TWENTY-SECOND ORDINARY SUNDAY (A), 30th AUGUST 2020

SAINT MARY, STAR OF THE SEA28 Greenock Road, Largs, KA30 8NE

OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL SUCCOURCollege Street, Millport, KA28 0BG

Tel: 01475 740019.Website: rclargsandmillport.com

YouTube:https://www.rclargsandmillport.com/livestre

amParish Email: largs@gallowaydiocese.org.uk

SC010576Parish Priest: Mgr. Peter Canon Magee

PP’s email: peter.magee@gallowaydiocese.org.uk

Holy MassLargs : Saturday Vigil, 6pm; Sunday, 10am; Mon-Sat, 10am. All Masses live-streamed.Millport: Sunday, 12.15pm (not live-streamed)Weekday Masses are all without a congregation and live-streamed.

WEEKLY LITURGICAL CALENDARCOMMEMORATIO

NREADINGS

31/8: Mass for 50th

Anniversary of Marriage, Nancy & Malcolm Heaton

Week 22, Ordinary TimeLiturgical colour: white

1/9: Mass for “After the Harvest”, to mark start of the Season of Creation

Week 22, Ordinary TimeLiturgical colour: green

2/9: Jesuit Martyrs for the Name of Jesus (d. 1792 & 1932)

Week 22, Ordinary TimeLiturgical colour: red

3/9: Pope St. Gregory the Great (d. 604)

Week 22, Ordinary TimeLiturgical colour: white

4/9: St. Cuthbert, Bishop (d.687)

Week 22, Ordinary TimeLiturgical colour: white

5/9: Mother St. Teresa of Calcutta, Virgin (d. 1997)

Week 22, Ordinary TimeLiturgical colour: white

6/9: 23rd Ordinary Sunday, 1st

Sunday of Season of Creation

ProperLiturgical colour: green

MASS INTENTIONS

DATE & TIME INTENTIONSat 29 August, 6pm

All Parishioners

Sun 30 August, 10am

John Cassidy, RD

Sun 30 August, 12.15pm

Sadie Shovelin, RD

Mon 31 August, 10am

Nancy & Malcolm Heaton

Tues 1 Sept, 10am

Stephen Slavin, RD

Wed 2 Sept 10am Michael Kealey, AThurs 3 Sept 10am

Eddie McCarthy, S

Fri 4 Sept, 10am Karmenu Micallef, ASat 5 Sept, 10am James Clannahan, DSat 5 Sept, 6pm All ParishionersSun 6 Sept, 10am Billy Benson, DSun 6 Sept, 12.15pm

Fr. Con Botter, SJ, RD

RD = Recently Deceased; D = Deceased; S = Sick; SI = Special Intention

Sick: Margaret Gallagher, Maria Kelly (Millport), Lidia Tracey, Helen McShane, Peter Leitch, Colette McCafferty, Alex Greig, Sarah McDougall, Bruce McDougall, Jessie Clements, Baby Ava May Cleary, Teresa Black, Peter McConville, Claire McConville, Lizzie Park, Ness Cranston, Francis Livingstone, Lorraine McBride, Tommy Monaghan, Marie Gómez Fernández, Margaret Rutherford, Martin Doherty, Ben Brownlie, Sheena Lane, William Percy, Roddy Galbraith, Donal Hughes, Jonny Bilchak, James Reddoch, May Holland, Richard Dorman, Eileen Walker, John Hutchison, James McGinty, Eddie McCarthy, Joseph Donnelly, Alistair Murphy, Isabella McInally, Benet Brodie, Sr, John Gunn, Eithne Brown, Margaret Sutherland. Recently Deceased: Hugh Reynolds, Stephen Slavin. Anniversary of Death: Margaret Murphy, Karmenu Micallef.

Special Anniversaries & Birthdays: Nancy & Malcolm Heaton, 50th Wedding anniversary.

NOTICES

NANCY & MALCOLM HEATON, GOLDEN WEDDING ANNIVERSARY: We warmly congratulate Nancy & Malcolm from St. Mary’s parish on achieving this momentous milestone in their married life together. We pray for the Lord’s continued and choicest

TWENTY-SECOND ORDINARY SUNDAY (A), 30th AUGUST 2020

blessings upon them and their extended family.

SACRAMENTS FOR CHILDREN, ST. MARY’S, LARGS: Watch this space for more details, and please keep the children and their families in your prayers.

