SIXTH SUNDAY OF YEAR C
(Racial Justice Day)
17th February 2019


Dear Parishioner,

Today is Racial Justice Sunday. This is observed by British Churches.

On this sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (year C) and the following two Sundays the Gospel reading is from Luke's 'Sermon on the Plain' which parallels Matthew's 'Sermon on the Mount'. The first reading from the prophet Jeremiah is a little bit of wisdom poetry. It contrasts the wicked that trust in human beings and the righteous that trust in God. The former are compared to a barren desert shrub; the latter to a fruitful tree planted beside a flowing river. This prepares us for the Gospel, where Jesus declares the poor blessed. The poor are the 'little ones' who have no one to trust in but God. The beatitudes echo the programme Jesus announced in the synagogue at Nazareth. Whereas Matthew has nine Beatitudes, Luke has only four, with, however, four corresponding 'woes'.

On this coming Friday, 22nd February, we celebrate the feast of the Chair of Saint Peter. It's also known as the Throne of Saint Peter, a relic conserved in Saint Peter's Basilica, the sovereign enclave of the Pope inside Rome. Tradition claims it to be the wooden throne of the Apostle Saint Peter, the leader of the Early Christians in Rome. The relic is enclosed in a sculpted gilt bronze casing designed and executed between 1647 and 1653. In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI described the chair as "a symbol of the special mission of Peter and his successors to tend Christ's flock, keeping it united in faith and in charity". Please pray for the successor of St. Peter our Holy Father Pope Francis.

God bless,

Deacon Kevin.


Notices:

Please remember to pray for:

Daily for the sick clergy of our Diocese

The sick and housebound

Those who have recently died: Debbie Bragg

Years Mind:
Sunday: Fr John Joyce
Tuesday: Jean Pearson, Fr Thomas O'Connor, Fr Archibald O'Brien
Thursday: Deacon Sidney Lewis
Sunday: Fr Gerard Murphy, Canon Aloysius Roche


Next Sunday - SEVENTH SUNDAY OF YEAR C

First Reading: 1 Samuel 26:2,7-9,12-13,22-23
The Lord put you in my power, but I would not raise my hand.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:45-49
We who have been modelled on the earthly man will be modelled on the heavenly man.

Gospel: Luke 6:27-38
Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate.