Paul's Reflections 6th Sunday of Easter, Year A. 29th May, 2011

29th May, 2011      6th Sunday of Easter, Year A

I ask if the collectors can take up the ordinary first collection now… as we have a special third collection this weekend,

The collection going round now is our ordinary one in support of the upkeep of priests in ministry throughout the archdiocese…. 

The special collection (at the gifts time) is in support of the Retired and Sick Priests foundation.. // after many years of dedication and care our retired and ill priests need the support of the catholic community..//there are brochures available around the church//…..   Donations over $2 are tax deductible//  Any support you can give is gratefully accepted.

 

If you didn’t come prepared and would like to donate…., please take an envelope home and consider anything you may be able to give.. thanks…..   As I say, the special collection will be at the offertory time…   and then after communion the ordinary collection will be taken up for the running expenses of this parish….   

Apologies for visitors and families who may be surprised by the two or three collections at mass..  but they are for different aspects of the church’s mission, and of course..   no pressure is intended…  people are invited to give to any or all of the collections if you are able…..…  

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The readings this weekend, are again perfect for our young one’s who are preparing to receive their confirmation…. And first holy communion….  They speak of the early church communities forming just after Jesus returned to his Heavenly Father…   and had sent the holy Spirit to the apostles and to the church….    Did you notice in the first reading how it says…. 

 

That is just like the order we are now used to…   the people had already been baptised, and now the apostles did that ancient sign of laying on of hands and prayed.. and then the Holy Spirit came down upon them…

//   wonderful!!! // 

And notice, in the gospel.. Jesus speaks about sending the Holy Spirit upon his followers…   the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth…  the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts and makes us sons and daughters of God… and joins us to God.. so that we are in communion.. in union with God and with one another..  what a special gift…. 

 

The presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and in our church is absolutely vital.  Without the Holy Spirit of God, as we have been learning, we cannot do anything…. 

 

This truth was known right from the beginnings of the Church two thousand years ago… and so… the ancient greeting the early Christian communities gave to eachother reflected the presence and the truth of the Holy Spirit in their lives…  the priest or bishop would say “the Lord be with you”  and the people would reply.. “and with your Spirit”.,,,   this was a recognition and acknowledgement that the Spirit was present in us….    Rather fittingly.. the church is imminently about to go back to this ancient saying….    It actually never changed.. the English response we have been using for the last forty years…  the words.. “and also with you”  is actually a very loose translation and paraphrase of the latin master-edition of the Mass….    And Rome and the local bishops have decided that this translation does not capture sufficiently the recognition of the Holy Sprit, who is SO necessary for the life of the church.. so soon…  not yet.. but very (very) soon.. we will all be returning to the ancient words that say so much!!!

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I call forward to receive your sashes, the young people who are preparing to receive next weekend, their confirmation and first Holy Communion.

 

(give out sashes)

 

Let us pray…..

My friends… we give you this sash today to remind you of two things…

 

In your Baptism, your parents clothed you in a WHITE baptismal garment to remind you that (in Baptism) you have “put in Jesus Christ… and that you have clothed yourself in Jesus” (and YOU HAVE BEEN CLOTHED IN JESUS’ special message of love)….

May this sash remind you that (as Baptised Christians) Jesus is always with YOU to help YOU live his good news message.

 

THIS sash is RED.. to remind us of the fire of the holy spirit that came down upon the disciples at Pentecost….   In confirmation, you will have the gifts of the Spirit confirmed in you, to help you live as Jesus taught us… by loving, God loving your neighbour and showing love and care to yourself as well…

 

Lord Bless these sashes… may they remind us that we belong to you and you love us and care for us always…….

 

Bless these young people preparing for their confirmation and first holy communion as their time of preparation nears completion……  We make this prayer in the name of the + father, and of the son and of the holy Spirit.,

 

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REFERENCES:

 

FR. PAUL W. KELLY

 

 

 

 

Paul's Reflections 5th Sunday of Easter, Year A. 22nd May, 2011

22nd May, 2011      5th Sunday of Easter, Year A

 

P Save a tree. Don't print this e-mail unless it's really necessary

 

The preparation for Confirmation and First communion of our young candidates is coming along very nicely.  Once more in the preparation session, the good questions and answers are flowing…

 

The readings this weekend are rather handy…  we have been speaking to the children about how the church can do nothing without the power of the Holy Spirit activating and giving effect to everything we do.  We cannot live as disciples of Jesus without the Holy Spirit living in us….  We received the Holy Spirit in Baptism… and we get special gifts of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation…..   

 

The students have been watching for the special sign that the church uses to show that we are praying for the Holy Spirit to come down and give effect to what we are doing… It’s called the “laying of hands” and its seen in each sacrament. In this case the priest lays his hands over the gifts of bread and wine and says word such as “Therefore, O Lord, we pray: may this same Holy Spirit graciously sanctify these offerings,

the Body and + Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ,”  (as it says in the new translation of Eucharistic prayer iv which I will be using for the first time this weekend).

 

Notice in the first reading we heard today, it was about the Apostles, realising there was a need for special people to help the widows and the poor, and so they prayed to the Holy Spirit and called Stephen and other disciples to the special task of serving;  in the role we now call the Holy Order of Deacons, and the reading says…….the apostles prayed and then “laid their hands on them”, which shows the giving of the Holy Spirit for them in their special job.  See how this important sign was in the church right from the beginning two thousand years ago.

 

And in the second reading we see how God has set all of us apart to do his work in the world…   to be a royal people blessed and called to praise God and do his will.   And that, we are like living building blocks; and God is building us up to be a “spiritual house of God”…   a church, made (not of stones), but of living people… you and me….. in the world and filled with God’s Spirit, doing good work for God.  

The second reading says…  you are called out of darkness into God’s wonderful light…  In baptism we received the light of Christ….  And we became sons and daughters of the light…    with God’s Spirit living in us…  in confirmation we remember our baptism.. so that is why we feature the baptismal candle… which our candidates have brought with them today.. for a blessing….    Which we will now do.

 

(bless candles)

 

 Blessing of candles:

 

I call forward the young people who are preparing to receive their confirmation and First Holy communion…

 

Please come forward to HAVE YOUR BAPTISMAL  candle BLESSED….

 

 

Let us pray….

My friends…   this candle was given to you as a reminder of your Baptism…..   when you were Baptised, your parents were handed a special candle.. your baptismal candle, and the priest said as he gave them the candle to hold…

“Receive the light of Christ…

Parents and godparents.. this light is entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly.. it is the light of faith that your child has received.. keep that flame alive in their hearts… always growing stronger..

 

This candle reminds us that in your Baptism, you became a child of God… and a light of Christ in the world…..   you are now preparing for confirmation.. where we seal and affirm that light you received in Baptism… and also first communion, where the light of Christ in you will be strengthened… by Jesus who comes to us in the bread broken and the cup poured out for us…

 

Lord… bless these young people and help them be a light of Jesus' love to all they meet….

 

We ask this in the name of the + Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit amen.

 

My friends…   let's congratulate these lights of Christ amongst us….

 

 

 

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REFERENCES:

 

FR. PAUL W. KELLY

 

 

Paul's Reflections EASTER WEEK FOUR. YEAR A. 15TH MAY, 2011.

EASTER WEEK FOUR. YEAR A.   15^TH MAY, 2011.

 

This weekend at the different masses, we have our young ones who have begun their preparation to receive their Confirmation and first holy communion …..  

 

this Gospel we heard today is very special because it shows us that we are all friends of Jesus….  He is our Good shepherd and he walks along with us along our whole life journey… He knows us by name….  he leads us by safe paths….  He cares about what happens to us……   He is always interested to hear us tell him of our hopes, our fears… our disappointments and our failures… and he is there to reassure us and give us strength and to assure us that if we keep trusting in him, the love of God has the final word in our life….    and that last word is the promise that we are beloved sons and daughters of God….   forever …..

Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit who gives life and effectiveness to everything we do…..    and this Spirit gives us special gifts to help us to achieve what God is wanting to build in our lives and our world.

 In our sacraments, there is a special sign of the giving and descending of the Spirit upon us and that is the sign of the 'laying of hands.'  where the priest or bishop holds his hands over the person or object to be blessed and prays that the Spirit may come down upon them to give them the effectiveness to do what they need to do, the become what they are called to be….   