SACRAMENTS FOR CHILDREN WHO DO NOT ATTEND ST. MARY’S PRIMARY: Please contact the Parish Secretary for an application form before the end of September: karen.govaerts@gallowaydiocese.org.uk

SEASON OF CREATION, 1 ST SEPTEMBER – 4 TH OCTOBER 2020 (Feast of St. Francis of Assisi): In 2015, Pope Francis wrote an encyclical called “Laudato Sì” on “Care for our Common Home”, the Earth. He established 1st September every year as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. The year 2020, marking five years since the encyclical, has been named a Special Anniversary year. On Tuesday coming, 1st September, I will take the prayers from the Roman Missal’s Mass for “After the Harvest” as a way of marking the beginning of the Season of Creation. For the five Sundays during this Season, I will also follow some of the reflections and suggestions provided for the liturgy by the Church. To read and know more about the Season of Creation, and about how you can contribute practically to its celebration and aims, please consult these four links (cf. also the parish website for more information): 1] https://seasonofcreation.org/catholic/ 2] https://www.sciaf.org.uk/get-involved/events 3] Season of Creation Global Ecumenical Online Prayer Service  4] Season of Creation   

ST MARY'S CLIMATE CHANGE GROUP are leading a reflective pilgrimage celebrating the beauty of creation in a hill walk from Largs Marina car park, through Kelburn Castle Estate on Saturday 19th September starting at 8.30am. Appropriate footwear required. Allow two and a half hours: For further details text, phone or email David Ramsay: 07555266291 or david.ramsay73@btinternet.com.

SERVICE OF THE WORD: Sunday, 6.30pm (live-streamed) with the full homily for the day. Ecumenical prayer recitation at 7pm.

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION: If anyone wishes to receive this sacrament, please phone or email me and we can set up a time and place to celebrate the sacrament in a “safe” manner.

PARISHES’ ROSARY INTENTION: For a swift end to the covid-19 pandemic.

PRAYERLINE: To ask for prayers, phone: 078037 48251.

SAFEGUARDING MOBILE PHONE NUMBERS: For direct access to our Parish Safeguarding Coordinators: 1) Largs (Gordon Sutherland) – 07707 598929; 2) Millport (…..) – 07852 753874.

SVDP PHONE NUMBER: 07950 586214. Please direct all enquiries and requests directly to this number.

BULLETIN: Requests for notices to be included in the weekly bulletin must be submitted by 12 Noon on Wednesdays.

ECUMENICAL PRAYER7pm, Sunday, 30th August

Living God, Speak to us that we might sense your presence and know your Name this day. Speak into the depths of our lives out of the depth of your life divine.Lord, hear us. Lord, graciously hear us.

Living God, Reveal your Name to us as you revealed your Name in ages past. Reveal your Name to us for we long to know you that you are with us now.Lord, hear us. Lord, graciously hear us.

Living God, You have made yourself known to us and invited us to share in your life. May we share our lives with others and know them as our family and our friends.Lord, hear us. Lord, graciously hear us.Living God, As we share in the life of the world may we better hear the voices of those around us. As we hear their voices may we better know the depths of who they are. Lord, hear us. Lord, graciously hear us.

Living God, You make known to us your identity in the communion of Father, Son

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and Holy Spirit. May we hear you speak, in the place where we are, that we might share in living communion with you this day. Lord, hear us. Lord, graciously hear us.

NOVENA PRAYER FOR PROTECTIONIN TIME OF PANDEMIC

O Mary, you always brighten our path as a sign of salvation and of hope. We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick, who, at the Cross, took part in Jesus’ pain while remaining steadfast in faith.

O loving Mother, you know what we need, and we are confident you will provide for us as at Cana in Galilee. Intercede for us with your Son Jesus, the divine Physician, for those who have fallen ill, for those who are vulnerable and for those who have died.

Intercede also for those charged with protecting the health and safety of others and for those who are tending to the sick and seeking a cure. Help us, O Mother of Divine Love, to conform to the will of the Father and to do as we are told by Jesus, who took upon himself our suffering and carried our sorrows, so as to lead us, through the Cross, to the glory of the Resurrection. Amen.

We fly to thy patronage, O most Holy Mother of God. Despise not our prayers in our necessitiesBut ever deliver us from all dangers, O most Glorious and Blessed Virgin!

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

Who actually wrote Luke’s Gospel? Where? When?

Unlike Mark and Matthew, the tradition is stronger in identifying St. Luke as the actual author of the Gospel named after him. He was from Antioch in Syria, a physician and a companion of St. Paul during Paul’s early ministry. The Gospel was likely written in Antioch where there would have been a large multi-ethnic community composed mainly of Gentiles but with a strong Jewish presence, too. It was written after the destruction of Jerusalem (AD 70) and before the Emperor Domitian’s bitter persecution of

Christians towards the end of his reign (around AD 90). The year of composition is often given as between AD 80-85. Luke also wrote the Acts of the Apostles as “part 2” of his work. The Gospel tells the story of Christ; Acts tells the story of Christianity in the first century.How does Luke structure his Gospel?

