26 July 2015 - A discussion on Sacramentals - 17th Sunday in Ordinary time (Year B)

On this weeks programme the full SS102fm team is back on air together for the first time in a couple of months. The discussion this week is around the issue of sacramentals and pious objects. We have our regular reflection on the Sunday gospel as well as other liturgical odds and ends.

You can listen to the podcast of this weeks full programme HERE.

Holiday & pilgrimage souvenirs - Sacramental's & Pious Objects

It is the holiday season at the minute and many people are also undertaking pilgrimages to the likes of Lourdes, Fatima and Medugorje as well as walking the Camino to Santiago and also more local pilgrimages to Lough Derg and Knock. It is traditional to bring back souvenirs and memento's especially pious objectives for those at home from such journeys. But there can be a tendency by some people to view such items as being superstitious or as some kind of "magic" item. At the same time there are also some who view such items as medieval and passé, anachronistic or mildly embarrassing  like an eccentric old aunt. 

So on this weeks programme the SS102fm team discuss what exactly sacramentals are, how they are different to the Sacraments, the different types of sacramentals and how they are supposed to be used and respected and ultimately what is the point and purpose of them as guides and sign posts in faith towards Christ. 

You can listen to the discussion on sacramentals excerpted from the programme HERE.

Pope Francis has raised the issue of popular piety in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium and he reflects on the role of popular piety in evangelisation.  

You can read what the Catechism has to say here. You can also listen to the Faith Check podcast from the Discerning Heart website here. You can find a powerpoint presentation used on the main points of this weeks radio programme here.

A few other resources including how to dispose of old and worn out pious objects properly here and here.  

Gospel - John 6: 1-15

After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.  A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 

When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?’ He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, ‘Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.’ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?’ Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.’ So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’ 

When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Reflections on this weeks gospel:

Word on Fire
English Dominicans
Centre for Liturgy
Sunday Reflections
Deacon's Bench - Preachers, don’t make this mistake this weekend


Liturgical Odds & Ends

Liturgy of the Hours - Psalter week 1; 17th week in ordinary time

Saints of the Week

27th July - Saint Ecclesius of Ravenna
28th July - Saint José Melchór García-Sampedro Suárez
29th July - St Martha
30th July - St Peter Chrysologus
31st July - St Ignatius of Loyola
1st August - St Alphonsus Liguori

3rd May 2015 - The Sacrament of Matrimony - 5th Sunday of Easter

On this weeks programme we continue with our intermittent series on the Sacraments with a reflection and focus on the Sacrament of Matrimony. We have our regular reflection on the Sunday gospel as well as some other liturgical odds and ends.

You can listen to the podcast of this weeks programme HERE.

You can listen to the reflection on the Sacrament of Marriage HERE.

The Sacrament of Matrimony

As we covered the first sacrament at the service of communion and mission last week, i.e. Holy Orders, when we had an interview with our diocesan seminarian, Aidan O’Rourke, we said we would look at the sacrament of marriage this week, the second sacrament at the service of communion and mission.

The Seven Sacraments are divided into:  The Sacraments of Christian Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Eucharist; The Sacraments of Healing: Penance (Reconciliation) and Anointing of the Sick; The Sacraments at the Service of Communion and Mission: Holy Orders and Matrimony.

“Two sacraments, Holy Orders and Matrimony, confer a special grace for a particular mission in the Church to serve and build up the People of God. These sacraments contribute in a special way to ecclesial communion and to the salvation of others.” 

For Catholics, the Sacrament of Marriage, or Holy Matrimony, is a public sign that one gives oneself totally to this other person. It is also a public statement about God: the loving union of husband and wife speaks of family values and also God's values. 

We have a reflection on the understanding of the sacrament through scripture, the celebration of the sacrament on the Latin tradition most familiar to people in Ireland and the issue of annulments.

Further reading:
The understanding of sacrament of marriage from the Catechism of the Catholic Church
Resources offered by Franciscan Media
The Living Sacrament: Marriage - EWTN
Accord - Catholic Marriage Care Service

A Prayer for Understanding

Taken from Before I Do, by Anthony Garascia, 

Ave Maria Press, Indiana, 1999

Lord, help us to always seek first 

to understand each other,

to lead with compassion, 

to walk a while in the other’s experience.

Help us to walk the road of marriage together,

trusting that when we doubt 

you will give us faith,

that when we criticise 

you will give us courage to seek forgiveness.

May our love for one another burn in our hearts 

in tough times as well as in easy times. 

May your Spirit renew our love again 

and again so that we may give witness 

to your saving presence in our lives.

Gospel - John 15:1-8

”I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

Reflections on this weeks gospel:

Word on Fire

English Dominicans

Centre for Liturgy

Sunday Reflections

Liturgical odds and ends

May - Mary's month

The month of May is the "month which the piety of the faithful has especially dedicated to Our Blessed Lady," and it is the occasion for a "moving tribute of faith and love which Catholics in every part of the world [pay] to the Queen of Heaven. During this month Christians, both in church and in the privacy of the home, offer up to Mary from their hearts an especially fervent and loving homage of prayer and veneration. In this month, too, the benefits of God's mercy come down to us from her throne in greater abundance" (Paul VI: Encyclical on the Month of May, no. 1).

Read more about May as Mary's month here, here, here and here

Resources - May altars in our homes

Liturgy of the Hours: Psalter week 1; 5th week of Easter

Saints of the Week

May 4th - St Conleth

May 5th - Bl Edmund Rice

May 6th - Saint Francis de Montmorency Laval

May 7th - St Rose Venerini

May 8th - Saint Ida of Nivelles

May 9th - St Catherine of Bologna

Popes Intentions for May 2015

The Holy Father's universal prayer intention for May is: “That, rejecting the culture of indifference, we may care for our neighbours who suffer, especially the sick and the poor”.

His intention for evangelisation is: “That Mary's intercession may help Christians in secularised cultures be open to proclaiming Jesus”.

1st March 2015 - Reflection on Reconciliation - 2nd Sunday of Lent (Year B)

This weeks programme is a little busy with John joined in studio by Lorraine Buckley giving a reflection on the sacrament of reconciliation. Sally Penngelly and Christina Dundon from St Senan's PPC tell us about the upcoming parish mission in Shanagolden-Foynes-Robertstown. We have our regular reflection on the Sunday gospel as well as some other liturgical odds and ends.

You can listen to the podcast of this weeks full programme HERE.

Shanagolden-Foynes-Robertstown Parish Mission 

The parish of St Senan are holding a parish mission from March 8th to 13th 2015. The mission begins on the feast day of St Senan on the 8th of March. It is being facilitated by  Fr Derek Messcil and Fr John Hanna from the Redemptorists in Limerick. The theme of the mission is "A New Beginning" which links to the Limerick Diocesan Synod and of course to Lent with the general call to renewal at this time of the year.


Daily Mass Timetable 
Robertstown - 7am
Foynes - 9.30pm
Shanagolden - 10.30pm

Evening Sessions - Foynes - 7.30pm
Sunday 8th - Community Night followed by a cup of tea and a chat
Monday 9th - Hope & Healing
Tuesday 10th - Family Night

Evening Sessions - Shanagolden - 7.30pm
Wednesday 11th - Prayer and the Word of God; all night Adoration Vigil from 9pm to 6.45am
Thursday 12th - Reconciliation
Friday 13th - Remembering Our Dead followed by a cup of tea and a chat

Interfaith Gathering - community centre in Foynes Monday 9th March 2.30pm
Senior Citizens Gathering - Foynes - Tuesday at 2.30pm in the community centre
Senior Citizens Gathering - Shanagolden - Thursday at 2.30pm in Dane St Centre

You can listen to the details of the mission excerpted from the main programme HERE.

Reflection on Reconciliation - "Every saint has a past; every saint has a future"

Lorraine leads us in a reflection on the sacrament of reconciliation this week reminding us how the sacrament of reconciliation is an opportunity for us to experience the love of God. It is an opportunity for us to acknowledge the times when we have turned away from God's gratuitous love and enables to say sorry and to be embraced in the ocean of that love that seeks to hold us.

You can listen to the reflection on the sacrament excerpted from the main programme HERE.

Previous programmes with reflections on the sacrament of reconciliation HERE and HERE.

American Catholic.org resource page on reconciliation.

Gospel - Mark 9:2-10

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean

Reflections on this weeks gospel:

English Dominicans
Word on Fire
Sunday Reflections
Centre for Liturgy

Liturgical Odds and Ends

Liturgy of the Hour - psalter week 2; 2nd week of Lent

Pope Francis Intentions for March 2015

Join us in prayer for the intentions entrusted to us by Pope Francis. For March 2015, we join the Holy Father in praying for:

• Scientists. That those involved in scientific research may serve the well-being of the whole human person.
• Contribution of Women. That the unique contribution of women to the life of the Church may be recognized always.

Daily Offering Prayer
God, our Father, I offer You my day. I offer You my prayers, thoughts, words, actions, joys, and sufferings in union with the Heart of Jesus, who continues to offer Himself in the Eucharist for the salvation of the world. May the Holy Spirit, Who guided Jesus, be my guide and my strength today so that I may witness to your love. With Mary, the mother of our Lord and the Church, I pray for all Apostles of Prayer and for the prayer intentions proposed by the Holy Father this month. Amen.

Traditional Daily Offering of the Apostleship of Prayer
O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart: the salvation of souls, reparation for sin, and the reunion of all Christians. I offer them for the intentions of our bishops and of all Apostles of Prayer, and in particular for those recommended by our Holy Father this month. The Apostles of Prayer offer themselves to God each day for the good of the world, the Church, one another, and the Holy Father’s intentions.

The Underutilized Sacrament

February 11th is the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes and it is also the World Day for the Sick. In this piece from America, Sr Mary Ann Walsh reflects on the what could rightly be called "the under untilized sacrament" - the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. It is a thoughtful and prayerful piece and timely reminder for the week that is in it.

As you read it, can we also ask for your prayers for Sr Mary Ann. For people who are active in tracking things online the name will be familiar as Sr Mary Ann used to be the director of media relations for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C. and we have linked to her blogs and articles over time on this blog. The Anchoress pays her a tribute over at Patheos and reminds us to pray for Sr Mary Ann during her final few days on this earth.

Twice I have received the sacrament of the anointing of the sick. The first time was four years ago, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer; the second, a couple weeks ago when I learned that the breast cancer had metastasized. 

The sacrament involved both the sacrament of reconciliation and the anointing of my head and hands. It immersed me in the love of the church, a profound experience that drove home the fact that as part of the Christian community, I do not stand alone when facing troubled times. 

On both occasions, friends joined me as our pastor came to my home to lead the service. It included my favorite prayer, Psalm 139, which reminds us that God is familiar with all our ways, knowing us from our very beginnings and standing with us through everything.
I’ve known others to receive the sacrament with only a spouse or children present and still others who have received the sacrament as part of a parish experience and still others who embraced the sacrament with only the priest who administered it. One friend, a college professor, received the sacrament in 2002 and 2008 before students and colleagues, certainly an educational experience not soon forgotten by anyone present.

Despite these examples, however, research shows that the sacrament is both misunderstood and underutilized, even by church-going Catholics, people who go to Mass at least once a week. According to a report six years ago from the Georgetown University-based Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, only 63 percent of those who attend Mass weekly or more have requested the sacrament for themselves or an immediate family member. CARA said that only 45 percent reported they considered it “very important to them to receive the sacrament of the anointing of the sick at some point.” 

