Sunday Reflections

Notice of Temporary Closure

Posted by on Mar 30, 2020 in Chapel Schedule, Church, Community, NEWS, Sunday Reflections, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Following the latest communication from the HSE, the Chapel will be closed for public access from Monday March 30th to at least April 12th. We will be able to reopen when we are advised to do so. During this unprecedented period, I ask all Chapel worshipers to make full use of the resources that have been provided for you, especially in the practice of making Spiritual Communion, and praying for the most vulnerable as well as health workers on the frontline. Also, please access the Pro-Cathedral’s live-streaming facility for the Celebration of the Eucharist, weekdays at 10.30am & Sunday 11.00am., or EWTN. The SSS Community in Dublin are sending out 400 direct communication’s by post to our Chapel ministers, Aggregation members, PEL Members and friends this week as an extension of our ministry to you at this time. Let us pray for each other. Thank you. Fr. Darren Maslen, SSS- Local...

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13 March 2011 – First Sunday of Lent

Posted by on Mar 13, 2011 in Sunday Reflections | 0 comments

Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11 Year A Jesus was let into the desert …. Lord, Your ancestors knew the Sinai desert for 40 years. Like them, You want to experience it. The desert, land without water, without life, is the place of need… and therefore of temptation. How often the Hebrew people have complained and have wanted to go back to where they had come from. They were hungry, they were thirsty…. But the desert is also the place to hear the Word of God: I will lead her into the desert (my unfaithful spouse, My people) and I will speak to her heart. (Hosea 2:16). You have lived these two aspects, Lord: the temptation and the listening to the Word of God. Thank You for sharing Your challenges in this way, and thank You for the example that You give us. Jesus was led into the desert …. After that brief stay in the Judean desert, it is Your coming into our world that is expressed in these words. Our world in fact resembles a desert. Filled with many things, it often lacks the essential …. it lacks divine life; it lacks the living water of the Spirit. In coming to share our life, You come to make our desert blossom, Lord! With You we will go into the desert. Lent is a call to rejoin You in solitude and in prayer. Let us respond to Your invitation with love. May we know how to let ourselves be led by the Spirit, like You. The Lenten season reminds us of what our life is: a journey through the desert towards the Father’s house…. You are with us in this long journey. Help us to free ourselves from everything that encumbers us, so that we can follow You better. Open our ears to Your Word. Make us hunger for that Word, man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. May this Word enlighten us to fend off the urgings of the tempter, and to turn with confidence towards our Father, to adore Him...

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2nd Sunday of Advent – 5 December 2010

Posted by on Dec 6, 2010 in Sunday Reflections | 0 comments

Gospel : Matthew 3 : 1 – 12 Year A In those days, John the Baptist appeared and proclaimed…. John the Baptist did what he was sent to do : he proclaimed. He is a voice crying. He lends his voice to God so that the divine message can be spread throughout the world. It was the role of Moses and of the Prophets of Israel. How often this order of God is repeated to those He has chosen: Go, tell My people…(Is.6) Go and shout this in their ears… (Jer. 2:1). I am sending you to them to say ….(Ezek. 2:3). They don’t have to rack their brains to find the words to say: I put My words in Your mouth. (Jer.1:9)… They must be attentive to God to transmit His message. John has fulfilled his task well. You Yourself, Jesus, were able to eulogise him: What did you go into the wilderness to see? A prophet? … Yes, and more than a prophet! He was Your messenger going before You; he prepared the way for You ….(Lk.7:24 -28). This is also what You want from us, from me, Lord. You send us into the world of to-day, to proclaim Your message of love to all people. For this, we must also go into the wilderness, like John the Baptist. John the Baptist came in the wilderness of Judaea. The wilderness is the place of meeting with God: I will send you into the wilderness and there I will speak to you heart. (Hos. 2:16). But to meet You, Lord, in the solitude of the wilderness, it is necessary to depart, it is necessary to renounce what we have and what we are…. We must empty ourselves so that You can fill us with You! John the Baptist expresses it his way: He must increase and I must decrease. There in the wilderness he found the fullness of life, true joy. He knows how to rejoice to see crowds leave him to go to You, Lord. He is the friend of the spouse, happy to let Him to the talking, to let Him have the lime-light: Lord Jesus, let us follow You into the wilderness, and allow ourselves to be transformed by You, so that we may become, like John, carriers of Your message of...

