PARISH BULLETIN St Kieran Catholic Church

in Campbeltown and Islay

17th December 2017

Gaudete Sunday in Advent

Psalm response My soul rejoices in my God.

Gospel acclamation Alleluia, alleluia!

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor.

Alleluia!

Communion Antiphon Say to the faint of heart: Be strong and do not fear. Behold,

our God will come, and he will save us.

St. Kieran’s

Tuesday to Wednesday Holy Mass 10.00 am

Thursday No Mass

Friday Holy Mass 6.30 pm

Saturday Rorate Mass 6.00 pm

Sunday Holy Mass 10.00 am

Sacrament of Reconciliation: Saturday 5.30-6.00pm

Islay

Sunday 24 December – Liturgy of the Word, 7.30 pm

Epiphany Sunday 7 January 2018 – Holy Mass, 4.00 pm

Invest just five minutes a day, and your faith will deepen and grow — a day at a time.

Monday, Dec 18, 2017 ADVENT WEEKDAY The Lord be with you Life can seem chaotic. This is true in the mad rush to Christmas, but also in the everyday challenges that make us wonder if life makes sense. In response to this human need for order and meaning we pray that the Lord, the one who holds all things together, will be with us: “O sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain: Come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.” Be mindful throughout your day that the Lord is with you in all that you do.

TODAY'S READINGS: Jeremiah 23:5-8; Matthew 1:18-25 (194). “‘They shall name him Emmanuel,’ which means, ‘God is with us.’ ”

Tuesday, Dec 19, 2017 ADVENT WEEKDAY God is full of surprises Any child will tell you that part of the magic as Christmas approaches is anticipating the surprise that will come from opening a wrapped gift or digging into a stocking and finding what is hidden inside. Mary’s cousin Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, must have felt an enormous wave of surprise when she discovered “what was hidden inside” — that she was pregnant at an advanced age. Surprise was followed by gratitude for the gift that had been given to her. We might pause for a moment today to unwrap the many surprising gifts with which God already has graced our lives.

TODAY'S READINGS: Judges 13:2-7, 24-25a; Luke 1:5-25 (195). “This is what the Lord has done for me.”

Wednesday, Dec 20, 2017 ADVENT WEEKDAY Find your calling joyfully How does Mary respond to the word of God delivered by the angel Gabriel? She knows she is hearing something beyond human capability. It will surely take a miracle which surpasses all that God has done previously. Her question, “How shall this be, since I have no husband?” is not prompted by doubt or scepticism, but by wonderment! She is a true hearer of the Word and she immediately responds with faith and trust. Mary's prompt response of "yes" to the divine message is a model of faith for all believers. Mary believed God's promises even when they seemed impossible. She was full of grace because she trusted that what God said was true and would be fulfilled. She was willing and eager to do God's will, even if it seemed difficult or costly.

TODAY'S READINGS: Isaiah 7:10-14; Luke 1:26-38 (196). “Do not be afraid . . . for you have found favour with God.”

Thursday, Dec 21, 2017 COMMEMORATION OF SAINT PETER CANISIUS, PRIEST, DOCTOR Light that candle Here’s a quote suitable to toast the winter solstice, the waning year’s longest night: “Let the world indulge its madness. Let it wear itself out, for it cannot endure and passes like a shadow. But we, buried deep in the wounds of Christ, why should we be dismayed?” This comes to us courtesy of Peter Canisius (1521-97), Jesuit theologian and defender of the church during the Protestant Reformation. Often we cannot ignore the world’s madness and must vigorously oppose it. But sometimes our candle lit against the darkness is all the opposition that’s required.

TODAY'S READINGS: Song of Songs 2:8-14 or Zephaniah 3:14-18a; Luke 1:39-45 (197). “The Lord, your God, is in your midst.”

Friday, Dec 22, 2017 ADVENT WEEKDAY Try a little kindness If we focus only on our own well-being and interests, we are likely to end up with a head full of confused and scattered thoughts. There is a remedy, however, to the trap of becoming self-absorbed. This is the time of year to get outside of our own circular thoughts and extend a hand to another. An act of charity or kindness, no matter how minor it may appear to be, is likely to warm our hearts and melt away our troubled thoughts.

TODAY'S READINGS: 1 Samuel 1:24-28; Luke 1:46-56 (198). “He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.”