 

Each sacrament of the church has this sign of the 'laying of hands, and the calling down of the spirit, and I do invite the young people to watch for when these signs occur in our prayers….    in confirmation, Bishop Finnigan will place his hands on your head… and pray that the Holy Spirit be poured down upon you, and give you special gifts… spiritual building blocks to help you live as good disciples of Jesus….   

 

Traditionally, the church sees that there are seven gifts of the holy spirit, and the young ones preparing for confirmation and first holy communion are learning about them: (in fact…   the answers given in our first class last Wednesday night was very inspiring…..  because the young people (in their answers to questions) reminded us that there are actually more than seven gifts that the Spirit gives us…  In fact….., God gives us the gifts we need to be good friends and disciples of Jesus…..    and the seven traditional gifts of the Spirit are the core of those gifts……  

the Spirit gives the gift of : 

·        wisdom - the gift of being able to see things the way God sees them. To accept my life from God and be able to learn and grow through all that happens to me.

 

·        understanding  - the gift of being able to capture the meaning of God's message. To listen, to think things through and to be able to put myself in others' shoes

 

·        right judgement - the ability to see what to do in a given situation. to be able to choose and act for what is right and good and true.

 

·        courage - the ability to be able to keep doing something we know to be right and good even when it is difficult. to accept difficulties and challenges in my life cheerfully and firmly and strongly.

 

·        knowledge - the gift of knowing that God is the Father and that Jesus is his son,  and knowing about what God teaches us. to willingly learn about and develop my relationship with God and other people.

 

·        reverence - a deep respect, gentleness and care shown towards God, God's creation and people.. To have respect and care for myself, all people and all things of our world.

 

wonder and awe in God's presence. Gift of being able to appreciate and enjoy and be aware of all the amazing beauty that is in our world and the ability to see that God is at work still in our world.. to be deeply impressed and in amazement about all the wonders God has done for me, and for others and for the world and for the things that happen in life, big and small.

May we all be open to the gifts of the Holy spirit, and say 'yes' to God building us up into living stones in God's house of kindness, practical action and love…

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(extra): 

This weekend, the gospel speaks of the image of the Sheepfold: That they may have life and have it to the full. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep.  Christ’s offering of his whole self and even his life (down to the very last drop of his blood) is remembered by us at each and every Eucharist. In our Liturgy we constantly speak of this mysterious thing called the “Paschal Mystery”, which is actually about the mystery of Jesus’ life, suffering, death and Resurrection- All for the salvation of  people.  In every Eucharistic prayer, this Paschal Mystery is recalled and remembered. The word used for this remembering and for this living memorial sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, is the rather daunting Greek word: “anamnesis”, (which is a word that means …: “remembering”).

 

This weekend I will be using the new Eucharistic Prayer of Reconciliation  I. 

 

I have been speaking in the newsletter and in homily reflections about the new missal……. And its implementation…  (there is an extensive new and updated section on our parish website…    which is noted on the front page of the newsletter….  www.marycatholic.com..... Esp:  http://www.parishes.bne.catholic.net.au/maryborough/missal.htm . 

 

It explains in detail the changes and their history of development. It also has an extensive glossary of words and their meaning…..

 

Interestingly….  some of the changes turn out to be more corrections …  Since the introduction of the post Vatican II updated Latin version of the 1969 missal, we have been using the English translation of that Missal, for the last 41 years.  The new translation is actually a more strict translation of what was virtually all there in the Latin text of 1969. ….   They have simply gone back and translated what was already there! …   in a close translation rather than some paraphrasing that occurred in the previous version…..   As we mentioned in previous weeks, some of the language might be different in this new translation, such as the prayer to the Father that he will “spur us on to possess a more abundant life.”  But, really, this and many other sentences are really beautiful.   That sentence is is a beautiful and active request of God and it is at the heart of what we seek: that God will encourage us and inspire us and keep us going….  /…. May God “spur us on to possess a more abundant life” …. //.

 

Christ came to reconcile us to God and to one another. This is a major part of his mission. This Eucharistic prayer, (but also all the Eucharistic Prayers) touch upon this.

 

The beauty and the mystery of the Mass is that it is not just a meal of fellowship and unity, it is also,  (in a very powerful way),  a “Sacrifice”; Eucharist is the re-presentation of the once-and-for-all Sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

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