Catholic 709 : Mary the Mother of God. Year C - First of January, 2019

Mary the Mother of God. Year C - First of January, 2019



First Reading: Numbers 6:22-27
Psalm: Ps 66:2-3. 5. 6. 8. “May God bless us in his mercy.”
Second Reading: Galatians 4:4-7
Gospel Acclamation: Hebrews 1:1-2
Gospel: Luke 2:16-21

++++
Please listen to my audio recordings of the readings, prayers and reflections for Mary Mother of God. Year C - 1st January 2019, by clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/mary-the-mother-of-god-january-2019   (EPISODE: 133)
+++++
Homily Mary Mother of God. Year A - 1st January 2019

The new year 2019 is upon us. May God bless us all with a happy, healthy and grace-filled year.

It is wonderful as the new calendar year begins, (and the old year has ended), to do a spiritual stock-take. Each new year, we give thanks to God for the many gifts and blessings we have received in the year just ended, and to give thanks in anticipation for the countless opportunities, graces and blessings that God will give us this coming year. It is a time for new starts and looking forward to how we can be the best disciples of the gospel that we can be.

Even though our church year actually started a month ago at the start of Advent, nevertheless, the start of the calendar year is still an important milestone.. Another year which we commit to the service of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
On that same thought…   2019 is not just another year…..   Rather, it is another year “for” !!!   (For being humble servants in God’s Kingdom, for compassion, love, generosity and kindness).  It is quite accurate to say that what is about to begin, in the old style of wording, is truly the Year of Our Lord, 2019.

What better way of celebrating the beginning of a new calendar year than by dedicating it to the care and prayer of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, and the first and most perfect disciple. 

We pray that Our Lord Jesus, through the constant prayer and intercession of the Mother of God, will bless and protect us and give success to our work, as we strive this year to be faithful disciples of Christ in our daily lives and actions.

Mary the Mother of God is a wonderful inspiration for us too.           
Mary’s prayers and example assist us as we dedicate ourselves to  help (in any ways that God asks of us),  to establish God’s kingdom in the places we live and work and socialise.

We have so much for which to be grateful: All the people and events for which we are truly and deeply thankful; including our families, our friends, our brother and sister parishioners, our wider community, our nation: which is blessed with so many natural gifts and the gift of relative peace and freedom, and grateful too for the gift of our Church too; the gift of our faith, which makes us beloved daughters and sons of God.  

I truly believe that, as part of our regular prayer it is very important to constantly remember the many blessings we have received. It is truly astounding how many things we can give thanks for. We often cannot comprehend or recall our blessings, unless we regularly take time write them down - journal them each day.   

It is so important to have a grateful, remembering heart. The Blessed Virgin Mary always had a remembering heart, even when, (and especially when), things were going terribly wrong and did not make the slightest sense. Mary the mother of God pondered, prayed, praised, thanked and cherished and trusted in God.

In our New Year’s Masses, (dedicated to Mary the Mother of God), who is the first and most perfect disciple of Jesus, We present our discipleship and prayers. 

We offer up prayers for the year that has ended.

We offer up all the good we have done in the previous year to our God.  

May God transform all our efforts for the good, for God’s own good purposes.   

 We think of our loved ones, friends and fellow parishioners who have passed away this last year past, and pray for all our departed loved ones, as we continue to commend them to the ongoing and eternal care of God. We trust that they are now enjoying the peace and reward of God’s eternal kingdom. 

And we offer up prayers for all our loved ones, friends, colleagues and parishioners, that God may hold them in the palm of his hand this coming year.

It is a good thing for us to make new year’s resolutions, knowing that only with God’s grace and guidance can these resolutions bear much fruit…
At the start of 2019 we pray that 2019 will be a year filled with grace and happiness and peace. And, when we speak of a happy new year, we know that God’s idea of happiness is a fresh and challenging one. It is this TRUE happiness we are really seeking. It is God’s idea of happiness that we really desire.

“Look at Mary and Joseph kneeling before the manger. They must be tired. They have traveled 75 miles or so from Nazareth to Bethlehem on foot and on the jolting back of a donkey. They must be very hungry. They have not had a real meal since they left Nazareth some three days ago. They must be cold in this damp cave, in the midst of winter. It must have been very humiliating for them to discover no room among their relatives in their ancestral home or at the village Inn.

