Newsletter- 14th Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s Gospel begins immediately after the final verse in last Sunday’s Gospel. After strong language about the difficulties of discipleship Jesus appoints 72 people to go ahead of him to every town and place, he plans to visit, proclaiming that the Kingdom of God is at hand. This sets the scene for the key theme of this Sunday, namely our discipleship and mission to the world in which we live.
We are reminded that Christian discipleship will at times be difficult and we may face many challenges along the way, some difficulties too but also many rewards. Sharing in the mission of Jesus can be very hard at times but each of us is called to be witnesses to the Gospel in all we seek to be and do each day, and we are reminded that even for us today the harvest is plentiful.
At the heart of our mission lies the love of God and behind this looms the cross of Christ. The love that God has for each of us is such that he became one of us and died upon the cross. This love comes down to us from the cross and hence the cross is the symbol of love. St Paul encourages us by saying that if we should boast about anything it should be the cross of our Lord. Nothing that we can do on our own has a redemptive value. We have already been redeemed by Jesus through his cross. Now we need to become a new creation through his love. Let us this week put the love of Christ at the heart and centre of our mission and discipleship in the world, so that others may come to know for themselves the love that is God.
First Holy Communion: This Saturday 9th July at 11 am those young people from our parish who have been preparing so hard and so well, over the past few months, will make their First Holy Communion together in church. Please pray for them and for their families and all our Parish Catechists during the coming week ahead.
With my prayers for you and for your families,
Your friend and parish priest,
Fr Jonathan
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IMPORTANT Newsletters – Our Parish Newsletters are available to be viewed and downloaded from our Parish website.
The online version will not include the Sunday Message
The Sunday Message and Newsletter will be available to download but this will be password protected – the password can be obtained from the Parish.
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