The bulk of Luke’s 24-chaptered Gospel takes up Mark’s outline of Jesus’ public ministry, beginning in Galilee (4:14 – 9:50) and journeying to Jerusalem (9:51 – 19:28). The earliest chapters narrate the infancy of Jesus and the preparation of his public ministry. The final chapters narrate Jesus’ final showdown with the authorities in Jerusalem, leading to his Paschal Mystery, i.e. his death, resurrection and ascension. Here is how the structure looks:

Section

Reference

Theme

I 1:1-4 PrefaceII 1:5-2:52 Dawn of God’s

Fulfilment of PromiseIII 3:1-4:13 Preparation for Jesus’

Public MinistryIV 4:14-9:50 Jesus’ Galilean

MinistryV 9:51-

19:27Jesus’ Journey to Jerusalem

VI 19:28-21:38

Jerusalem Rejects God’s Prophet, Son and Temple

VII 22:1-23:56a

Jesus’ Last Meal and Association with Sinners

VIII 23:56b-24:53

Jesus’ Vindication, Promise of the Spirit and Ascension

Each of these eight sections can be further subdivided. For example, Section VII has: a) Jesus’ farewell speech at the Last Supper (22:1-38); b) Jesus’ fidelity and the disciples’ failure during Jesus’ trial (22:39-71); and c) the innocent Jesus associating with sinners to the end (23:1-56a).

What is Luke’s Theology (i.e. faith seeking understanding)?

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The Christian community for whom Luke was writing was mainly Gentile, some very wealthy, who were finding the going tough. Luke presents the Church as the new, reconstituted people of Israel which embraces Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, the outcast and sinner as well as the just. Some of the converted Jewish Christians were insisting too much on their inherited Jewish way of doing things, thus making it too difficult for Gentiles to enter or stay in the Church. There were also external hostilities from the synagogues, primarily from their leaders. News of hostilities against Christians in Rome and elsewhere would also have been reaching Luke’s community.

Aware that the Jewish nation and establishment had been routed by Rome, as an instrument of God’s punishment of his chosen people, many in Luke’s community were asking themselves if God would really stand by them and not abandon his promises to them, too. St. Luke responds by emphatically demonstrating that God, through Jesus, was in fact still faithful to his people Israel, but in an unexpected way: to include Gentiles, women, the poor, the unclean, Samaritans, rich tax collectors, and other marginalised people. Members of the “old” Israel who repented and believed in Jesus as God’s Prophet and Chosen One are also part of this new Israel, the Church.

Luke presents Jesus as one who, while at times laying aside the demands of the Law, still upholds the Law’s value. He frequently shows Jesus at prayer to signal that those who follow him also stand in the long Jewish tradition of prayer. As Judaism was founded on the twelve tribes, Jesus founded his community on the twelve apostles. The very beginning of Luke’s Gospel is in the Temple in Jerusalem. So, Luke’s community can be

reassured that God did not abandon his people: rather, he re-founded it in and through Jesus.

Luke therefore presents the mission of Jesus as inclusive and compassionate. His is the Gospel in which the sinners seek his company and he tells the parable of the prodigal son. This is almost visibly fulfilled in Jesus’ forgiveness and promise of paradise to the good thief. Jesus seeks out the lost and the sinners and reunites them with God. As the Prophet of God, Jesus is rejected by the religious leaders, but the people are not so blind. They contemplate the meaning of the Crucifixion of Jesus and repent of their sin of rejecting Jesus in preference for Barabbas.

As in the past, whenever God’s mercy in sending a prophet is rejected and is followed by punishment, another prophet is always sent. The religious leaders rejected Jesus and their rejection would later be punished in the destruction of the nation and its Temple and City, but in the preaching of Peter at Pentecost, another offer of mercy is given. That day when Peter preached, 3,000 Jews gathered in Jerusalem from all over the world converted to Jesus.

So, Luke writes his Gospel to stop his community from surrendering to the temptation that the God of Israel, revealed as the Father of Jesus, is not faithful to his promises. He begins it, in fact, by showing how the birth of Jesus is the fulfilment of God’s promises. He ends it by showing how the resurrection of Jesus is the final fulfilment of all of God’s promises. This same God will ensure that the promises made by Jesus will themselves be fulfilled for all his followers who come from north and south, east and west, to take their places at the heavenly banquet with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Fr. PeterCHILDREN’S CORNER

TWENTY-SECOND ORDINARY SUNDAY (A), 30th AUGUST 2020

Jesus told his friends one day that he was going to Jerusalem. There he was going to suffer a lot and be put on the Cross and die. But he also told them he would rise from the dead on the third day!

He said that he had to do all this. His Father told him that this was how he would one day bring all the dead back to life.

Jesus’ friends were not happy about Jesus having to die. Fair enough, but they hadn’t listened to the full story. They didn’t hear what he said about rising again.

So, Peter thought he was being smart by telling Jesus that no way was he going to get crucified. But Jesus got really angry with him. It was as if Peter was trying to prevent Jesus rising from the dead, too!

Anyway, Jesus quickly calmed down. He told all of the disciples that, if they wanted to follow him, they had to be ready to give up everything for him. Imagine! Everything! Even their lives? Yes! And the apostles all died later on for love of Jesus.

The thing is, even if we have everything here on earth, it’s all nothing if we lose Jesus. If we let anything or anyone get between us and Jesus, we will lose it all in the end. But if we put him first …. we will have not only him, but everything else he wants to give us. And that’s far better than anything or anyone else on this earth.

How much baggage does Jesus have in the picture? What does he want you to do by putting his hand out like that?How much baggage can you take with you if you truly follow him?There is a prayer in the Bible that says, “The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing that I will need.” What in the picture tells you that Jesus is a shepherd?