There are gender differences too. More women (57 percent) than men (45 percent) have requested the sacrament. And younger Catholics are less likely than older ones to seek the sacrament when ill. 

The situation suggests an educational challenge for the Catholic Church. Misconceptions need to be addressed.

Once known as Extreme Unction and the last rites, the sacrament of the anointing of the sick used to be practically synonymous with imminent death. The very name “last rites” scared some people and became unwanted reality therapy for others. Depending upon one’s viewpoint, it became a last step in the leaving of life or a first step toward the new life in eternity. 

For some the misunderstanding goes even further afield. The sacrament of the sick is for the living, yet one pastor told me ruefully that he had just received a call from a widow who wanted him to administer the sacrament to her husband who had just died. 

A sacrament, once defined in the Baltimore Catechism as “an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace,” is powerful, both in testimony to what it represents and in realty, what it gives—in this instance, healing of the soul and sometimes the body. The Catholic community deprives itself of comfort and grace when the anointing of the sick is underutilized. Perhaps it is time for an educational campaign to alert church-going Catholics of how much the anointing of the sick has to offer.

A previous SS102fm radio programme about the sacrament available HERE.

Pope Francis and the Sacrament of Confession

 

On a day (March 28th) focused on the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) Pope Francis led the way by publicly going to confession in St Peter's Basilica.

Pope Francis surprised his aides by making his own confession.

As he was being escorted toward the confessional that had been reserved for him in the Vatican basilica, the Pope broke away from his aides and headed for an open confessional, where he knelt as a penitent. After a few minutes he then rejoined his aides, took his assigned seat in the confessional, and heard confessions of others.

Vatican journalists could not recall any previous occasion when a Roman Pontiff had made his confession in public view.

The Pope was participating in a a "festival of forgiveness" in the Rome diocese, during which priests were available for confessions all day in several churches
 - Catholic Culture
 

Over at Whispers, Rocco makes the point

The footage is indeed unprecedented – while John Paul II routinely heard the confessions of 12 laymen every Good Friday in St Peter's and B16 spent some time administering the sacrament in a Madrid park at World Youth Day 2011, no Pope has ever been seen as a penitent.

After his turn on the other side of the sacrament, Francis spent another 40 minutes hearing confessions.

The exercise wasn't just one for the Vatican – the penance service doubled as the global kickoff of "24 Hours for the Lord," an initiative of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization that asked the dioceses of the world to provide round-the-clock opportunity for confession in at least one church at some point over this fourth weekend of Lent.
 

At Mass that morning in the Chapel of the Casa Sancta Martha, Pope Francis reminded the congregation that "God always forgives and does not know how to do otherwise......The Lord always waits for us and forgives us, he said. He is “the God of forgiveness” and he celebrates every person’s return to him". (Vatican Radio)

The Pope went on to say that God longs for us when we distance ourselves from him. Drawing on the day’s first reading from Hosea, he observed that the Lord speaks to his people with tenderness.

Even when God invites us to conversion and uses stern words, God’s words always include “this loving longing” and the exhortation of the Father who says to the son: “Come back. It is time to come back home.”

“This is the heart of our Father,” he said. “God is like that: he does not tire, he does not tire. And God did this for many centuries, with so much apostasy… among the people. And he always returns because our God is a God who waits.

“Adam left paradise with a punishment but also with a promise. And … the Lord is faithful to his promise because he cannot deny himself. He is faithful. And, in this way, he waited for all of us, throughout all of history. He is the God who waits for us always,” the Pope added.

Francis then turned his thoughts to the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The Gospel of Luke, he said, tells us that the father saw the son from afar because he was waiting for him. The father, he said, “went onto the terrace every day to see if his son would return. He waited. And when he saw him, he went out in haste and ‘threw himself on his neck’. The son had prepared some words to say but the father did not let him speak; his embrace covered his mouth.”