Yet in the midst of all of this, Mary and Joseph are the happiest people to walk the face of this earth. Here in Bethlehem they are teaching us the amazing paradox that it is only when we lose ourselves in the love and service of Jesus that we find true happiness. Happiness that this world can never give and no one can take from us. But how can we lose ourselves in the love and service of Jesus? Jesus has made it very simple, 
“Whatever you do for one of the least of these brothers and sisters, you do for me.”
So on this first day of the New Year let us ask for the grace to know Jesus more intimately, love him more and more fully… and follow him more closely” ((quote from Fr Rodney Kissinger, S.J.)*
…..So that this may be a truly Happy New Year according to God’s vision for the world.

For the new year, beginning, we ask God to bless and make fruitful our words, our actions and our work, and help us to live the witness to the good news…

May God bless us and keep us in faith, hope, love and health in this new year 2019 and beyond. May Mary, the beloved Mother of God, pray for us in good times and in times of trial or struggle, and keep us in her tender care  as we faithfully follow our beloved Lord into this new and exciting year of possibilities.
+++++
References:
Fr Paul W. Kelly
#Quote from Fr Rodney Kissinger, S.J.

+++++
Archive of homilies and reflections:  http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
To contact Fr. Paul: paulwkelly68@gmail.com

To listen to my weekly homily audio podcast, please click this link here.
Please note - It is often a week or so Ahead: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/tracks

You are welcome to subscribe to Fr Paul’s homily mail-out by sending an email to this address:paulkellyreflections+subscribe@googlegroups.com

Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
“Faith, Hope and Love,  A time of Christian worship and reflection”  - Led by Rev Paul W. Kelly
Texts used in this programme are for the purposes of worship and prayer for listeners wherever you are.
Prayers and chants are taken from the English Translation of the Roman Missal, edition three, © 2010, The International commission on English in the liturgy.
Scriptures are from the New Revised Standard Version: © 1989, by the national council of Churches of Christ, USA. , //adaptations to conform with Catholic liturgical norms, © 2009, by the same.

Psalm verses are taken from “The Psalms: the Grail Translation. Inclusive Language Version.” ©1963, 1995, 2004 The Grail (England), published by HarperCollins. London.

Prayers of the Faithful are adapted from Robert Borg’s 1993 book “Together we pray”. Published in Sydney Australia By  E.J. Dwyer. (out of print).

{ “Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin” -published 2011,  Composed and Sung by Jeffrey M. Ostrowski   
Featuring the….Gloria.  COPYRIGHT @ 2018 CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  www.ccwatershed.org/vatican/Ralph_Sherwin_Videos/  

“Faith, Hope and Love” theme Hymn:   Words, based on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, set to original music © 1996 by Paul W. Kelly.

Christian Pics Licensed Photographs. Images Used in accordance with Licence. All Rights Reserved by the Licensor.https://christianpics.co/   

Freely Photos website. All photos published on Freely Photos have been gathered as licensed under Creative Commons Zero, or equivalent. Images Used in accordance with Licence. All Rights Reserved by the Licensor. https://beta.freelyphotos.com/

For more details please visithttp://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au/
Contact us atpaulwkelly68@gmail.com
Production by Kelly Enterprises Resources. 

May God bless and keep you.


Mary the Mother of God. Year C
(First of January, 2019)   (EPISODE: 133 )

“May God bless us in his mercy.”

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
+++++++++++++
Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins,
and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.
I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault,* through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.  Amen.
+++++++++++++++++++++

Memorial Acclamation

We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Virgin Mary I

EUCH PRAYER 

Communion side.  pwk:  LH
++++
Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.

