Sunday 5th July 2009

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus said to them: “A prophet is only despised in his own country among his own relations and in his own house”. One of the mistakes we easily and often make is to think that what we see is all there is to see; what we know is all that there is to know. We do this about ourselves as well as about those close to us. There is always so much more to know about ourselves and certainly about each other. In marriage and family life, for example, we need to constantly look for and acknowledge the goodness that is there and set it free. Our homes should be places of praise instead of criticism as is so often the case. The same is true in a parish community. There is so much richness in every parish that never gets a chance to come to the surface. This is a week for letting that happen.

Fr. Johnny Doherty, C.Ss.R.

 

ABSENCE AND PRESENCE

Today, many people, young and old alike,
are seeking a spirituality
that will give meaning to their lives
and bring them to inner wholeness and a new communion with the universe,
particularly with God.

Some do not find this experience within their
own tradition;
they may be attracted to gurus and spiritualities
from other parts of the world that seem to offer them
inner silence and even an experience of God.

Other seekers, frustrated with the drudgery of life,
the despair of the world,
the hypocrisy of competitive, well-ordered societies
where work and signs of wealth have become
all-important,
look for ways to break through all that is limited,
to live exciting experiences,
and to touch and feel the freedom of the infinite
within them.
They yearn to experience the thrills of life in all its forms.
It is sad to see that our Christian churches have so often covered up the
mystical life with morality, dogmatic statements and rituals.
The Gospel of John reveals to us a spirituality
that is not a flight from drudgery and pain,
but a road to fullness of life and joy
where we receive the love of God so that
we can love others.
It leads us to an experience of the love of God
through a deepening love and friendship with Jesus.

After kneeling down and washing the disciples' feet
during the Last Supper, Jesus says good-bye,
and at the same time promises to see them again soon.

Announcing his departure and proclaiming his return
seems to have another meaning, too:
about the growth of each one of us in love.

This growth takes a lifetime
and implies times of presence and absence,
encounters and departures.
What is true in regards to human friendship
is particularly true in the friendship that
bonds us to God.
The presence of someone we love brings joy.
We savour their presence.
But their absence requires trust, hope, fidelity;
it deepens the "well" of our being.
Absence hurts
but as the pain increases, the desire is strengthened,
so that the presence that will come will be even fuller
and more total.
In order to live more deeply this friendship with God,
other desires that have taken up too much room
in our hearts and lives may have to be pruned
or cut away.
But their loss can also be the prelude
to being filled in a new and deeper way with God.

 

PRAYER GROUP

There will be no meeting of the contemplative prayer group until after the summer break.

 

DEATHS

We offer our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of:

Kathleen Gallagher, Sion Mills

May she rest in peace.

 

ANNIVERSARIES

Katie McCrossan, Kathleen Rush,
Ernie Hoynes, Eddie Maxwell,
Eileen Donaghey, Eddie Hegarty,
Dermot Dunne, Mary Hill,
Ambrose Brennan.

 

PRAY FOR PRIESTS

The diocese published a prayer card with the names of all the Derry diocesan priests. Many of you have these cards and every day a specific priest is named.

This week we ask you to pray for:

Fr. Karl Haan CC, Garvagh, 5 July
Fr. Eugene Hasson PP, Greencastle, 6 July
Most Rev. Seamus Hegarty, 7 July
Fr. John Irwin, Waterside, 8 July
Fr. Charles Keaney PP, Coleraine, 9 July
Fr. Stephen Kearney PP, Newtownstewart, 10 July
Fr. Lawrence Keaveny, Deceased, 11 July

PARISH DRAW

We will be holding 2 Draws in July for the months of July and August. We therefore ask promoters to bring £10.00 per member when making their returns in July to cover both Draws. Please make your returns to the parish office on Tuesday 14 July. Both Draws will take place on Thursday 16 July at 2.30pm in the parish office.

 

CARMELITE RETREAT CENTRE

Carmelite Pilgrimage to Knock, Sunday 19 July 2009. Coach leaves Termonbacca at 7.45am with pick up point at Melmount Centre at 8.15am. Returning to Derry at approx 11.00pm. Return coach, snack on the way down and evening meal, £35.00 stg or €40 Euro.
For further information, telephone Termonbacca, at Derry 71262512 during office hours only.

 

 

THORNHILL CENTRE

Interested in developing your faith a little more?

Thornhill Centre has a number of short and long courses starting in October and November 2009: Pastoral Ministry: ‘There is a Variety of Gifts.’ Liturgy: ‘Foundations in Liturgy.’ Scripture: ‘Saint Luke.’ Aspects of Faith: ‘So What Should We Teach Them?’ Personal Development: ‘Dreams Workshop.’ For further details contact the Thornhill Centre at 71351233.

