CHRIST THE KING PARISH, TURNER’S CROSS
6th April, 2025
Fifth Sunday of Lent
Fr Noel O’Sullivan Mobile: 087-2610276 email: noscork@gmail.com
Website: turnerscross.com
Sacristy: Phone 4317263
Opening Hours, Monday to Thursday, 9.30 am –10.45 am.
Saturday, 5.15 pm – 6.45 pm; Sunday, 9.30 am – 1.00 pm..
|
Entrance Hymn: Holy God, we praise thy name
|
|
Preparation for our Lenten Confession: Next Weekend
What has commonly been referred to as ‘Confession’ is more properly called the ‘Sacrament of Penance,’ though it also bears the title ‘Sacrament of Reconciliation’. Confession, penance, and reconciliation are all aspects of the sacrament: we confess our sins; we undertake a penance to underline our seriousness about changing; we are reconciled with God and the Church. My preference is to name the sacrament the ‘Sacrament of Penance’ because that is what was decided at the Council of Florence in 1439.
Institution by Christ
On the day of resurrection Jesus appears to the disciples who had locked themselves in a house for fear of the Jews. Jesus appeared to them and spoke these words:
When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’ (Jn 20:22-23).
Breath is always associated with imparting the Holy Spirit. In the older of the two accounts of creation in Genesis God breathed into the nostrils of man ‘the breath of life; and the man became a living being’ (Genesis 2:7). In the Johannine Pentecost God enables the apostles to bring about a new creation through the forgiveness of sin. Jesus transfers the power of forgiveness to his fledging Church. St Augustine has this to say about the event: ‘For it is not only Peter but the whole Church which binds and looses sins.’[1] This power is handed down through apostolic succession. When given the faculty to do so by their bishop, priests exercise the power given on the day of the Lord’s resurrection. The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives a cogent summary of the function of the priest in the sacrament of penance, drawing on some of the parables of Jesus which show God’s mercy:
When he celebrates the sacrament of penance, the priest is fulfilling the ministry of the Good Shepherd who seeks the lost sheep, of the Good Samaritan who binds up wounds, of the Father who awaits the prodigal son and welcomes him on his return…The priest is the sign and the instrument of God’s merciful love for the sinner (CCC 1465).
New Rotas for Ministers of the Word and Eucharist are available on the altar rails. Sincere thanks to Maeve Kennedy and Christine O’Neill for preparing these rotas.
Wedding Bells Congratulations to Alisha Heffernan and Brian Cahill who were married here in Christ the King on Saturday. We wish them every blessing and happiness in their new life in Glanmire.
Parish Assembly meeting Monday 7th April, at 8.00 pm
Recent Deaths We pray for Monica O’Keeffe, Capwell Avenue; Frank Speight, O’Connell Crescent. May they rest in peace. We offer our sympathy to the families, friends and neighbours.
Lord of All Hopefulness
[1] St Augustine, Homily 124, The Divine Office II (London: O’Collins, 1974), 650.