Reflection - Choosing and being chosen The experience of being chosen by someone can be a welcome one. It might be as simple as someone choosing us to be on their team; or, some years later, to be their referee, when applying for a job; they trust us to give them a good reference. But being chosen can be even more significant still. At the root of every happy marriage is the fact that two people once chose and then kept on choosing each other. At the heart of every true friendship is a similar choice. Two people choose to be friends with each other; they valued their relationship as special and worthwhile. As in marriage, the choice must be mutual if the friendship is to last. When the choice is one-sided, there can be heartbreak for the one not chosen in return. One of life’s really painful experiences is unrequited love. In the gospel today Jesus uses this language of choice and friendship. He tells them (and us), “I chose you,” “I call you friends.” We can each hear those words as addressed to us. The disciples here represent us all. He has handed over his life for us all. Like St. Paul we can each say that the Son of God loved me and gave himself for me. In giving his life for us, Jesus chose us, personally, called each of us his friend. His words are to us, “You are my friends.” The Mass makes present the self-giving death of Jesus in every generation, to every community that gathers for the Breaking of Bread. Right here and now he continues to speak those same words from the last supper, “You are my friends,” “I chose you.” But here’s a thing: In our personal lives, choosing one means not choosing another. This is not the case with the good Lord, who is able to choose each of us equally. As Peter says in the first reading, “God does not have favourites.” If I choose someone as a friend, I want that person to make a similar choice of me. Similarly, the Lord’s choice of us seeks and desires our choice of him. Having chosen us, he wants us to reciprocate that choice. Earlier in the gospel, at a time when many people stopped following him, he turned to his disciples and said to them, “Do you also wish to go away?” Jesus was inviting them to respond to the choice he had made of them. At that highly-charged moment, Peter said on behalf of them all, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the message of eternal life.” In this way he publicly declared his choice of Jesus. At Mass we both celebrate the Lord’s choice of us and we renew our choice of him. When we respond to his invitation to take and eat, we take Him to heart and renew our choice him as our way, our truth and our life. © Irish Association of Catholic Priests.
Fr John Patrick is encouraging us to pray the Rosary in each other’s homes during May. Our Blessed Mother is the Queen of Peace and in these times of uncertainty and unrest many especially those who are suffering persecution and violence, need our prayers. Already in St. Bride’s Angela and Adrian have offered to host parishioners wishing to take up this invitation wo join them each Wednesday afternoon throughout May. They have printed a little hand out for parishioners with their contact details which are available in the porch at St. Bride’s. It would be great if parishioners in Gorseinon parish would also take up this invitation. If you are willing, please let him know.
Our Lady’s Lamp - Intentions week commencing 5th May 2024 Blessed Sacrament No Intention St Bride’s Jim Collins (JC) If you wish Our Lady’s Lamp to be lit for a loved one or an intention, please let us know. A donation of £5 is suggested and the candle will be lit all week in the church
The Church Grounds at the Blessed Sacrament Church Each year the parish has been paying near £1000 for a local company to maintain the grass and trees at the Blessed Sacrament Church. Given the need to raise funds for the renovation of the church Fr John Patrick is asking for volunteers to step in and take on the task as he is trying to save money. Will you be willing to help? Please contact him as soon as possible. Teas and Coffees This year we began making available Teas and Coffee every two weeks after the Sunday morning mass. It has proven to be a great time for us to get to know each other in a social gathering. The teams who organise them would appreciate a few more helpers to assist. Please speak to them if you are willing. Parish Film Club This continues to be greatly enjoyed by those among us who come regularly. The team that organise this afternoon out are also looking for a helper or two this month as members of the team are taking a holiday. The task is not onerous by any means. If you are a film buff and willing to help, please see Anna Bruty, Sue, or David Doherty.
As I mentioned at the end of last Sunday’s morning mass, we have much to thank the Lord for in those among us who are preparing to celebrate the sacraments among us. They are signs of the Lord’s love for our community. Therefore, please pray for them: For the Sacraments of Christian Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Communion . Currently, we have Kyan a local student who has been among us for well over a year and he has begun undertaking catechetical formation in preparation for the Sacraments of Christian Initiation. To be Received into Full Communion with the Catholic Church . We have Luke. Luke has been among us now for about a year and is nearing readiness to be received into Full Communion. He will be celebrating the Sacraments of Reconciliation, Confirmation and participate in Holy Communion for the first time among us, on Pentecost Sunday. He will join the likes of Lori who was received during the Easter Vigil. The Sacrament of Confirmation Over the past 6 months or so our young men Emils and Matiss, have been preparing for Confirmation and are now ready. It is hoped that Emils and Matiss will celebrate the Sacrament with Bishop Mark in Llanelli on Saturday 1st June at 11.00 am. First Holy Communion Among our younger parishioners we have Dominik, Denzel and Rocco who will be joined by Leonard, Lilly, and Illia in celebrating their First Holy Communion. This special celebration will be on the Feast of Corpus Christi – The Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ – Sunday 2nd June at the 10.00 am mass. The Sacrament of Marriage Although late in the day we congratulate Mary Chidimma who on 6th April married her fiancé Arinze back home in her native Nigeria. Looking ahead in September Lori and Robert will celebrate the Sacrament of Matrimony among us.