“This is our Father, the God that waits for us. Always,” he said.

“‘But father, I have so many sins, I do not know if he will be happy’,” the Pope said, suggesting a conversation between a priest and a person fallen from God. “‘But try! If you want to know the tenderness of this Father, go to him and try. Then come and tell me.’”

The Pope insisted on the loving welcome of God: “The God who waits for us. God who waits and also God who forgives. He is the God of mercy; he does not tire of forgiving. We are the ones who tire in asking for forgiveness, but he does not tire.”

“Seventy times seven, always. Let us go forward with forgiveness. And from a business point of view, the balance is negative. He always loses: he loses in the balance of things but he wins in love,” he said.

God “is the first to fulfill the commandment of love,” he continued. “He loves and does not know how to do otherwise.”

“The miracles that Jesus did with many sick people were also a sign of the great miracle that every day the Lord does with us when we have the courage to get up and go to him,” he added. When people return to God, God celebrates “not like the banquet of the rich man, who had the poor Lazarus at his door,” he said. “He holds banquet, like the father of the prodigal son.”

Every person who has the courage to approach God “will find the joy of the feast of God,” he said. “May this word help us to think of our Father, who waits for us always and who always forgives us and celebrates our return.”

Pope Francis presided over the penitential service where he went to confession as well as heard confessions. Pope Francis delivered the homily at a penitential service over which he was presiding in St. Peter’s Basilica on Friday afternoon. The order of the celebration included Psalms, readings from Sacred Scripture, and hymns, all focused on the theme of repentance and God’s boundless mercy.

Text of the homily HERE.

General Audience - Pope Francis reflects on the sacrament of Holy Orders (Ordination) and Vocations to the Priesthood



L’Osservatore Romano:

One enters the priesthood only through the Lord's initiative. “He calls each of those whom he wills to become priests”. The Sacrament of Holy Orders was the focus of Pope Francis' catechesis at the General Audience on Wednesday morning, 26 March, in St Peter's Square. The following is a translation of the Pope's address to the faithful, which was delivered in Italian.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We have already had occasion to point out that the three Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist together constitute the mystery of “Christian initiation”, a single great event of grace that regenerates us in Christ. This is the fundamental vocation which unites everyone in the Church as disciples of the Lord Jesus. There are then two Sacraments which correspond to two specific vocations: Holy Orders and Matrimony. They constitute two great paths by which the Christian can make his life a gift of love, after the example and in the name of Christ, and thus cooperate in the building up of the Church.

Holy Orders, in its three grades of bishop, priest and deacon, is the Sacrament that enables a man to exercise the ministry which the Lord Jesus entrusted to the Apostles, to shepherd his flock, in the power of his Spirit and according to his Heart. Tending Jesus’ flock not by the power of human strength or by one’s own power, but by the Spirit’s and according to his Heart, the Heart of Jesus which is a heart of love. The priest, the bishop, the deacon must shepherd the Lord’s flock with love. It is useless if it is not done with love. And in this sense, the ministers who are chosen and consecrated for this service extend Jesus’ presence in time, if they do so by the power of the Holy Spirit, in God’s name and with love.

1. A first aspect. Those who are ordained are placed at the head of the community. They are “at the head”, yes, but for Jesus this means placing ones authority at the service [of the community], as Jesus himself showed and taught his disciples with these words: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave; even as the Son of man came not to be served by to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mt 20:25-28/Mk 10:42-45). A bishop who is not at the service of the community fails to perform his duty; a priest who is not at the service of his community fails to perform his duty, he errs.

2. Another characteristic which also derives from this sacramental union with Christ is a passionate love for the Church. Let us think of that passage from the Letter to the Ephesians in which St Paul states that Christ “loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the Church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing” (5:25-27). Through Holy Orders the minister dedicates himself entirely to his community and loves it with all his heart: it is his family. The bishop and the priest love the Church in their own community, they love it greatly. How? As Christ loves the Church. St Paul will say the same of marriage: the husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the Church. It is a great mystery of love: this of priestly ministry and that of matrimony are two Sacraments, pathways which people normally take to go to the Lord.