 

YOUTH 2000 SUMMER FESTIVAL

Youth 2000 Summer Festival, Clonmacnois, Co. Offaly, Thursday 13 - Sunday 16 August 2009. For young people aged 16 - 35, an opportunity not to be missed to experience the Catholic faith and meet many new friends. Bishop Frank Caggiano, Vicar of Evangelisation in the Diocese of Brooklyn will be the main speaker. Donation only. Free buses available from around N. Ireland. For more information contact 07929095820 or www.youth2000.ie

STRABANE YOUTH ASSOCIATION

Strabane Youth Association is running a summer programme for junior members aged between 6 and 11 years at Melvin Hall from Monday 6 July until Friday 17 July. The programme includes football, snooker, game consoles, computer use, talent shows, quizzes etc. The cost is 50p per night. There will also be trips to the swimming pool, go-karting etc. but places are limited so book early. Tuck shop also available.

Times are as follows:

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 7.30pm - 9.30pm
Friday 7.00pm - 9.00pm.

NOTICES FOR PARISH BULLETIN

In order to facilitate printing we ask that all notices and anniversaries for the parish bulletin are either given to the sacristan or left at the parish office by Wednesday morning at the latest.

PILGRIMAGE TO MEDJUGORJE

Departs Belfast Saturday 19 September 2009. Joe Walsh Tours. Cost £499.00. Deposit of £180.00 due when booking to secure seat, places limited! Accommodation directly opposite Church. Contact Anne Duffy 07736005396 or 71880372.

LIAM BRADLEY TOURS

Galway/Clare. September 1, 2009 for 4 days. 3 Dinners, 3 B/B plus tours. £210.00 pps. Departs Abercorn Square, Strabane at 9.20am. For information and booking telephone 71269109 anytime.

 

ST. PATRICK’S HALL

Bingo and Lucky 4 Draw as usual this Thursday.

All our patrons are very welcome.
Bingo Snowball £2500.00

LUCKY 4 DRAW

There were 2 match 3 winners in last week's Draw

Gerry O'Donnell

Mary Love

The numbers drawn were:

4, 5, 12, 24

Next Week's Lucky 4 Jackpot is £1400.00

PRAYER CORNER

If the Catholicism that I was raised in had a fault, and it did, it was precisely that it did not allow for mistakes. It demanded that you get it right the first time. There was supposed to be no need for a second chance. If you made a mistake, you lived with it and, like the rich young man, were doomed to be sad, at least for the rest of your life. A serious mistake was a permanent stigmatization, a mark that you wore like Cain.

I have seen that mark on all kinds of people:
divorcees, ex-priests, ex-religious, people who have had abortions, married people who have had affairs, people who have made serious mistakes with their children, and countless others who have made serious mistakes. There is too little around to help them.

We need a theology of brokenness. We need a theology which teaches us that even though we cannot unscramble an egg, God's grace lets us live happily and with renewed innocence for beyond any egg we may have scrambled.

We need a theology that teaches us that God does not give us one chance, but that every time we close a door He opens another one for us.
Ronald Rolheiser, Forgotten Among the Lilies

***************
Jesus' hands and feet were not just anyone's hands and feet, but the signs of His real bodily presence. They were the hands and feet of Jesus marked with the wounds of His crucifixion. It is of great spiritual importance that Jesus made Himself known to His disciples by showing them his wounded body. The resurrection had not taken His wounds away but, rather, they had becone part of His glory. They had become glorified wounds.
Jesus is the Lord who came to save us by dying for us on the Cross. The wounds in Jesus' glorified body remind us of the way in which we are saved. But they also remind us that our own wounds are much more that roadblocks on our way to God. They show us our own unique way to follow the suffering Christ and they are destined to become glorified in our resurrected life. Just as Jesus was identified by His wounds, so are we.

Henri Nouwen

To be human is to be lonely. To be human, however, is also to respond. The human person has always responded to this pain.

Sometimes it has moved us to greater depth of openness towards God and others, to fuller life, and sometimes it has led us to jump off bridges, to end life; sometimes it has given us a glimpse of heaven, sometimes it has given us a glimpse of hell; sometimes it has made the human spirit, sometimes it has broken it; always it has affected it. For loneliness is one of the deepest, most universal, and most profound experiences that we have.

Even if you are a relatively happy person who relates easily to others and who has many close friends, you are probably still lonely at times. If you are a very sensitive person, the type who feels things deeply, you are probably, to some degree, lonely all the time.
Ronald Rolheiser, The Restless Heart