LEVEL 3
Government Plan for Living with COVID-19
Arrangements during Level 3 restrictions are as follows.
Christ the King
Open for Private Prayer
11.00 am – 6.00 pm
Monday-Saturday
Live Streamed Masses:
10.00 am Monday-Saturday
6.00 pm Saturday (vigil)
10.00 am and 12.00 noon on Sunday
TWO BANQUETS
In the first reading for this Sunday, Isaiah uses the image of a rich banquet on God’s holy mountain to describe the fulfilment of God’s promise of salvation. A promise of joy and everlasting happiness where every tear will be wiped away and death will be no more. The gospel reading also speaks of a banquet, a wedding feast representing the kingdom of God. This is the third parable of rejection in St. Matthew’s Gospel, those invited refused to come. Some were busy, preoccupied with farm and business, others were hostile. The messengers were then sent to the crossroads to invite whoever they met to come to the wedding feast, an open invitation to all. We sometimes refuse God’s invitation. We may be too busy, or having value systems or lifestyles at variance with the Christian ideal we may not want to hear the message. The guest who did not wear a wedding garment represents those who pay lip service to the Christian life but are not in practice prepared to take it seriously.
The banquet is at the end of time, but the invitation is now and the response is now. We pray that we will say yes to God’s invitation, and yes to God’s promise, that we will say yes to God’s love. May we bring that invitation to others, even at the risk of rejection, as we try to give witness to our faith by our lifestyle and by our joy in the Lord.
BROTHERS AND SISTERS ALL
On the 3rd October, the eve the feast day of St Francis of Assisi, Pope Francis made his first trip outside Rome since the Covid-19 pandemic to sign his third encyclical letter at the tomb of St. Francis. The document in Italian has the title “Fratelli Tutti” and Pope Francis says he chose the title because “with these words, Saint Francis of Assisi addressed his brothers and sisters and proposed to them a way of life marked by the flavour of the Gospel.”
God is love, and sharing in that love, being part of it, we are called to be open to open to everybody, brothers and sisters to all. Thus, there are no “others,” no “them,” only “us!” With God we want an open world, a world without walls, without borders, without rejected people, without strangers. To achieve such a world, we must have an open heart prepared to be friends, to seek what is morally good, to seek justice for everyone, so we can truly be brothers and sisters.
There are shadows over our world leading to confusion, loneliness, and desolation. When we come upon a hurting stranger, we can pass by or we can stop to help. Whether we include or exclude the injured stranger tells what kind of person we are, and to what kind of social, religious or other group we really belong. Faced with those injured by the shadows of our sadly closed world, Pope Francis invites us to share the world’s deep desire for solidarity, starting with the recognition that we are created to be “Fratelli Tutti,” brothers and sisters all.
MISSION
Reflection for 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time from Fr Donal Neary SJ (dneary@messenger.ie).
I remember people whose houses were shrines of hospitality, a sort of gathering place for the neighbours. A sandpit in our back-garden years ago was the play point for dozens of neighbourhood children. All were welcomed and kindly looked after.
The outreach in today’s gospel is for all sorts of people: the invited guests had turned down the invitation to a king’s family wedding, so every ‘Tom, Dick and Mary’ was invited. The parable is about God and God’s generous invitation of love to all of creation.
This is the message of Mission month, when we remember people, many of whom we know, who have left home to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ in word and action. It reminds us of the September month of the earth where the love of God is for all creation, including all that lives on earth. We allow the gospel this week to tell us again and again of the generous God, who prepares a great menu for his people and invites anyone God thinks of (First reading).
That’s what God is like. He is glad when his hall is full; all God wants is our love in return.
Thank you, o Lord, for your great love for all of us.
OCTOBER, MONTH OF THE ROSARY
It’s probably fair to say that for many younger Catholics, the rosary is associated with an older generation. However, at this time every year we are all encouraged to use the rosary to reflect on different aspects of the life of Jesus. This ancient and Bible based prayer invites us it to think about the principal parts of Christ’s life and the way in which we are is called to follow him. Some years ago Pope Benedict XVI commented on the month of the rosary saying: “It is as if every year Our Lady invited us to rediscover the beauty of this prayer, so simple and so profound.”
The Parish Assembly: Zoom meeting this Monday 11th October at 8.00 pm, invitations by email will be issued at 7.45 pm.
Deaths: We pray for Mary O’Connor of Capwell Road who died recently. We extend our sympathy to her family.