The Presbytery, Abbeydorney (066 7135146)
abbeydorney@dioceseofkerry.ie
th
28 Sunday in Ordinary Time, 12th October 2014
Dear Parishioner,
Last week, I wrote that the month of October is
traditionally seen as Rosary Month and Mission Month. With regard to
the Rosary, Fr. Brendan Convery has interesting things to say about it in
the October issue of Reality Magazine. He writes, ‘The rosary has been
a traditional part of our Catholic DNA. It is also the most versatile of
prayers. We can say it while driving, working or walking. Many of us
were raised with it as the daily family prayer, hoping that the family
that prayed together would stay together. We say it when we need to
pray but are too distracted to concentrate much. We say it at the
graveside, the last farewell as our beloved dead are laid to rest. There
can be something comforting about repeating familiar words or
feeling the beads trickle through your fingers. Sometimes, just holding
a rosary can be the only prayer you can manage.
October has been the month of the Rosary for more than four hundred
years. The feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, kept on 7 th October, was
instituted to commemorate the victory of a coalition of Catholic states
over the Turkish Empire in 1571. Little that is definite can be known of
the origins of the rosary. The use of knotted cords to count prayers
probably originated among the Desert Mothers and Fathers of Egypt
as early as the fourth century. The 150 Hail Marys of the traditional
rosary is probably an imitation for lay people of the bible’s 150 psalms,
so the rosary became known as ‘Our Lady’s Psalter’..........What became
the standard form of the rosary was that of the Dominicans, based on
five scenes from each of the joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries of
the life of Jesus. What was lacking was something on the active
ministry of the Lord that forms the greater part of the narrative of the
four Gospels. Pope St. John Paul II remedied this by proposing five
new ‘mysteries of light’ or ‘luminous mysteries.’ Moving on from the
infancy and the hidden life in Nazareth to the public life of Jesus, he
wrote, ‘our contemplation brings us to those mysteries which may be
called in a special way ‘mysteries of light.’ The new mysteries are: 1
Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan, 2 Wedding Feast at Cana, 3 Proclamation
of the Kingdom of God, 4 The Transfiguration and 5 Institution of the
Eucharist. Maybe during these days of October we might reclaim the
treasure of the rosary.’ (Fr. Denis O’Mahony)
World Mission Sunday, October 19th 2014
That they may have life
October is Mission Month and World Mission Sunday is celebrated on
October 19th. Since he was elected, Pope Francis has emphasised again
and again the joy of the Gospel, especially in his exhortation Evangelii
Gaudium. The joy is shared by those who receive the gospel and by
those who proclaim it. In his message for Mission Sunday he has this to
say: “World Mission Day is a privileged moment when the faithful of
various continents engage in prayer and concrete gestures of solidarity
in support of the young Churches in mission lands. It is a celebration of
grace and joy.
St. Luke tells us that the Lord sent
the seventy two disciples two by two into cities and villages to proclaim
that the Kingdom of God was near, and to prepare people to meet
Jesus. After carrying out this mission of preaching, the disciples
returned full of joy: joy is a dominant theme of this first and
unforgettable missionary experience. Yet the Divine Master told them:
‘Do not rejoice because the demons are subject to you; but rejoice
because your names are written in heaven.’ At that very moment Jesus
rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said: 'I give you praise, Father .....' And
turning to the disciples in private he said, 'Blessed are the eyes that see
what you see.' (Lk 10:20-21, 23) The disciples received the call to follow
Jesus and to be sent by him to preach the Gospel, and so they were
filled with joy. Why shouldn't we too enter this flood of joy?”
World Mission Sunday renews the
invitation to each of us to 'enter this flood of joy.' The theme chosen in
Ireland this year is 'That they may have life'. Jesus told his disciples: 'I
have come so that they may have life, and have it to the full.' (John
10:10) The liberating Word of God transforms lives. It brings joy to all
who proclaim it and all who hear it. The celebration of Mission Sunday
this year will coincide with the conclusion in Rome of the Synod of
Bishops on the 'Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the Context of
Evangelisation.'
This helps us to see the importance of
evangelisation within our own families and to other families nearby.
Mission is for all. It is not necessary to travel to a far country to be a
missionary. Wherever there are people lacking in joy, there is a need
for evangelisation. We reflect on Mission Sunday on the joy we have
received. How can we bring it to others?
