PARISH BULLETIN

St Kieran Catholic Church in Campbeltown and Islay

6th August 2017

Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord St. Kieran’s

Monday-Wednesday Holy Mass 10.00 am

Thursday Holy Mass 8.30 am

Friday Holy Mass 6.30 pm

Saturday Vigil Mass 6.00 pm

Sunday Holy Mass 10.00 am

Sacrament of Reconciliation: Saturday 5.30-6.00pm.

Islay

Sunday 3 September – Holy Mass, 4.00 pm

Sunday 24 September – Holy Mass & the Sacrament of Marriage, 4.00pm Monday: Memorial of Saint Sixtus II, pope, martyr

Tuesday: Memorial of Saint Dominic, priest

Wednesday: Feast of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, virgin, martyr

Thursday: Feast of Saint Lawrence, deacon, martyr

Friday: Memorial of Saint Clare, virgin

Saturday: Memorial of Blaan, bishop

Psalm response Lord, how I love your law!

Gospel acclamation Alleluia, alleluia!

I call you friends, says the Lord, because I made to known to you everything I learnt from my Father.

Alleluia!

Communion Antiphon Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all his benefits.

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, email: anthonywood5@icloud.com,

website: stkieransrc.org

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

Monday, Aug 07, 2017 MEMORIAL OF SAINT SIXTUS II, POPE, MARTYR Power of the people When the Roman Empire hit hard times, Emperor Valerius ordered the execution of Christian leaders. The church, still young and wrangling over rules, was already agitated as persecution came. Enter Sixtus II, the pope trying to hold everything together, “a good and peace-loving priest,” says one biographer. But enter, too, those who follow leaders — the mob, wielding a power all its own. Because Sixtus wanted to protect his assembled flock, he didn’t flee the soldiers who stormed a worship service to behead him and his deacons. Crowds also moved Jesus to multiply loaves and fishes. If we must follow crowds, let’s make them good ones.

TODAY'S READINGS: Numbers 11:4b-15; Matthew 14:13-21 “ 'They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ ”

Tuesday, Aug 08, 2017 MEMORIAL OF SAINT DOMINIC, PRIEST Mary and Martha shake hands The contest between action and contemplation in the spiritual life is an old one. Just think “Martha and Mary” and you get the picture. Saint Dominic (1170-1221) had the advantage of an early experience with contemplative life to shape his sense that the two impulses should be combined. When he founded his Order of Preachers, the idea was to fuel the ministry of itinerant preaching with a strong dedication to prayer and study. Dominicans today continue to model this unity of purpose. How do you balance the “ins-and-outs” of faith: praying and doing?

TODAY'S READINGS: Numbers 12:1-13; Matthew 14:22-36 “Heaven and the heaven of heavens belong to the Lord your God, the earth with all that is in it.”

Wednesday, Aug 09, 2017 FEAST OF SAINT TERESA BENEDICTA OF THE CROSS, VIRGIN, MARTYR A martyr of two faiths Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein, 1891-1942) was a brilliant woman who earned a Ph.D. in philosophy. She was brought up Jewish, but during her student years she read Saint Teresa of Ávila’s autobiography, and as a result she not only decided to become a Catholic but also joined the Carmelite order. After the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands, though the Carmelites tried to protect her, she was arrested because of her Jewish heritage. She was sent to Auschwitz, where she was gassed. In contemplating the possibility she would be “driven out into the street,” she wrote, “Certainly we ought to pray that we shall be spared the experience, but only with the deeply sincere addition, ‘Not mine, but thy will be done.’ ”

TODAY'S READINGS: Numbers 13:1-2, 25—14:1, 26-29a, 34-35; Matthew 15:21-28 “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish."

Thursday, Aug 10, 2017 FEAST OF SAINT LAWRENCE, DEACON, MARTYR The true wealth of the church Saint Lawrence was a deacon known as the keeper of the church’s treasures. That means he disbursed donated alms to the needy. In August of 258 A.D., Emperor Valerian outlawed Christianity, and Roman authorities demanded that Lawrence turn over the wealth of the church. Lawrence appeared before the authorities followed by a multitude of Rome’s crippled, blind, sick, and needy. He had given away everything the church possessed to these people and told his persecutors, “Here are the true treasures of the church.” Though Lawrence was executed, this story is a reminder of the true treasures our church holds — all of us who need its tender care.

TODAY'S READINGS: 2 Corinthians 9:6-10; John 12:24-26 “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain.”

