today's world is complex. He reflected that dictatorships of the last century have made mankind suspicious of authority -- a "suspicion that, not rarely, is expressed by upholding as necessary an abandonment of all authority that does not come exclusively from men and is subject to them." (i.e almost total rejection of God as Authority)
The Church's authority, however, is that of service, exercised "not in her own name, but in the name of Jesus Christ, who received from the Father all power in heaven and on earth," Benedict XVI clarified. And Christ "willed that the
The Pope noted that priests' authority comes from God, but its efficacy is closely linked to the person of the priest. "To be a pastor according to the heart of God there must be a profound rootedness in living friendship with Christ," he said. "In fact, no one is really capable of feeding Christ's flock if he does not live a profound and real obedience to Christ and to the Church, and the docility itself of the people to their priests depends on the docility of priests to Christ."
Looking at the history of the word "hierarchy," the Holy Father reiterated that "authority does not come from man himself, but has its origin in the sacred, in the sacrament; hence it subjects the person to the vocation, to the mystery of Christ; it makes of the individual a servant of Christ and only insofar as he is a servant of Christ can he govern, guide for Christ and with Christ."
He clarified that "even the Pope -- point of reference for all the other pastors and for the communion of the Church -- cannot do what he wants; on the contrary, the Pope is custodian of the obedience to Christ, to his word taken up again in the 'regula fidei,' in the Creed of the Church, and must proceed in obedience to Christ and to his Church."
Entrusted with such a weight of obedience, the Bishop of
"I would like to invite you to pray for me, the Successor of Peter who has a specific task in governing the
We need especially to pray for the success of the Pope’s visit !
MENS Weekend - Friday 09 to Sunday 11 July
FIFA World Cup Match for
Woldingham Park School,
(Sat Nav users: please use postcode CR3 7LR !)-
- Any male 18 yrs and over is welcome to attend. Some dads bring their sons; some sons bring their dads; in the past, on average 25% of men have been under 35 yrs old. 18% of men are over 65.
- The majority of men are Catholic (practising and lapsed!) but a good number are not and ALL men are welcome to attend.
What happens? •
- several punchy main addresses by invited speakers on contemporary topics
- a time of sharing in small groups (…NO pressure to share)
- an opportunity to attend workshops of your choice
- a chance to engage in sport or some other recreational activity (wide range of sporting facilities available: gym, squash, swimming pool, rambling, tennis, football)
- time to read, pray or just relax
- time each evening to chat, share and laugh over a pint.
- optional Sacrament of Reconciliation and/or Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
- prayer of the Church
What are the Workshops and Seminars? •
Could be any of these: Christian Leadership - Personal Finance - Inner Healing - Opening the Scriptures - Discipleship - Young Men & Evangelisation - - Addiction - Working In Prisons - Psalm Drumming - Understanding Women - Growing In Prayer - Finding Sanctuary - Healing the Family Tree - Paul, a man for men - Keeping fit as I grow older - God and the 2012 Olympics
• What's the timetable? •
The Weekend welcomes men from around 3.30pm on Friday 9th , although the first main session does not begin until 8.15pm, and ends on the Sunday afternoon following the celebration of Mass at 2.00pm.
THIS Week (Refugee Week) Psalter 3
Mon. 14th June World Blood Donor Day
9.45am Rosary
10.00am Mass with Morning Prayer …Adoration till 11.00am
Followed by RCIA until 12.30pm
5.30pm Legion of Mary
7.30pm Liturgy Meeting ……your presence is required!
7.30pm BLAISDON….Ministers of Word & Sacrament
Tues. 15th June 9.45am Rosary
10.00am Mass …Adoration till 11.00am
Wed. 16th June International Day of the African Child
Fr Aidan at Maryvale Conference
9.45am Rosary
10.00am Liturgy with Morning Prayer & Holy Communion
Coffee ‘n chat ….sorry no DVD today!
NB David Payne Needs Operation….No show TODAY!
Thurs 17th June 9.45am Rosary
10.00am Mass ……Adoration till 11.00am
Fri. 18th June 6.00pm Adoration/ Reconciliation/ Evening Prayer
7.00pm Mass
Sat 19th June World Day Against Child Labour
2.00pm Charities Fair at St Mary’s…bottles for stall please!
4.30pm Adoration – Reconciliation – Benediction
5.30pm First Mass of Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time
With Wedding Blessing for Barbara & Petr
Sun 20th June Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C
|
COMING SOON…..UNMISSABLE EVENTS! Wed. 23rd June: Parishes in Communion for Cathedral 7.30pm Fri. 25th June: 8.00pm THE HOOLEYS…Tickets on Sat. 26th June: Catechists Day at St Bedes. Sun. 4th July: Picnic & Walk at Beechenhurst Sat. 10th July: Day of Rest & Blessing for WOMEN Please publicise this to all women friends! Make sure to book your place with Mary Francis |
Office Address:
"Drumlanrig",
Ross Road,
Newent,
Gloucestershire,
GL18 1BG