To unsubscribe click here.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Catholic Reflections (Fr Paul Kelly archives)" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to paulkellyreflections+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

Catholic 708 : Holy Family of Jesus, Mary And Joseph. Year C - Sunday, 30 December 2018

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary And Joseph. Year C - Sunday, 30 December 2018



THE LITURGY OF THE WORD

Readings: 

1 Sam 1:20-22, 24-28 

Psalm blessed are those who dwell in your house o lord

1 Jn 3:1-2, 21-24

Lk 2:41-52

++++
Please listen to my audio recordings of the readings, prayers and reflections for the The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary And Joseph. Year C - Sunday, 30 December 2018 by clicking this link here:   https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/holy-family-year-c-2018-episode-132  (EPISODE: 132)
+++++
I came across a wonderful poem on the Birth of Christ and the Holy Family, by British poet Godfrey Rust.  It is called:
Midnight in Bethlehem, Zero AD.

One or two people in difficulty.
Out on the street with a donkey and wife
Joseph had reached a bad point in his life
with the kind of a problem that won't go away:
a woman in labour, and nowhere to stay.

Now the root of it all, when you boiled the thing down,
was too many people in too small a town.

When they dreamed up the plan of administration
for a poll tax on all of the Jewish nation
only a bureaucrat somewhere in Rome
would send everyone back to their ancestors' home,
for little old Bethlehem wasn't designed
to cater for David's prolific line.
......
No room at the inn. No room anywhere.
They gave him the only place they could spare
and the promised Messiah was born that night
on the floor of a stable without any light
where they cut the cord and cleaned up the mess
and wrapped him in somebody's workaday dress
and while Mary slept there, exhausted and cold,
Joseph sat by feeling helpless and old.

This wasn't the way he had thought it would be
when the angel had told him that destiny
chose them to look after the Holy One.
No, this was a farce. What God had done
was to trust the care of the Saviour instead
to a man who could not even find him a bed.

If only he'd planned it more carefully then.
If he only could go back and do it again.

.......
when the shepherds burst in all breathless and wild
and stopped in their tracks when they saw the child.
They shifted their gaze from the baby's bed
and their eyes met his, and he nodded his head,
standing awkwardly, not knowing quite what to do
now they all knew for certain the story was true.

They stayed there for minutes. It might have been years.
Not one of them spoke. Their hopes and their fears;...
were gathered around this helpless God
as their minds tried to grasp what it meant.

Where he stood
Joseph was silent as finally
he saw this was how it was planned to be,
that the smell and the dark and the dirt and the pain
were not Joseph's mistake but God's choice once again:
past midnight in Bethlehem, Joseph knew
that men would be saved despite all they might do.
He could not control it. He did not understand.
He felt like a baby himself in God’s hand.
He remembered the angel had said that his name
would be Jesus, God saves.

He glanced up and saw that the shepherds had gone. 
Day had dawned. 
From the floor, Mary gazed at him, quizzical, on her straw bed.
The tiny God-child cried out to be fed.
Joseph moved to the business of the new day,
gave the child to its mother, the donkey some hay."**


It is a beautiful picture of the confusion, chaos and uncertainty that occurs in times of crisis, what would be familiar in any family. And it’s a reminder that God is at work even in the messiness of thwarted plans and unexpected situations. The helplessness felt by Joseph is reassuring to all of us when things aren’t going so well.

We all pray for peace: peace in the world, peace in our own families, peace in our own hearts. As with every worthy desire, the holding of an idea is often easier than putting it into practice. 

The readings today remind us that peace indicates an absence of conflict, but peace does NOT promise an absence of differences. True peace does not necessarily indicate an absence of misunderstanding, nor does it deny opposing opinions. True peace implies holding contradictory or opposing forces in harmony. Perhaps such a definition might be more helpful when we seek the meaning of an “ideal community” or an “ideal marriage” and so on. We do not really mean uniformity, but rather, “two solitude's embracing,” or a unity, a communion of difference enrich others.

Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family. The first reading and the gospel make it clear that the families presented here, very much holy, are also far from the ordinary. They are very different from a classic definition of a family in some senses. In the first reading Hannah, in gratitude for God’s gift to her of her only child Samuel,(whom she had longed and prayer for over many years), dedicates her son to God and gives him to the temple, to be a holy man dedicated to God’s work. Not the usual approach for a family. 

In the gospel, Jesus is God’s son, Joseph is his step-father. Joseph and Mary have a unique relationship as husband and wife. Their care and support for each other, their openness to God’s will in their lives, and their dedication to supporting and assisting each other, as a family unit, and in their individual vocations in life is and inspiration for us all, and a wonderful model for every family and community. Is there really any family that can say of itself “we are perfectly average”? Each family is unique and has its own individual characteristics, because it is made up of unique individuals.

