Posts made in July, 2009

Message on the Feast of St. Eymard

Posted by on Jul 31, 2009 in Provincial Corner | 0 comments

Dear Brothers, Greetings and best wishes on the Feast of our Holy Founder. We are now entering a time of opportunity for Eucharistic evangelisation,in the midst of a triple preparation: preparation for our Provincial Chapter in February 2010; preparation for our General Chapter in May 2011; and preparation for the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in 2012, all linked through the Eucharist. This Eucharistic period was heralded by the theme that emerged from last September’s Amplified General Council in Madrid, which was based on Fr. E;ymard’s words: “ This is the beautiful and amiable mission of every religious of the Blessed Sacrament: disciple and apostle of Eucharistic love; this is his true name, his grace, his life.” Discipleship and apostleship, community and apostolate – the two aspects of mission. In his recent letter convoking the General Chapter, Fr. General speaks about the challenge to marry these dual elements of community and apostolate, if we are to carry out our Eucharistic mission effectively. This, he said, calls for a lifestyle oriented towards mission. Fr. General goes on to say that it is necessary to improve the quality of our community life if we are to relaunch our Eucharistic mission at the service of the Church. We must be good disciples before we can be good apostles. He tells us that the central theme of our life is the interaction between community and apostolate. The mission is never the expression of one individual, but arises from community – our mission is always a corporate activity – there is always a link between what we are, and what we do. When we are on mission, we are always religious. At the AGC, he told us: “ we exercise our ministry as members of a fraternal community, where the mission of each one finds support in common prayer and fraternal sharing …..the quality of our religious life, our consecration, deepens the quality of our mission.” The quality of our community life determines the effectiveness of our mission. That community life which supports our mission must be one of fraternity, prayer and service. We will find this theme of Eucharistic mission through community again in one of the principal themes of our Provincial Chapter, restructuration of the provinces of Europe, which is about deepening our Eucharistic mission at the level of community life, through collaboration between communities. Looking ahead to the Eucharistic Congress, again we find community identified as an essential aspect of Eucharist: “Communion with Christ and with one another”. This year, as well as honouring Fr. Eymard, we are also honouring another priest who was friends with the Founder, and who was also steeped in the Eucharist – St. John Vianney, the Cure of Ars. On this, the 150th anniversary of the death of this exemplary patron of parish priests, the Holy Father has proclaimed the Year of the Priest. Like Fr. Eymard, who said “I would give up everything for priests”, Fr. Vianney had a tremendous respect and love for the priesthood : “ O how great is the priest”, he would say, “ if he realised what he is, he would die”. This love of the priesthood was due above all to the intimate link between priesthood and Eucharist, which he believed to be the source and primary purpose of priesthood. He was convinced that the fervour of a priest’s life depended entirely on the Mass: “ The reason why a priest is lax” he said, “is because he does not pay attention to the Mass”. “ All good works taken together do not equal the Sacrifice of the Mass”...

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Seventeenth Sunday – 26 July 2009

Posted by on Jul 26, 2009 in Sunday Reflections | 0 comments

Gospel: John 6: 1-15 Year B You, Lord Jesus, are the Prophet announced by Moses: I will raise up a prophet like you, from the midst of My people (Deut. 18:15). The “details” of the multiplication of the loaves reveal that You are the promised Prophet. There is the mountain. It is the place of meeting with God. Up there, more so than Moses on Sinai, You are at home: You are seated. Then You invite Your disciples to do the same, thus unveiling for us the Father’s plan: He sent You to make us share His divine life. It is a little before Passover, the great feast of the Jews. The Passover celebrated the end of enslavement, the departure for the Promised Land … More so than Moses, You are the Good Shepherd guiding the whole of humanity towards God. You are Way which lets us “pass” to the true Promised Land. A large crowd followed You, recalls the Hebrews leaving Egypt (Ex. 12:37); and also announces countless crowds, trapped in the enslavement of sin, whom You come to liberate and to guide towards God. Where can we buy some bread? The Hebrews were hungry during their walk in the desert. At the time of moses, Manna had fed them. With You, it is even better: You fed the souls with your Word. You also took care of the bodies; You don’t want to see them weaken on the way (Mk. 8:3). The twelve baskets which remained will be inexhaustible. They announce the true Manna, the true Bread from heaven (Jn. 6:32) which You offer unceasingly in the celebration of the Eucharist: Take, all of you and eat! Blessed are you, Lord, for such love! Blessed are You for the wonder of the...