3. A final aspect. The Apostle Paul recommends to the disciple Timothy that he not neglect, indeed, that he always rekindle the gift that is within him. The gift that he has been given through the laying on of hands (cf. 1 Tim 4:14; 2 Tim 1:6). When the ministry is not fostered — the ministry of the bishop, the ministry of the priest — through prayer, through listening to the Word of God, through the daily celebration of the Eucharist and also through regularly going to the Sacrament of Penance, he inevitably ends up losing sight of the authentic meaning of his own service and the joy which comes from a profound communion with Jesus.

4. The bishop who does not pray, the bishop who does not listen to the Word of God, who does not celebrate every day, who does not regularly confess — and the same is true for the priest who does not do these things — in the long run lose their union with Jesus and become so mediocre that they do not benefit the Church. That is why we must help bishops and priests to pray, to listen to the Word of God which is one’s daily nourishment, to celebrate the Eucharist each day and to confess regularly. This is so important precisely because it concerns the sanctification of bishops and priests.

5. I would like to conclude with something which comes to mind: how does one become a priest, where is access to the priesthood sold? No. It is not sold. This is an initiative which the Lord takes. The Lord calls. He calls each of those whom he wills to become priests. Perhaps there are some young men present here who have heard this call in their hearts, the aspiration to become a priest, the desire to serve others in the things of God, the desire to spend one’s entire life in service in order to catechize, baptize, forgive, celebrate the Eucharist, heal the sick... the whole of one’s life in this way. If some of you have heard this call in your heart, it is Jesus who has placed it there. Pay attention to this invitation and pray that it might grow and bear fruit for the whole Church.

Rome Reports:

The cold and rain weren't an obstacle for the thousands of pilgrims who filled St. Peter's Square in his weekly General Audience. Pope Francis couldn't help but notice all the umbrellas covering the square.

"I can see that you're brave...under all this rain that wants to pull you back home. Thank You."

As usual, he rode his Popemobile before the audience, blessing and waving at everybody. A music band welcomed him once he made his way across. As part of his catechesis on the Sacraments, Pope Francis talked about Holy Orders. He reminded that all bishops, priests, and deacons are called to serve, and that they should always stay in touch with Jesus through the Sacraments and the Bible.

"A bishop who doesn't pray, a bishop who doesn't listen to the Word of God, who doesn't celebrate Mass everyday, who doesn't go to Confession on a regular basis—and the same thing happens to a priest that doesn't do these things. He looses his union with Jesus and lives with a mediocrity that hurts the Church.

The Pope emphasized that Holy Orders give priests the grace to look after Jesus' flock, not just through physical strength, but also spiritually.

"The priest, the bishop and the deacon must take care of the Lord's flock. But if they do this without love, it's useless.”

He also talked about vocations, explained how someone can recognize if God is calling them.

Pope Francis asked all Christians to pray for priests, especially for those going through difficult situations. Also, he invited them to ask God for true shepherds.

Go directly to confession, don't wait, pope says at audience

From Vatican Radio:

Dear Brothers and Sisters: Through the Sacraments of Initiation, we receive new life in Christ. This life we carry in earthen vessels, however, and we still experience temptations, suffering, and death. Because of sin, we can even lose this new life. Jesus therefore willed that the Church continue his works of salvation for her members, in particular through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which flows from the Paschal Mystery. The forgiveness we receive is not the result of our own efforts, but is the gift of the Holy Spirit reconciling us to God and to each other. While the celebration of the Sacrament is personal, it is rooted in the community of the Church, in which the Holy Spirit is present, uniting us all in Jesus Christ. When confessing our sins then, we confess to the priest who represents not only God but also the community of the Church that accompanies us on the path of conversion. Though this Sacrament is a great treasure, we may be tempted to dismiss it, perhaps due to laziness or embarrassment, or because of a diminishing sense of sin and its effects. Too often, we see ourselves as the centre and measure of all things, and our lives can go adrift. The Sacrament of Reconciliation calls us back to God, and embraces us with his infinite mercy and joy. May we allow his love to renew us as his children and to reconcile us with him, with ourselves, and with one another.



