Weeds Needed
One does not need to be a professional gardener to know about weeds. If youve ever tended flowers or vegetables you will know that weeds appear overnight, creeping across the soil, tangling new shoots, choking delicate blooms. They can resist regular spraying, sturdy hoes and angry fingers. Weeds can even have a deceptive beauty, with many a gardener ruefully realising they pulled up the plant and not the weed.
There are weeds in our lives too all the obstacles, setbacks, mistakes and disappointments that wear us down. We might wonder why this is so. How come that which is beautiful and life-giving seems so fleeting and temporary?
Our first instinct is to act like the servant in todays gospel: pull the weeds and be rid of them. But the gospel warns us not so fast! Look at the whole picture. Perhaps it is these human weeds that deepen our appreciation for the flowers. When we see evil, we appreciate goodness. Weeds of human frailty prompt us to try to grow and stand taller, and to develop roots so strong we can tap into the very ground of our being God, now and always.
LOTTO DRAW 15th July
Numbers drawn: 2, 8, 21, 26.
NO WINNER
€35 CASH
M. Barry, OShaughnessy, M. Desmond, M. Noonan
THIS WEEKS JACKPOT : €2300
Last weeks net take €3,049
Last weeks second Collection €1,027
Anonymous Donation €100
Sponsorship
Our thanks to all who have sponsored Church
furnishings. Still available:
(1) a seat with memorial plate: €400.
(2) a slab for front of Church paving: €25.
Re-dedication Video
Those who ordered the Video can collect them in the Sacristy after Mass. There is still time to order a copy (€15). Put your name on the list at the back of the Church.
Old Money
If there is still old Irish money out there it can be changed in aid of the Restoration Fund. There is a box at the back of the Church.
The Lotto Draw takes place in the Parish Centre on Mondays at 7.30 pm sharp.
Coffee Morning
in aid of the Church Restoration Fund on this Wednesday 24th July in the Parish Centre after the 10 am Mass.
Questions People Ask
Q. There are many people who dont go to Mass but regularly send Mass cards to others. How can this make sense?
A. The whole business of Mass offerings is very unsatisfactory and open to a poor theology of the Mass. The Church accepts the principle of receiving an offering to apply Mass for a specific intention (Canon 945). But there is no question of buying a Mass. The donors intention is honoured but the Mass is not confined to that one intention. Each Mass belongs to the whole Church and to the congregation present. It is far better to participate personally in the Eucharist for some intention than to send a Mass card without attending. Fr. Silvester OFlynn, OFMCap
Family Studies Course
Certified by National University of Ireland
for: Parents, workers in Caring Professions
and those involved in Community / Parish work
Tuesday October 8th 2002 / June 3rd 2003
Venue: Family Ministry,
Cork & Ross Family Centre,
34 Paul Street. Tel. (021) 4275136
See Notice Board for details
Websites of the Week
* http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/ccc.html
Search the Catchism of the Catholic Church
* http://cards.webshots.com
Free e-cards for all occasions
* http://www.sacredspace.ie
Pray daily while at your computer.
A Few Thoughts
1. The darnel is a parable of great wisdom about the church and about personal life. We are mysterious mixtures of divine and human, of grace and free will, of divine seed and human soil. Nobody has the right to expect a perfect crop, nor a perfect church. God is mild in judgement and governs with great lenience. (Wisdom: first reading).
2. Jesus left the crowds to develop the potential of the small group of disciples. Communists made great use of the small cell of influence. If there were ten dedicated subversives or ten drug pushers in a town wouldnt you be alarmed? How would you feel if there were ten dedicated Christians? The mustard seed is tiny: the yeast is hidden in the mix. Just wait and see what Gods grace can do.
3. Snappy answer for the church-basher: if you find the perfect sect or group you are bound in conscience to join it. But remember that once you have joined, it will be perfect no longer.