Saturday, Dec 23, 2017 COMMEMORATION OF SAINT JOHN OF KANTY, PRIEST Greater love would be hard to find If John of Kanty in 15th-century Poland could have known he would one day be venerated as a saint, he would have been astonished. Although he was a brilliant scripture scholar, he was also a humble parish priest. Even when treated unfairly for years, he could accept unjust blame and criticism without flinching because he believed that he could protect his parishioners and defeat the power of evil by absorbing it into himself. In a culture of blame like our own, the ability to defuse violence and anger is a rare gift but one we should cultivate instead of seeking revenge or proving ourselves right when wronged.

TODAY'S READINGS: Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24; Luke 1:57-66 (199). “See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me.”

Readings for Gaudete Sunday Isaiah 61:1-2a, 10-11

The servant of the Lord announces good news: a year of favour and a time of vindication.

Luke 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54 The Almighty has done great things: reversing injustice and fulfilling the promise of mercy.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 Rejoice! The one who calls us is faithful and will accomplish what was foretold.

John 1:6-8, 19-28 John comes to testify to the light and not to himself.

The cool thing about John

A story from the noncanonical Protevangelion of James tells how young John’s life was also threatened during Herod’s slaughter of the innocents. In his jealousy for his kingship Herod was most anxious to eliminate the sons of priests. Elizabeth snatched up her child and headed for the hills, but her elderly body could not make the climb. “O mountain of the Lord, receive the mother with the child,” she prayed. The mountain parted and she carried John inside. An angel took them into protection. Meanwhile back at the Temple, Zechariah was slain near the Holy of Holies for not divulging the whereabouts of his family. John’s long sojourn in the wilderness began on that unhappy day.

Apocryphal or not, this story presents a plausible backdrop for a miracle baby born into a time of crisis. His aging parents would not have been with him long, in any event. His upbringing would have been completed by others, perhaps by the elders at Qumran as many speculate. As orphaned children often are, John would have been shaped by the knowledge of loss and the untrustworthiness of this passing world early on. He would have learned the art of plain speech, calling things as he saw them rather than dressing them up to make others comfortable. Life had never been comfortable for John; he would have seen no reason to set people at their ease with the little fictions that litter most conversations.

We see the results of his wilderness formation in his unfashionable attire and unappealing diet. We hear it in his violent speech about axes and winnows and unquenchable fire. In his interrogation by the religious leaders in today’s gospel, John’s clipped replies are bold and direct. He doesn’t attempt to make his answers politically palatable. If they want to know, he’s not the Christ; not Elijah; not the Prophet of Righteousness Moses foretold. When the leaders ask then in genuine frustration just who does he think he is, John dismisses the question as irrelevant. He knows he’s not the message, just the messenger. His Baptisms at the Jordan are not the show, just the warm-up. His humility is not an admirable demonstration of piety: It’s self-knowledge.

And if we knew who we are—and were clear on who we are not — we’d be more humble, too. If we understood whose light we carry, we’d be honoured to play the role we were born to play.

What is the ‘Rorate’?

It comes from the opening words of Isaiah 45:8. Rorate caeli desuper et nubes pluant iustum.

Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness

The text is used frequently both at Mass and in the Divine Office during Advent, as it gives poetical expression to the longings of the Fathers and Prophets for the coming of the Messiah. The text is also used as the Entrance Antiphon on the Fourth Sunday in Advent. It expresses the expectation of the coming of the Saviour, and is also associated in being like Mary, expecting the coming of the Son of God. A Rorate Mass traditionally began before dawn, every day during Advent. These days, for convenience, it is often held in the late afternoon or evening. The church is in darkness except for the light of candles and lanterns. The hymn Rorate caeli or the Advent Prose begins in darkness, symbolizing the darkness of the world before the Light of Christ appears in it at

Christmas. At the end of the hymn, prayers are said and then the Mass is celebrated by candle light in the sanctuary only. The limited light is a reminder of the coming of the True Light of Christ that will banish the darkness of sin and death.

Spiritually, Advent is the dawning. It is still not yet the bright light of Christmas. Advent is a time of preparation for something exceedingly joyful that is yet to come. It is a time of penance, when our souls are still struggling through the darkness, seeking the Light. There is a longing and expectancy in Advent. Our candles and lanterns at a Rorate Mass are symbols of our longing for the coming of the Saviour whose light is already dawning.

