A message
from Francis Street Parish: Thinking that we have beaten COVID 19 is a
huge mistake. We should be glad about the progress we've made and look to the
future with hope. But carelessness in the present moment could undo everything.
Continue to be vigilant. Be the
solution, not the problem!
The Church of St Nicholas of Myra
is now open on Saturdays for 6pm Mass and Sunday for 11.30am Mass. We are also
open on Mondays and Thursdays for 10am Mass. The church will open 30 minutes
before each mass. The maximum number of people permitted to attend is 50. This
has to include the priest, the sacristan, ministers and stewards.
Israel, come back to the Lord your God;
your iniquity was the cause of your downfall.
Provide yourself with words and come back to the Lord.
Say to him, ‘Take all iniquity away
so that we may have happiness again
and offer you our words of praise.
Assyria cannot save us,
we will not ride horses any more
or say, “Our God!” to what our own hands have made,
for you are the one in whom orphans find compassion. –
I will heal their disloyalty,
I will love them with all my heart,
for my anger has turned from them.
I will fall like dew on Israel.
He shall bloom like the lily,
and thrust out roots like the poplar,
his shoots will spread far;
he will have the beauty of the olive
and the fragrance of Lebanon.
They will come back to live in my shade;
they will grow corn that flourishes,
they will cultivate vines
as renowned as the wine of Helbon.
What has Ephraim to do with idols any more
when it is I who hear his prayer and care for him?
I am like a cypress ever green,
all your fruitfulness comes from me.
Let the wise man understand these words.
Let the intelligent man grasp their meaning.
For the ways of the Lord are straight,
and virtuous men walk in them,
but sinners stumble.
Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: Remember, I am sending you out like
sheep among wolves; so be cunning as serpents and yet as harmless as doves.
‘Beware of men: they will hand you over to Sanhedrins and scourge you in their
synagogues. You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear
witness before them and the pagans. But when they hand you over, do not worry
about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when
the time comes; because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your
Father will be speaking in you. ‘Brother will betray brother to death, and the
father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to
death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the man who
stands firm to the end will be saved. If they persecute you in one town, take
refuge in the next; and if they persecute you in that, take refuge in another. I
tell you solemnly, you will not have gone the round of the towns of Israel
before the Son of Man comes.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord
Reflection
The opening sentence of today's gospel might seem
like strange advice coming from Jesus. 'Be cunning as serpents and yet as
harmless as doves.' I think this has to do with the way we often think of
Jesus, as someone, in whose mouth butter wouldn't melt. Jesus also reminded his
disciples on another occasion that they were 'not of the world, but they were in
it. Jesus knew how to deal with the world and particularly people who were not
honest or up front. It's the second part of that sentence that helps us
understand what means by cunning. 'Yet as harmless as doves'. He is not
asking them be deceitful or conniving. He is asking them to be realistic. In
other words don't paint everything as if it is perfect. When you are confronted
by people who are nasty, acknowledge the fact and deal with it appropriately,
and in this case it means without anger, or violence, but with gentility, but a
gentility that faces the truth and speaks the truth. How we convey something to
another person is every bit as important as what we are trying to convey. If we
approach someone aggressively, or in anger, there is every chance their response
will be likewise. Speaking the truth, honestly, calmly and with gentility, may
not be greeted with joy, but you stand a much better chance of having the person
actually listening and learning. Honesty in our relationships is essential, if
those relationships are to be of any real value - but honesty doesn't mean you
have to take a sledge hammer to open a walnut.