In the Gospel, I do not think Jesus was trying to be rude in any way. His parents were desperate to find him. He is lost in Jerusalem for three days. Many years later, he will be (in a very different way) lost for three days again, in Jerusalem… (but at that time it will be three days lost to death by crucifixion and being lain in the tomb) and again at that time his mother will go through an even more awful anguish. But back to his childhood, Jesus reaction this first time was one of confusion."But, why were you worried? Did you not KNOW that I must be about my Father’s affairs?" And of course his family do not understand what he is saying. Jesus is already wise beyond his years.... he is a smart kid and he quickly realizes that ‘being about his father’s affairs’ at this stage of his life means that he must go back with his family and respect and learn from his mother Mary and his step-father Joseph and grow as he learns from their wisdom and guidance.  

Mary realizes that she must ponder and reflect and learn from Jesus and the events of his life, and prayerfully contemplate the meaning of his vocation, which is unique and special. We too must follow Mary in constantly reflecting on the meaning of Jesus’ life and contemplating deeply and prayerfully on what Christ’s life and actions means for the events of our lives too. We must be brave. We must be open. We must be ready to have regular shifts of thinking and an attitude of openness and discipleship.

The holy family’s respect and openness to listen and learn from each other, to support each other in the calling each person has is important. we might all have plans and hopes for members of our family, but the best thing we can do, ultimately, is to listen and dialogue with them about the inner calling and vocation that each is uniquely called to search for and live out; and this might be a vocation or calling that is different from our hopes or expectations. In the end openness to God who is at work in the lives of each of us is the most important thing, and living and working with each other in respect and love. 

It is astounding that 2018 is now coming to a rapid close! Can you believe that it will soon be 2019? I pray that this new year will be a time of grace for all of us as we, with Mary, ponder and treasure the things that God is doing in our lives. 
And May God grant us peace in our hearts and lives and give us open, prayerful and grateful hearts. 

+++++++
References:
Fr Paul W. Kelly
Some ideas adapted from ‘Sharing the Word through the Liturgical Year, by Gustavo Gutierrez.

Joseph and the shepherds. Written for the carol service at St John’s, West Ealing in 1989.  Of course it is fairly certain that Jesus wasn't born in 0 AD (more likely sometime between 5BC and 2BC), and 0 AD doesn't actually exist as the calendar goes from 1 BC to 1 AD, and these days it's correct to call them 1 BCE and 1 CE, but hey, it's a poem. © Godfrey Rust,godfrey@wordsout.co.uk . See here for details of permissions for use.


+++
Archive of homilies and reflections:  http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
To contact Fr. Paul: paulwkelly68@gmail.com

To listen to my weekly homily audio podcast, please click this link here.
Please note - It is often a week or so Ahead: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/tracks

You are welcome to subscribe to Fr Paul’s homily mail-out by sending an email to this address:paulkellyreflections+subscribe@googlegroups.com

Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
“Faith, Hope and Love,  A time of Christian worship and reflection”  - Led by Rev Paul W. Kelly
Texts used in this programme are for the purposes of worship and prayer for listeners wherever you are.
Prayers and chants are taken from the English Translation of the Roman Missal, edition three, © 2010, The International commission on English in the liturgy.
Scriptures are from the New Revised Standard Version: © 1989, by the national council of Churches of Christ, USA. , //adaptations to conform with Catholic liturgical norms, © 2009, by the same.

Psalm verses are taken from “The Psalms: the Grail Translation. Inclusive Language Version.” ©1963, 1995, 2004 The Grail (England), published by HarperCollins. London.

Prayers of the Faithful are adapted from Robert Borg’s 1993 book “Together we pray”. Published in Sydney Australia By  E.J. Dwyer. (out of print).

{ “Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin” -published 2011,  Composed and Sung by Jeffrey M. Ostrowski 
Featuring the….Gloria.  COPYRIGHT @ 2018 CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  www.ccwatershed.org/vatican/Ralph_Sherwin_Videos/  

“Faith, Hope and Love” theme Hymn:   Words, based on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, set to original music © 1996 by Paul W. Kelly.