Friday, Aug 11, 2017 MEMORIAL OF SAINT CLARE, VIRGIN Are you imagining things? Good! Before Saint Clare’s birth, one biographer wrote, it was revealed to her mother that the child “would be a brilliant light in the world.” As abbess of the first convent of Franciscan sisters, Clare rose from her sickbed to pray for the protection of her sisters from marauders and heard a voice say, “I shall always watch over you.” At her death in 1253 she saw the Virgin Mary coming to meet her. Were these things only products of the imagination? Even if they were, imagination is necessary to making something real. With faith, that imagination might soar all the way to heaven.

TODAY'S READINGS: Deuteronomy 4:32-40; Matthew 16:24-28 “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

Saturday, Aug 12, 2017 MEMORIAL OF SAINT BLAAN, BISHOP All God wants is our heart Jesus tells his disciples that they can "remove mountains" if they have faith in God. The expression to "remove mountains" was a common Jewish phrase for removing difficulties. A wise teacher who could solve difficulties was called a "mountain remover". If we pray with expectant faith God will give us the means to overcome difficulties and obstacles. When you meet trials and disappointments how do you respond? With faith and trust in Jesus?

TODAY'S READINGS: Deuteronomy 6:4-13; Matthew 17:14-20 “Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Readings for the Feast of the Transfiguration Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14

The presence of God is attended by unmistakable signs of glory. Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 9

The power of God manifests in melting mountains and restored justice. 2 Peter 1:16-19

The glory of Jesus shines like a lamp illuminating this world’s darkness. Matthew 17:1-9

Jesus outshines the two greatest holy men of ancient times. Listen to him!

An extract from:

LIFE AT FULL

TROTTLE Conscience

Suffering: Is

The tragedy of the question of suffering reveals itself when a child or a mother suffers from a disease. Does God have something to do with the suffering, that arises in our lives?

Do you, Sir, remember the ironic comment we lately read together under

the last entry on my blog, . . . can’t we ask Providence not to send suffering

to small children?

At the beginning of the Bible we have a symbolic image: we see, how

Satan, father of lies, goes to Eve and asks her: is it true that God forbids

you to eat from any of the trees of the garden? Eve makes an elementary

mistake, she enters into a dialogue with evil. Wanting to defend God, she

says: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You

shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden’”. She

adds from herself – this is characteristic of contact with evil – “nor shall

you touch it”. In this image, God actually says nothing about touching. It is

LIFE

AT FULL

THROTTLE

or FAITH, SIRLOIN and LOVE

she who wants to emerge with some credibility. Well, it’s such an innocent

inaccuracy, isn’t it? To this Satan symbolically says: “You will not die”,

which means: “Don’t trust God, God is nasty old man who sits in the

clouds and hates you. He is an old man jealous of his own power and

divinity. And if you take the fruit, you will be like Him. You definitely

won’t die, God lies because He does not want what is good for you.” If we

accept this then all our faith is for nothing. If, however, we accept God as a

close, loved one, then in illness we can see a certain logic: if the Lord

blessed me and my family when I was young, attractive and well-off, there

is no reason for me to assume that He will turn His face away from me

later. Because it is God who is faithful, it is we who are often unfaithful.

But how to explain the suffering of the innocent?

Of course, there are a variety of medical conditions affecting children.

Someone will say, that God could prevent everyone of these illnesses. I still

have the image before my eyes of Pope Benedict, who talked with children

on the internet. One question, asked by a Japanese girl, referred to the

tsunami they had there which killed over twelve thousand people. “Holy

Father” – she asked – “why?” and this great, wise theologian with immense

sincerity and helplessness replied: “I don’t know”. We priests who think we

should have answers to all the questions of the world, say: “It’s a mystery”

or “In the next life it will be clear”. Better to learn humility from Benedict

XVI.

If we begin to blame God for everything that is wrong in our lives, accuse

with a wagging finger and curse, then what will prevent us losing our faith?

God is not outside our matrix, He is in it, He is in us, He is intensely close

to everyone. At the level of emotions – as director of a hospice – I

experience the intensity of my patients, on the level of emotion I

understand their rage. It is a rage such that someone is going to get it, and

since God is not seen, it’s easier to let Him have it. Him, or ultimately His

ground staff, that’s me.

What do these circular words mean, that God is close, and therefore also close in suffering?

Some say that in suffering we have to unite our suffering to the suffering of

Jesus. For me this not convincing, and even seems illogical, though I don’t

prevent anyone trying to use their suffering for the glory of salvation.

Others in the queue for total foolishness say that whoever God loves, they

are sent crosses. This is arrant nonsense.

My conviction is that physical suffering has zero or minimal ethical value.

Since it was God who gave us minds, so that thanks to these minds we

develop medicine, so as to fight the evil of physical suffering.

These words in a way reverse the narrative found in the Church.