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1st Sunday of Advent – 28 Nov. 2010

Posted by on Dec 1, 2010 in Sunday Reflections | 0 comments

Gospel : Matthew 24 : 37 – 44 Year A Jesus spoke to His disciples about His coming …. You come unceasingly into our lives, Lord. It is You Who keeps us in existence: God holds in His hand the life-breath of humanity, said Job (12:10). God gives to all the life and the breath and everything else, recalled Paul (Acts 17:25). In You is the source of life, sings the Psalmist (Ps.35:10). Too often we forget the origin of this wonderful gift. Like in the time of Noah people want to be masters of their own lives, without reference to Him Who gave them this gift. You came, Lord, to offer a new dimension to our existence. We are not just fleeting earthlings. You came to share our life to let us share Yours. You gave us power to become children of God (Jn.1:12) You want us to live to the full: I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance! (Jn. 10:10). What sort of welcome did You get? He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him (Jn.1:11). It’s the same to-day: People prefer to veer towards material possessions than towards divine life. But unceasingly, You pursue Your project of love. You want to gather us with You, close to the Father. Stay awake! … Be ready! Let us hear Your call, Lord! Let us stay awake day after day, to welcome You …when You come through events, through our neighbour. Then when You come at the end of time, at the end of the time of each one of us, we will be ready to answer Your call in trust and thanksgiving. May You be blessed also for coming to us through the Eucharistic celebration. There, You enlighten us and guide our journey through Your Word. You strengthen us through Your Bread of Life Which makes us live as children of God. May this meeting in faith prepare us to welcome You in joy on the last...

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Solemnity of Christ the King – 21 November 2010

Posted by on Nov 21, 2010 in Sunday Reflections | 0 comments

Gospel : Luke 23 : 35 – 43 Year C Above Him there was an inscription….. It was in Hebrew, in Greek and in Latin. Everybody must be able to read and know who it is that is condemned to death! It attracted the attention of numerous pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover…. It continues to attract the attention of people of all times, of all places. This is the King of the Jews! This Crucified One is not a criminal like the others. You are King, Lord Jesus! If the inscription is a mockery on the part of Pilate, it proclaims in reality, the summit of the love of God. The cross is the throne where You have freely ascended: There is no greater love than to give your life for your friends. What is people’s response? What welcome is there for Your royalty? The leaders jeered Him…. the soldiers mocked Him too… It’s always the same thing. Nobody wants a king without human prestige, without an army, a king who makes himself a servant… Those who have the power and authority do not want You because You upset them. The people stayed there watching Him …. The crowds of to-day are there also watching. Continue, Lord, to fulfil Your promise : when I will be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to Myself (Jn.12:32) Jesus, remember me … The first to proclaim Your royalty is condemned to death, like You. But He, “he deserves it”, he recognises. His profession of faith opens for him the entry to Your Kingdom: To-day, you will be with Me in Paradise! Grant us, Lord, the trust of this man ….. let us live to-day, every day, in Your...

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Thirty-Third Sunday – 14 November 2010

Posted by on Nov 14, 2010 in Sunday Reflections | 0 comments

Gospel: Luke 21:5-19 Year C The Temple that you are thinking about, not one of its stones will remain on another ….. Lord, You Who admired the beauty of flowers in the field and invited us to consider them (Mt.6:29), were You insensitive to the beauty of the work of human hands, to the beauty of the Temple? What a cold shower for Your disciples and for all of those who heard You! It was almost a blasphemy in the eyes of the Jews that You spoke like this. Will You be numbered among the prophets of doom? Certainly, You announce doom, but it is not to make us live in fear. You want to put us on guard against the dangers which surround us and You invite us to trust. We risk only remembering what amazes us and not paying attention to what is essential, to the message on which You insist: – do not let yourselves be led astray by false prophets… – do not be frightened on hearing of wars or natural catastrophes – do not worry about your defence against persecution … – I will give you an eloquence and wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict… – Not a hair of your head will be lost…. What calls to trust! All the things that you are looking at, days will come when nothing of them will remain…. You have no disdain for the Temple; it is Your Father’s house (Lk.2:49) You chased the merchants out of it one day so that it would be a “House of prayer” … But You invite us to stick to what is essential, to stick with God alone. This is what should guide us in our choices on this earth where everything passes…. Even if the Temple is destroyed, the relationship with God is not severed. The Jewish people, Your people Lord, is a living example of that: despite the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, almost 2000 years ago, they remain the people of the Covenant. Let us persevere in our quest for the essential, in the love of Him Who, alone, can fill our hearts. Your endurance will win you your...

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