A tale about: Patience

There was once a certain boy called Jack and he was 12 years old. He was a good, well-behaved child, but he had what could be described as one short-coming: he rushed everywhere, and always wanted to be much more grown up than he was. As a 12-year-old child he constantly dreamed of what it would be like to be grown up. When he is at school he thinks about what it would be like to be working, when he would have a wife, have children, when he would be a mature and important person. He was always dreaming and thinking about it. He was constantly pestering his parents and teachers about how it will be when he is grown up. Even when little Jack met in his backyard Julia, a girl of his own age, he immediately imagined how it would be super to have such a girl as his wife.

One day as he sat on a bench in the park there came up to him some old lady, and she said: “It seems to me Jack that you would like to speed up time in some way, wouldn’t it be super to speed up some your days. Am I right or not?” Jack replies: “Yes, it would be super if it was so.” Then the old lady said: “I have an extraordinary present for you. Here I have box, and as you can see there is coming out of it a magical thread. Every time you pull this thread your life will quite quickly move forward. If you pull a little, it moves forward small amount, if you pull hard it will go forward many years. Do you want this present?” Jack, of course, with great joy accepted it, and went home really happy.

During the evening he became a little bored as his favourite tv programme had not yet started. So, he gently pulled the string and to his amazement the programme started. From then on he used this string very often. When he was bored in lessons, he pulled the sting and they had finished, when bored with school, he pulled it more and the holidays arrived. One day he decided he was bored with school altogether, and he so pulled the string hard and now he had now finished school. Then he pulled it a bit more it happened that he was already married and his wife was Julia. He could see that Julia was having a baby, and since he couldn’t wait, he pulled the string hard and it happened that he had two sons, one was going to school and the other was starting university.

There was one thing that he found a little difficult to accept: he saw that his mother had become old, she had grey hair, and seemed a little less active. But he managed to accept this, and he pulled and pulled on that string even more until in the end it happened that he himself was old, that his wife was an old woman, and mum was no longer on this earth. And he thought that although this had all been nice, he had the feeling that he had not experienced something. That he didn’t know his wife at all, or his children, and that life had seemed to have slipped through his fingers.

One day this old man sat in the park and thought how quickly everything had passed him by. Suddenly, there came toward him someone we already know, the old lady. She asked him: “Jack how’s your box with the string?” Jack looked at her sadly and said nothing. Then the old lady asked him: “Well then, would you like to go back to being twelve years old and to patiently experience everything, from the start?” Jack’s eye glistened, and he said “yes, I would very much like to.” I don’t know how it happened but Jack suddenly woke up and got ready for lessons, and was twelve years old. He patiently listened to what the teachers had to say, and slowly walked home, and saw Julia in the yard. He went to her and took her by the hand and said: “Julia I have a lot to tell you, and we have a great deal of time.

I am sure that there are some things which it seems it would really useful to speed up, especially some hardship, especially suffering, unhappiness, especially waiting. Is it really worth it, and would such a string really be helpful? Because I have a deep conviction that it’s not, that it’s not a good idea.

The Holy Father’s prayer intention for December

That Christians in Asia, bearing witness to the Gospel in word and deed, may promote dialogue, peace, and mutual understanding, especially with those of other religions.

PrayersPlease pray for all those who are in need or have asked for our prayers: EK, Willy Robertson, Russell Carroll, Robert Boyce. Please remember in your prayers all those, whose anniversaries occur at his time.

News and Events

Welcome to Mike Wilkinson who receives the sacraments of initiation of Confirmation and Holy Communion on Gaudete Sunday. May God’s grace grow evermore in his life as he comes closer to Our Lord in the Eucharist. Fr. Francis is now the Administrator of Our Lady of the Angels, Mingarry parish. Please pray for him and the parish; that together they will have a spiritually fruitful future. Liturgical Celebrations for Christmas Saturday 23rd Dec 6pm (Vigil of Advent 4) – Rorate Mass Sunday 24th Dec 10am (Advent 4) – The Nativity Scene will be blessed during Mass Sunday 24th Dec (Christmas Eve) 10pm – Mass of Christmas during the night Monday 25th Dec (Christmas Day) 10am – Mass of Christmas day

Christmas flowers: donations for the Christmas flowers can be made in the box in the porch.

Fr. Tony is away from Wednesday morning to Thursday afternoon.

A Parish of the R.C. Diocese of Argyll and the Isles; Charitable Trust, a registered Scottish Charity, SC002876 Parish Priest: Fr. A. Wood, St. Kieran’s, Campbeltown; Tel. 01586 552160

frtony@stkieransrc.org www.stkieransrc.org

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