Further reading HERE

24th November 2013 - Solemnity of Christ the Universal King - Reflection on Penance/Reconciliation

On this weeks programme, John and Lorraine are joined by Fr Phonsie Cullinan to reflect on the sacrament of reconciliation. We have our regular reflection on this weeks gospel as well as some liturgical odds and ends.

You can listen to this weeks programme podcast HERE. 


Sacrament of Reconciliation

 
Fr Phonsie Cullinan joins Lorraine and John on the programme this week to reflect on the sacrament of reconciliation. He reminds us how the sacrament is one of healing and love; calling us back to a more complete and loving life; "a pit-stop for the soul".
 
You can listen to Fr Phonsie's reflection excerpted from the main programme HERE.

Last year we did another programme on the Sacrament of Reconiliation and you can find it HERE.

During the last few weeks Pope Francis has reflected on the Sacrament of Penance in his weekly general audiences which you can read at the links:

• Confession continues the cleansing act of Baptism, Pope tells audience
• Pope in General Audience: Every two weeks I go to Confession; Calls on priests to be servants of the Sacrament of Forgiveness.

A quick video on the sacrament from BustedHalo:



• A resource on the sacrament from bishops of Pennsylvania 
• AmericanCatholic.org articles and reflections on the sacrament

 
Gospel - Luke 23:35-43
 

And the people stood by, watching; but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!" The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him vinegar, and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King of the Jews."

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

Book of Kells - Christ Enthroned

This weeks feast celebrates the Kingship of Christ, the feast was erected at the end of the 1925 Holy Year by Pope Pius XI in his encyclical Quas Primas where he sought to give due honour to the Divine Kingship of Christ.

Bishop Malcolm McMahon OP noted,

"The Church's year ends with the Feast of Christ the King. Jesus is portrayed as a triumphant king reigning over all creation. This is the same Jesus, son of Mary and son of God, who has preached the Good News and declared the imminence of God's kingdom. The obedient Son suffered and died for us, rose from the dead, ascended into glory and sent his Spirit so that we may have another comforter and someone to speak for us. Creation has been restored, and we have been saved from our sins and foolishness. The cycle is now complete. Although the enormousness of God's saving work has yet to impress itself on most people, nevertheless we believe that there will be a moment at the end of time when the Son will come again in all his glory, and creation will reach fulfillment. That is why we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, we rejoice in what Jesus has done for us, yet at the same time we look forward to its completion........".

But for many people, the idea of Kingship of Jesus is somewhat alien. Jesus was of the royal house of David born in the royal city but he was born in a stable and laid in a manager. He was a King who entered into the Holy City - Jerusalem - through the royal gate to the acclamations of the people not in a military procession or from the back of a state coach but on the back of a humble donkey.
 

 
 
He was enthroned not on some fancy cathedra but rather on a gibbet outside the city walls in the midst of the city dump, proclaimed mockingly as King as he died opening his arms on the cross to embrace the world and all of humanity.

 

He came as a Servant Leader as he explained to the disciples at the Last Supper when he washed their feet. We are all called to be servants to one another, assisting and helping in fraternal love and friendship. Where leaders lord it over us in civil or religious spheres truly then we have lost our allegiance to the true king.

He redefined what it means to be a leader amongst those that dare to call themselves his followers reminding us that the first will be last and the last first.

