The
Church still needs you.
My
thoughts turn in a special way to you, widows and widowers, who
find yourselves alone in the final part of your lives; to you,
elderly men and women Religious, who for long years have faithfully
served the cause of the Kingdom of Heaven; and to you, dear brother
Priests and Bishops, who for reasons of age, no longer have direct
responsibility for pastoral ministry. The Church still needs you.
She appreciates the services that you may wish to provide in many
areas of the apostolate; she counts on the support of your longer
periods of prayer; she counts on your advice born of experience;
and she is enriched by your daily witness to the Gospel. (Pope
John Paul II Letter to the Elderly 1999)
.
The One-Sentence Sermon:
Give God what is right, not what is left.
+++++++
Don't wait for six strong men to take you to church
Think
About It
Don't let your parents down,
they brought you up.
Be humble enough to obey,
You may give orders some day.
Chose your companions with care,
You become what they are.
Guard your thoughts, what you think
Is what you are.
Be master of your habits
or they will master you.
Pay attention when you drive,
Drive safely and arrive.
Resist pressure, stand up,
Or you'll fall for anything.
Keep God in your life,
He is always there for you.
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Journey
to the Promised Land
This coming week we celebrate two Feasts which should give all
of us food for thought. Friday is the Feast of All Saints, and
Saturday that of All Souls. We all will have family and friends
who belong to one or other category and it our earnest hope that
when life here is over for us we too will join their ranks. That
depends on the effort we put in to reach that Promised Land.
All
Saints, Nov.1.
For those without faith life's journey leads to nowhere. We are
all on a journey. For those with faith it leads to The Promised
Land. On Friday we celebrate the saints with the small "s",
who have never been canonised and whose goodness was known only
to God, to family and friends. For them it is their crowning achievement
and we will be rejoicing with them. We will be praying to them
too.
All Souls, Nov.2.
Purgatory is part of our faith. It is a consoling doctrine, not
an optional extra. It means that those who die free from grave
sin but with un repented venial sin are assured of getting to
heaven when free from these imperfections. However, they have
passed the time of merit and now depend on our prayers, good works
and sacrifices offered on their behalf.
The Church, conscious of how easily we can forget, sets aside
each year the month of November as the Month of the Holy Souls.
There are many ways we can help them. See what the Church has
to say in another part of this Newsletter about indulgences we
can gain for them; we can make a special effort to get to Mass
daily and offer it for them. St. Monica as she lay dying appealed
to her son St. Augustine to remember her at the altar of God.
The Mass has traditionally been regarded as the best way of helping
the Holy Souls because in it Christ offers again the sacrifice
of his life to his Eternal Father. Just visit a church to say
a prayer or light a candle for loved ones you wish to remember
in a prayerful and helpful way. Those gone before us led by example.
Could we not begin again to offer the Family Rosary while we reflect
on the life and death of the Saviour and his Blessed Mother.
Prayer
for Vocations
God
our Father, send workers into your harvest. May the Spirit we
received in Baptism touch the hearts of many to offer themselves
in priesthood, religious life, and other forms of service. Give
the parents and families of our parish, the wisdom and courage
to support young people, in searching for and following the call
of God in their lives
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