(Africa September/October 2014)
Quotes from Pope Francis' Message for Mission Sunday 2014
1. "The great danger in today's world, pervaded as it is by
consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet
covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a
blunted conscience." (Evangelii Gaudium, 2). "Humanity greatly needs
to lay hold of the salvation brought by Christ."
2.
"Today vast numbers of people still do not know Jesus Christ.
For this reason, the mission ‘ad gentes’ continues to be most urgent. All
the members of the Church are called to participate in this mission, for
the Church is missionary by her very nature: she was born "to go forth".
3.
"There has been a growing awareness of the identity and
mission of the lay faithful in the Church, as well as a recognition that
they are called to take an increasingly important role in the spread of
the Gospel".
(Missions Today; World Mission Sunday)
The Christian Population of China
According to the Pew Research Centre’s Forum on Religion and Life, the
number of China’s Christians, and particularly the number of its
Protestants, has grown spectacularly over the past 50 years. There
were just 1 million members in 1949; in 2010 the centre estimates
that there were 58 million. Professor Fenggang, who teaches sociology
at Perdue University, believes that the number of all Christians in China
together could swell to around 247 million by the year 2030 – ahead of
Mexico, Brazil and USA.
However, Christians would be well advised to keep a low profile. The
church in the small town of Liushiu, south of Shanghai, reopened in
1978. Today it has 2,600 regular churchgoers and, in recent years, it
built a new 1,500 ft. megachurch with a huge 200 ft. crucifix, which
could be seen for miles around. Local Communist Party officials had
warned that it was far too conspicuous. Four other churches in that city
received similar warnings. Then at the end of April, the huge church
was demolished. (Panorama in FAR EAST Magazine, Sept./Oct., 2014).
Contributions for Mission Sunday, 2013
Kerry: €30,309; Limerick: €44,435; Meath: €101,016; Cork: €88,003
Derry: €115,296; Dublin: €339,715
Party People (Reality Magazine, October 2014)
The last chapters of Matthew's Gospel are set in Jerusalem, during the final
week of Jesus' life. As the Master prepared to face death, his teaching
prepares the Christian community for how they are to live when he is gone. It
will face two major challenges. Jesus' mission during his lifetime had been
confined to the 'lost sheep of the house of Israel.' After his resurrection, it will
reach out to all the nations of the earth. Today's parable of the marriage
feast is a reworking of a simpler version of the parable in Luke's Gospel (Lk
14:16-24). Matthew makes two significant changes. First, a dinner party a
man gives to entertain his friends becomes a feast given by a king to celebrate
his son's wedding. Matthew then tacks on another parable about a guest who
didn't bother to dress for the occasion.
Mention of a king and a wedding alerts us that Matthew intends this parable
to be seen as a symbol of God's relationship with Israel. The prophets often
saw that relationship as a marriage. In the original parable of the dinner party,
failure to turn up for the feast was bad manners. To refuse an invitation to a
royal wedding was far more serious. Like the wicked tenants in last Sunday's
Gospel, many of those invited mistreat and even kill the servants sent to
remind them of the invitation. For Matthew this recalls the rejection of God's
messengers by Israel throughout its history. The king 'dispatched his troops,
destroyed those murderers and burned their town.' Matthew is probably
thinking of the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, some years before the
Gospel was written. The Jewish War (AD 65-70) had complex social and
political causes. Many of the New Testament writers link it to Israel's failure to
recognise in Jesus the Messiah sent by God. For Matthew, this failure was the
equivalent of rejecting the invitation to the marriage feast of God's Son.
The empty places at the banquet will be filled
not by those originally invited. Just as the first group of servants is symbolic of
the prophets sent to Israel, the second group, sent out to invite 'anyone they
could find, good and bad alike,' symbolises Christian missionaries to the
Gentiles. As a result of their work, the marriage banquet is filled with guests.
Matthew has turned the original parable into an allegory of the Messiah's
mission to Jews and its continuation by his followers to the Gentiles. The
parable of the wedding garment at first sight doesn't sit comfortably with the
inclusive and optimistic vision of the wedding feast in the main parable. It is
the first time we hear that there are conditions attached to the invitation,
such as the need to come properly dressed. Matthew's point is that, although
the invitation is extended to 'good and bad alike', it is such a privilege that it
cannot be treated casually. The Gentile converts in his community must not
assume that they have been freed from the obligation of ongoing conversion.
The mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven breaks into our lives as unexpectedly
as an invitation to a royal wedding but it demands a wholehearted response.