Christian Pics Licensed Photographs. Images Used in accordance with Licence. All Rights Reserved by the Licensor.https://christianpics.co/

Freely Photos website. All photos published on Freely Photos have been gathered as licensed under Creative Commons Zero, or equivalent. Images Used in accordance with Licence. All Rights Reserved by the Licensor. https://beta.freelyphotos.com/

For more details please visithttp://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au/
Contact us atpaulwkelly68@gmail.com
Production by Kelly Enterprises Resources. 

May God bless and keep you.


The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary And Joseph. Year C
(Sunday, 30 December 2018)   (EPISODE: 132 )

“How happy they who dwell in your house, O Lord.”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (or/ The Lord be with You)
+++++++++++++
Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins,
and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.
Lord Jesus, you are mighty God and Prince of peace. Lord have mercy//  You are Son of God and the Son of Mary. Christ have mercy// You are Word made flesh, the splendour of the Father. Lord have mercy.
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.  Amen.
+++++++++++++++++++++

Memorial Acclamation

Save us, Saviour of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Nativity of the Lord II

Euch Prayer II

Communion side.  pwk:  RH
++++
Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.

Catholic 707 : The Feast of the Nativity of the Lord. Year C -

The Feast of the Nativity of the Lord. Year C -
(25th December 2018)



Photo by Caleb Stokes on Unsplash

THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Isaiah 9:1-7
Psalm: Ps 95:1-3. 11-13. “Today is born our saviour, Christ the Lord.”
Second Reading: Titus 2:11-14
Gospel Acclamation: Luke 2:10-11
Gospel: Luke 2:1-14
++++
Please listen to my audio recordings of the readings, prayers, and reflections for the “The Feast of the Nativity of the Lord. Year C” -  by clicking this link here:   https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/christmas-2018  (EPISODE: 131)
+++++

The wonder of this Christmas season is shown by the sight of so many people…  family, friends, and parishioners gathered together at Christmas masses and at wonderful gatherings for meals.  And (tonight/today) we gather to give thanks and praise to God who loved us so very much that he took on our human condition and came close to us, so as to share our joys and sorrows, our successes and failures, our hopes and fears.. and to save us from the mess we have made by all our wrong choices and actions… and more wonderfully…to make us members of God’s family forever. (This is despite the fact that none of us have really earned or deserved this love). But the love just IS there... and it is never going away.    

Christmas, at its heart, is the most beautiful love story.  It is a celebration of the absolute and astounding depths of God’s love for us, whom he even goes to the amazing length of naming as his beloved children.  It is about how our God chose to be very near to us, (closer than a heartbeat).to share with us the blessing and struggle of being human. God cares very much for each and every one of us and wants us to return that care, gentleness, and respect by how we treat people around us. God doesn’t just love us a ‘little bit’ - but God loves us utterly and completely, and the message of Christmas (in fact, the whole message of Jesus’ life and ministry), is that God gives up everything to put this love into action.

God is absolute love – completely and deliberately choosing to be the opposite of aloof or distant.  God constantly gets right “in-there” - into the messiness of life and never leaves us to muddle on alone. God rejected any distance and coldness from us and our worries…   God chose to be interested, involved and participate in our lives. And that is wonderful beyond imagination.  

Christmas shows us the way God thinks and acts….   And it is in such stark contrast with the many of the ways of the world….    

Social researcher, the Australian writer Hugh McKay, in his new book “Reimagining Australia,” says that our society is suffering at the moment from an unprecedented crisis of confidence in so many significant institutions that form the core of our wider community - 
People are having huge problems with trust and confidence in core groups…  whether it be government, the banks, medical bodies,The church, Sporting bodies, Universities, Media groups, Big Corporations, and so many more.  It is a broad problem of lack of trust, broadly felt in our society (and around the world). Our trust depends on whether we perceive that these organizations are working in our interests and the common good. Our respect for them declines rapidly when they are seen as preoccupied with their own power, or placing their institutional interests ahead of the interests of the society they are meant to serve; or if they have become distant, unapproachable, uncaring, and unengaged in the lives of ordinary people.[i]  
Jesus was born to SHOW us that God's ways are all about approachability, nearness, care, compassion, and involvement. And secular studies on what is good for our society agree as well, (which is wonderful); As Hugh McKay writes: "I have been inspired by the many communities and individuals who are showing us how to become a more generous, more compassionate, more cohesive and more harmonious society. Their example reminds us that the state of the nation actually starts in our own street.” (McKay).