 


 

 

In our lives today, do we make the effort to feed the hungry, cloth the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned? Be it those who are in physical need but what about those hungry for a consoling word of recognition of their humanity and dignity as people; those whose very souls and minds are ripped naked and torn from the insults and humiliation they experience, the sick of mind and spirit, those imprisoned in the expectations of society as well as those incarcerated by mental illness and stigma? Have we not only assisted them, have we gone past our comfort zone to really be present to those in need, really aware of them as the face of Christ for us in this world?

Christ has no body but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,

Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,

Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.

Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,

Yours are the eyes, you are his body.

Christ has no body now but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

compassion on this world.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

Reflections can be read here, here, here and here.


 

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

The kingdom of this world

is become the Kingdom of the Lord,

and of His Christ, and of His Christ;

and He shall reign for ever and ever,

for ever and ever, for ever and ever.

King of kings, and Lord of lords,

and Lord, of lords,

and He shall reign forever and ever!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

 Reflections on this weeks gospel:
 
Word on Fire
English Dominicans
Sunday Reflections
Centre for Liturgy
Blue Eyed Ennis
 
Liturgical odds and ends
 
Liturgy of the Hours - Psalter week 2; 34th week in ordinary time
 
Saints of the Week
 
November 25th - St Colman of Cloyne also St Catherine of Alexandria
November 26th - St John Berchmans
November 27th - St Fergal
November 28th - St Catherine Laboure - Seer of the Miraculous Medal
November 29th - Saint Hierotheos of Tiberiopolis
November 30th - St Andrew (apostle)

Pope in General Audience: Every two weeks I go to Confession; Calls on priests to be servants of the Sacrament of Forgiveness.



During his catechesis at the General Audience, Pope Francis spoke about forgiveness and Confession. He said that God never tires of forgiving, and he urged all Catholics to never tire of asking for forgiveness. The Pope also acknowledged that he too goes to Confession.

“Our mothers, our grandmothers said that it's better to turn red once, than to turn pale thousands. You turn red once, you're absolved of your sins, and you move on. Even I go to Confession every 15 days, because the Pope is also a sinner. And the confessor listens to what I tell him, he advises me and absolves me, because we are all in need of this forgiveness.”

The Pope explained that the task of forgiving sins is so delicate, that if a priest is not merciful and benevolent, he should avoid being a confessor.

“Penitents have... the obligation? No. They have the right! We have the right, all of us, to find in priests, the servants of forgiveness from God.”




Dear Brothers and Sisters:

Today I would like to speak again on the forgiveness of sins by reflecting on the power of the keys, which is a biblical symbol of the mission Jesus entrusted to the Apostles.

First and foremost, we recall that the source of the forgiveness of sins is the Holy Spirit, whom the Risen Jesus bestowed upon the Apostles. Hence, he made the Church the guardian of the keys, of this power. The Church, however, is not the master of forgiveness, but its servant. The Church accompanies us on our journey of conversion for the whole of our lives and calls us to experience reconciliation in its communal and ecclesial dimension. We receive forgiveness through the priest. Through his ministry, God has given us a brother to bring us forgiveness in the name of the Church. Priests, who are the servants of this sacrament, must recognize that they also are in need of forgiveness and healing, and so they must exercise their ministry in humility and mercy. Let us then remember always that God never tires of forgiving us. Let us truly value this sacrament and rejoice in the gift of pardon and healing that comes to us through the ministry of priests.

**********************

 

The Most Rev Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, has a recommendation to Anglicans: Go to confession.

Addressing the heads of other churches—including the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Most Rev. Vincent Nichols—Archbishop Welby admitted that confessing one’s weaknesses to someone else might not be a “bunch of laughs,” still he believes that unburdening oneself to a confessor is good for the soul.

“It is enormously powerful and hideously painful when it’s done properly,” he said. “It’s really horrible when you go to see your confessor – I doubt you wake up in the morning and think, this is going to be a bunch of laughs.” But speaking about it as part of a “wider catholic tradition,” Archbishop Welby encouraged his congregants to try it for themselves.

Source here and here.