COVID has impacted on those coming to all our weekday masses. The Tuesday morning mass was stopped last year because no one was participating. It was re-introduced at the beginning of Lent but sadly this has not improved matters. As of Tuesday, the 7th May mass will be celebrated in the evening at 7.00 pm in the hope it will encourage parishioners to participate in God’s greatest gift to us. This will be reviewed at the end of summer.
Reflection - False Prophets Admirers have suggested that the brilliance of Oscar Wilde’s plays was only surpassed by that of his conversation. He was a superb raconteur whose conversational offerings were heavily laced with irony. He had a particular penchant for parables, often recounting them in the style of the gospel narrative. Here is one of them. “One day, an unknown man walked down the street. It was the first hour of daylight and people had not yet gathered in the market place. The man sat down by the wayside and, raising his eyes, he began to gaze up to heaven. And it came to pass that another man who was passing that way, seeing the stranger, he too stopped and raised his eyes to heaven. At the second and third hour, others came and did likewise. Soon word of this marvellous happening spread throughout the countryside and many people left their abodes and came to see this stranger. At the ninth hour, when the day was far spent, there was a great multitude assembled. The stranger lowered his eyes from heaven and stood up. Turning towards the multitude, he said in a loud voice: “Amen, amen~ I say unto you. How easy it is to start a religion!” To start a religion, as Wilde observed, may not be that difficult, but to ensure its survival is quite another matter. People are gullible. Futurists predict a growth in religious activity in the 21st century. For them it forms part of the leisure industry which is expected to expand dramatically. Whether one should greet this prediction with joy or apprehension is a matter for debate. A purely statistical increase in church membership is a dubious gain. What counts for Christianity — indeed, what ensures its survival — is not external but internal growth. What is required is not more members of the Catholic Church, but better disciples of Jesus Christ. Mere membership and full discipleship are worlds apart. Christianity has always suffered from a surfeit of members and a shortage of disciples. Humans are social animals and crave to be associated. In a world grown cold and depersonalised the churches offer a comfortable ambiance of friendship and security. Often the gospel is diluted to accommodate the prejudices and lifestyle of the parishioners. Few preached fearlessly enough, like St Paul, to risk their livings, let alone their lives. The radical Christ is made into a benign bishop and the collection plate registers members’ approval. Too many withered branches remain un-pruned. St John tries gently to prod us into discipleship. “My children, our love is not to be just words or mere talk, but something real and active.” You won’t meet Christ in your Sunday liturgy, if you haven’t rubbed shoulders with him in the office, in the factory or in the kitchen. You won’t hear his message from the altar, if you were deaf to his call at your office desk. Jesus put it simply and bluntly: “It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit and then you will be my disciples.” © Irish Association of Catholic Priests.
Reflection - Pastors who care for people Jesus illustrates his teaching by referring to shepherds and sheep, seeing himself as the Good Shepherd foretold by the prophets. It’s about the relationship between the shepherd and the sheep. Though the imagery is old, the message is topical. It is relevant to us here and now. By faith we accept Jesus, and our relationship is a deeply personal one. The bond of love uniting us is based on the love that unites the Father and Jesus. Our new existence is founded on God’s unbreakable love and faithfulness. In order to enter eternal life we must listen to Jesus and obey him. The alternative opening prayer puts this in practical terms. We have to tune our minds to the sound of his voice. Self-centredness can make us deaf to the voice of Jesus. Easy options can draw us into easier paths than the one he has traced. Pressure to abandon Christian principles is inevitable. But God is faithful and will not let us be tempted beyond our strength. No one can drag us away from him, The Father has entrusted us to his Son. The same God who kept faith with Jesus by raising him from the dead will also raise us by his power. Paul and Barnabas ‘spoke out boldly’, and made an impact. A courageous proclamation of the gospel to our contemporaries can be as fruitful now as it was in apostolic times. All the baptized, particularly those who are confirmed, are bound to spread the faith. Laity as well as priests and religious are in the service of the Risen Lord. Our faith urges us to take personal part in the work of evangelisation. Are we doing so? How many evils persist in our society just because good people say nothing and do nothing? A breviary hymn of Eastertide (no.25) spells out what is expected of us by the Risen Lord: Now he bids us tell abroad/How the lost may be restored/How the penitent forgiven/ How we too may enter heaven. “Good Shepherd Sunday” is an opportunity to think and pray about how priestly ministry the catholic church will fare into the future. In 2015 Ireland the average age of ordained priests is about sixty five, a statistic that urgently calls for significant change in how we recruit priests for the future, and what is to be expected of them. In a recent article about this impending crisis, Padraig McCarthy invites us to remember that there is no such thing as a priest-less parish. “There may not be an ordained priest as is the practice at present, but the parish is a priestly people. How will this take flesh in the coming decades? Are there factors which had value in the past which now are an obstacle to the mission of the church? What new model of ministerial priesthood is called for?” Fr. McCarthy divides the shepherding challenge into three questions that are worth examining by bishops, priests and laity: 1) Who will be the true shepherds in the coming years? 2) How will those shepherds carry out the mission to those outside the fold? 3) What needs to change in the Catholic Church, so that each local community can have a full Eucharistic celebration every Sunday? © Irish Association of Catholic Priests.
The meeting in Carmarthen on 3rd February was attended by about 40 people for the various parishes around the diocese. The consultation process continues and Bishop Mark is keen to hear as many voices as possible . Below is the schedule dates and times for you to engage with the consultation process. If as yet you have not engaged with the consultation please make every effort to do so. Many thanks Fr John Patrick