We remember today, the birthday of a man whose life, death and resurrection showed us the way to act and respond purposefully with kindness and generosity to life, come what may.  (Even in the face of the absolute worst things that an ungrateful world threw back at him, the Lord steadfastly refused to stop giving freely of his compassion, his mercy, his generosity, and healing,).
On any day when we follow Jesus and live our Christian life to the full, (living life intentionally; choosing gentleness, generosity, graciousness – even when this is not what the world around us is serving up to us – Refusing to respond to the world by how we are treated, but rather, choosing daily to act with love, and justice , irrespective of the response or the prompting).
Fr Richard Leonard in his new book “What Are We Waiting For? -Finding Meaning in Advent & Christmas.” 
He quotes Rev. John Bell of the Iona Community in this beautiful poem:

“Light looked down and saw darkness. / “I will go there,” said light.
Peace looked down and saw war./  “I will go there,” said peace.
Love looked down and saw hatred. “I will go there,” said love.
So he, the Lord of Light,
the Prince of Peace,
the King of Love,
came down and crept in beside us.” **

What a wonderful phrase:……
God “came down and crept in beside us.”
As Fr Leonard points out…..
“No fanfare. No palace. No earthly prince. ...... ..
God thought it fitting and right to enter our world through a very complicated conception story, a messy birth, a willing midwife, and to arrive as a vulnerable baby. God crept in beside us. And as a result, there is nothing too complex, too messy, or too vulnerable about our own lives into which God cannot or will not enter.”

This is indeed news of great joy. 
Joy to be shared by all the people of every time and place.
++++++



References:
Fr Paul W. Kelly
“Australia Reimagined - Towards a More Compassionate, Less Anxious Society” By Hugh Mackay. Pan Macmillan Australia. 2018.   ISBN: 9781743534823

FR RICHARD LEONARD, SJ.  QUOTED IN “THE TABLET”  PAGE 7, 15TH DECEMBER, 2018. TAKEN FROM REFLECTIONS IN “What Are We Waiting For? Finding Meaning in Advent & Christmas” Richard Leonard, SJ.  Paulist Press New York / Mahwah, NJ.
Copyright © 2014 by Richard Leonard, SJ

https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bigideas/reimagining-australia/10003652  ; 
And
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drawingroom/hugh-mackay-reimagining-australia/9832974  

* * Wild Goose Worship Group, Cloth for the Cradle: Worship Resources and Readings for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany (Wild Goose Publications: Glasgow, UK, 1998).

“Poem for Christmas eve” and “incarnate” © Godfrey Rust, godfrey@wordsout.co.uk  [ii]
+++
Archive of homilies and reflections:  http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
To contact Fr. Paul: paulwkelly68@gmail.com

To listen to my weekly homily audio podcast, please click this link here. 
Please note - It is often a week or so Ahead: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/tracks 

You are welcome to subscribe to Fr Paul’s homily mail-out by sending an email to this address:paulkellyreflections+subscribe@googlegroups.com

Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
“Faith, Hope and Love,  A time of Christian worship and reflection”  - Led by Rev Paul W. Kelly
Texts used in this programme are for the purposes of worship and prayer for listeners wherever you are. 
Prayers and chants are taken from the English Translation of the Roman Missal, edition three, © 2010, The International commission on English in the liturgy. 
Scriptures are from the New Revised Standard Version: © 1989, by the national council of Churches of Christ, USA. , //adaptations to conform with Catholic liturgical norms, © 2009, by the same. 

Psalm verses are taken from “The Psalms: the Grail Translation. Inclusive Language Version.” ©1963, 1995, 2004 The Grail (England), published by HarperCollins. London. 

Prayers of the Faithful are adapted from Robert Borg’s 1993 book “Together we pray”. Published in Sydney Australia By  E.J. Dwyer. (out of print). 