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Sixteenth Sunday – 19 July 2009

Posted by on Jul 18, 2009 in Reflections, Sunday Reflections | 0 comments

Gospel: Mark 6:30-34 Year B The Apostles reported to Jesus all that they had done and taught … One can imagine their joy on returning from their first mission. You share this joy in listening to them, in perhaps asking them questions. Is this not what You want from us on Sunday? How can we return to You after an often hectic week? Yes, Lord, give us the simplicity of Your Apostles to come to Mass with all that we have done to bring You all that has happened to us: joys, sorrows, successes and failures, to offer You all this … then to rest a moment near You, because You also say to us: Come away to some lonely place and rest a while! In the reality of our world where silence can no longer find a little space …. You offer us a time of rest and calm to celebrate the Eucharist. You give us the joy of gathering with brothers to praise You, far from all too frequent pressures of daily life. Let us rediscover the sense of Sunday rest, Lord. It has taken on for Christians the spirit of Sabbath rest which you knew: for six days you will work, but the seventh day is a day of rest for the Lord Your God (Ex. 20:9-10). On arrival, Jesus saw a large crowd …. What deception for You and Your Apostles: the lonely place is invaded by people from all over the place. What will You do? You do not think of Yourself, of Your tiredness … you remain available. The call of this crowd is more important that Your rest: You are seized with pity! You have come to look for the lost sheep, to gather them into the sheepfold of the Father … So You only listen to Your heart: You teach them at some length. And this is what You do for us at each Mass. Thank you, Lord … and let us share Your attitude. Make us attentive to the needs of our...

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Fifteenth Sunday – 12 July 2009

Posted by on Jul 12, 2009 in Sunday Reflections | 0 comments

Gospel: Mark 6: 7-13 Year B Jesus called the twelve and sent them out…. It’s the first mission of Your Apostles. A Good Educator, You make them experience a little bit of what their life will be like. You send them two by two: they will have to help each other, mutual support…. They will most importantly of all have to proclaim Your message of love by example of their lives: They will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another…(Jn. 13:35). You give them power over evil spirits… The mission You entrust to them is not easy. It is Your mission. It involves liberating people from the clutches of the devil, and restoring them to life as children of God…. You pointed this out from the start of Your ministry: I came to liberate captives, to free the downtrodden (Lk. 4:18). It is necessary to rescue those imprisoned by sin, captives of the devil. The task is difficult, because this devil is not going to relinquish his prey without resistance, nor to allow himself to be dispossessed from domination of the world that he has overwhelmed. He instructed them to take nothing for the road…. What a strange recommendation for an almost impossible mission! Your disciples haven’t the slightest formation for such a mission … and You deprive them of all resources! Truly, Lord, Your ‘logic’ is not that humans! You thus remind us that the salvation of the world does not come from us, but from You. It is not ‘our’ message, ‘our’ ideas that we must proclaim, but Your message … and Your love. We must not rely on ‘us’, but must be docile instruments in Your hands. The Apostles understood … and the result followed: They set out to preach repentance, casting out demons and healing the sick…. Through the Eucharist, You remain with us, Lord, and You are our strength to accomplish what You ask of us. May You be blessed for this Bread of Life so generously offered! Keep us aware of our poverty, and of Your ever-faithful...

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Year of Evangelization

Posted by on Jul 8, 2009 in Church | 0 comments

“On the weekend of the 27th and 28th of June, we will launch a new programme of evangelisation, of bringing the name, the message and the love of Jesus with renewed vigour into our own lives and into the world in which we live.” “The Church constantly needs to renew itself. It must draw on the authentic biblical revelation of how God’s love was revealed by Jesus Christ. I ask your prayers that this programme of evangelisation will truly open the lives of each of us to be embraced by God’s love and thus to become witnesses of that love to our world.” Archbishop Dirmuid Martin, D.D. Archbishop of...

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