When I talk about this, people have resented it. It dismays me, when I hear

words of guidance from priests in the Church to women, that remaining in

a morbid marriage with a drunk, who beats her and destroys her

psychologically, is a praiseworthy martyrdom: “Carry your cross”. This a

very sinister approach to matters. Marriage is immensely valuable and is

indissoluble. But when it becomes a threat to life, this same life is of

greater value and to preserve it you have to defend yourself or escape the

threat. To save yourself is an obligation! And if some confessor does not

understand this then they should go on a theology course again.

Christianity is not a religion of sufferers. God saved the world through His

own suffering. He, the great God in a human body, took on Himself all the

suffering of the world. But really: God did not need our pain to save the

world. We know well that one drop of the blood of Christ would have been

enough to save the world. The world is already redeemed and saved!

How can we grasp this practically? When, let’s say, you were fired

unjustifiably from work, then in that injustice Christ will be with you.

When you are diagnosed with a serious illness, or even a fatal illness, then

Christ does not leave you, but is with you constantly.

This sounds a bit abstract, let’s speak specifically. How is God with you now, Father?

I speak on the level of logic, and not emotion. Think for yourself. You are

His beloved child and His brother, for whom He gave everything. Do you

think that when something bad happens, that He will be far away? On the

emotional level we are mad at the disease, the doctors, fate. You have to

grab hold of the reins and say to yourself: “Stop, stop panicking. If you

have faith, don’t let yourself be pushed into the abyss of despair, which can

be destructive, but take the ladder step by step and from this low emerge, so

as to maintain your self-worth, dignity and faith.”

After all, Jesus must have been broken knowing His own fate, even more

than me, when I learned of this disease and its recurrence. I’ll tell you quite

simply: alone I would not have been able to bear the news that I’ll die in a

few months. I think, that Christ – I’m speaking as I imagine it – cried, was

upset, suffered. God is a loving God, entering into our misfortunes, helping

us to carry them.

It’s the same, when we fall morally. As we stumble in life and fall face

down in the mud, then Christ sets us upright out of it, lifts us from the

entangled mass. He is beside us – though not in the mud – thinking up a

rescue plan. I just heard that Fr. W. B. of my diocese is leaving the priestly

ministry. Jesus knows the context of the whole matter. It’s not for us to

judge what is happening in this man. Of course, abandoning your vocation,

whether priesthood or marriage (except in extreme cases, of which I

mentioned), is an objective moral fault. But as long as we live we can still

accept and receive salvation.

You have asked about my religiosity, and I have answered from my own

perspective, but you can’t think it will be the same for everyone. In this

way I have tried to explain these complicated things.

A person abandons the priesthood, and God thinks how to help him? How does that connect with the formation, which everyone, especially children in RE, hear that God is a just judge, who rewards for good and punishes for wrong?

These two views do not entirely stand in opposition to each other. That

Christ is so close and wants to save us, does not release us from the

responsibility and obligation to seek God. God is so gentle, that He never

forces Himself into our lives in a literal way, God’s finger never displaces

us. When something bad happens, don’t we say: “Get me out of this, God”.

Don’t we pray: “Do this or do that”. I encourage you to try different words:

“Make me capable, Holy Spirit, come and open the gifts I have received:

wisdom, prudence, fortitude, so that I can deal with this with Your help.”

God rewards goodness, and punishes evil, He is a just judge. This is all

true. It is also true that mercy is always before justice.

I am a little afraid, and the rest of us should be afraid of Divine judgement.

I imagine that when we stand on the other side, in the total truth about

ourselves, we will appear as pure conscience, as a person, not as a human,

because the human disintegrates; at the moment of brain decay we no

longer have human action, but we do have the ongoing action of the

person.

The Holy Father’s prayer intention for August

That artists of our time, through their ingenuity, may help everyone discover the beauty of creation.

PrayersPlease pray for all those who are in need or have asked for our prayers: Canon Donald MacKay (Daliburgh), Shirley Finn, Mrs. Isa Durnan, Willie Robertson, Charles Cunningham. Please remember in your prayers all those, whose anniversaries occur at his time, and pray

for John Giffen whose funeral is this week.

News and EventCoffee Morning: 12th August 10am-12pm the parish will have a coffee morning in the Red Cross hall. Helpers welcome and needed. If you can help in any way, let Margaret Wilson or Fr. Tony know.

Donations for the bottle stall, or raffle can be left in the tub in the church porch. Thanks.

Special collection for the Bishop’s Fund this Sunday.

Film Night. Tuesday the 15th August (Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary) would be the 100th birthday of Blessed Oscar Romero. The film ROMERO will be shown at 6.30pm after Mass at 5.30pm and dinner at 6.00pm in the Chapel House.