{ “Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin” -published 2011,  Composed and Sung by Jeffrey M. Ostrowski   
Featuring the….Gloria.  COPYRIGHT @ 2018 CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  www.ccwatershed.org/vatican/Ralph_Sherwin_Videos/   

“Faith, Hope and Love” theme Hymn:   Words, based on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, set to original music © 1996 by Paul W. Kelly. 

Christian Pics Licensed Photographs. Images Used in accordance with Licence. All Rights Reserved by the Licensor.https://christianpics.co/   

Freely Photos website. All photos published on Freely Photos have been gathered as licensed under Creative Commons Zero, or equivalent. Images Used in accordance with Licence. All Rights Reserved by the Licensor. https://beta.freelyphotos.com/ 

For more details please visithttp://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au/ 
Contact us atpaulwkelly68@gmail.com 
Production by Kelly Enterprises Resources.  

May God bless and keep you. 



The Feast of the Nativity of the Lord. Year C
(24-25^th December, 2018)   (EPISODE: 131 )
Hello everyone and happy Christmas.

It is such a beautiful time, this Christmas Season. We celebrate God who
loved us so much that he pitched in with us and made his home with
us… to share our joys and sorrows, our graces and temptations, our
successes and failures.
Let us pray this Christmas for all the values Christ was born to
establish… that they will take hold deeply in our hearts and in our
world… peace, compassion, love, generosity, mercy, justice and so
many more…

Let us all rejoice in the Lord, for our Saviour has been born in the
world.
Today true peace has come down to us from heaven.


The Lord be with you.
+++++++++++++
Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins,
and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.
Lord Jesus, you are mighty God and Prince of peace. Lord have mercy//  You are Son of God and the Son of Mary. Christ have mercy// You are Word made flesh, the splendour of the Father. Lord have mercy. 
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.  Amen.
+++++++++++++++++++++

Memorial Acclamation

When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim your Death, O Lord, until you come again.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Nativity I 

Eucharistic Prayer II 

Communion side.  pwk:  LH
++++
I pray that you have a truly blessed and joyous Christmas and that Our Lord's love and peace will completely fill your hearts and minds, and safe traveling to and from your destinations…

God bless.


Go forth, the Mass is ended.

---

[i] It is also interesting that people distinguish between an institution and the individuals who work in them at the grassroots level, where they are indeed engaging with people and are interested in their lives and issues.  SO, a person can be suspicious of the Banks, but deeply trust their local Bank manager whom they know and deal with personally. People can be very ambivalent about the Church, but have a lot of time for the local pastors who are in the community with them. People can have no time for Media sensationalism or opinion masquerading as fact but have enormous respect for a journalist they know. “Australia Reimagined - Towards a More Compassionate, Less Anxious Society.”  Hugh Mackay. Pan Macmillan Australia. 2018.   ISBN: 9781743534823
++++++++++

[ii] Today’s celebration of the Gospel is, after all, a profound love story.

As the English poet Godfrey Rust writes:
God the father looked down at his world
and the world was like a sleeping, fitful child
and the child was spoiled.
Its nations called each other names
and roamed earth's playground like a gang of children
who choose sides, always brandishing their terrifying toys.
The world thought it was abandoned;
and hunted restlessly for some new sign or token
as if Christmas had come and gone, its presents all unwrapped, already broken,
and the father God looked at his child
and counted the cost of love's freedom:
but he had a plan,
to step from out of time,
and into history;
and become a human.
With an eternity to find the spot,
he chose with the greatest care.
One night a workman stood
in a barn with a group of animals
watching the birth of God,
while out on the hills some shepherds were astonished,
as a skyful of angels appeared then disappeared,
and a few astrologers saw a change in the stars they'd studied for years
and almost everyone else knew nothing.  
Caesar turned and settled in his luxurious bed
while in Bethlehem the power and the glory cried for milk in a shed.
It was quite an entrance. The only Son of God
homeless, ...........a refugee,
(owning nothing but the world that he grew up in),
-  had made himself quite empty,
his birth itself a kind of dying where
he abdicated power, omniscience,
was needy, hated and misunderstood.”

 

To unsubscribe click here.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Catholic Reflections (Fr Paul Kelly archives)" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to paulkellyreflections+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.