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
olution, not the problem!
The Church of St Nicholas of Myra
is planning to re-open on Saturday 04 July 2020 for the 6pm Mass. The church
will be open from 5.30pm. Please do not arrive before this time. Further
information about how this will be managed will be available soon.
Update on opening
here
A reading from the 2nd letter of St. Paul to
Timothy 1:1-3, 6-12
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise
of life that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and
peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I am grateful to God whom I
worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did when I remember you
constantly in my prayers night and day. I remind you to rekindle the gift of God
that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a
spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of
self-discipline. Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of
me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the
power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to
our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us
in Christ Jesus before the ages began, but it has now been revealed through the
appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel. For this gospel I was appointed a
herald and an apostle and a teacher, and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I
am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure
that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him.
Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a
question, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that 'if a man's brother dies,
leaving a wife but no child, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children
for his brother.' There were seven brothers; the first married and, when he
died, left no children; and the second married her and died, leaving no
children; and the third likewise; none of the seven left children. Last of all
the woman herself died. In the resurrection whose wife will she be? For the
seven had married her." Jesus said to them, "Is not this the reason you are
wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God? For when they
rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like
angels in heaven. And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the
book of Moses, in the story about the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is God not of the dead,
but of the living; you are quite wrong.
This is the Gospel of the Lord
Reflection
"He is God not of the dead, but of the living; you
are quite wrong." This has to be one of the most comforting statements in the
New testament. Jesus address the question of "life after death" not with a yes
or no answer but by explaining the nature of God. God is the God of the living.
In other words when God gives life, it is an eternal gift. This reflects God's
nature. There are no half measures with God. When gives, he gives, full stop.
This is because God is Love. True Love knows no limits or boundaries. For love
to be true it must be "Everything" and not "Something". Life is eternal - and
not when we die - but from the very beginning. It has always been God's
intention that life for us is eternal. Death is no more than another "door"
through which we pass. Death is not our destruction. God's love for us is so
overwhelming, that the thought of our destruction is absolutely a "no-no" for
God. This has huge implications for us. We must allow ourselves to understand
that this gift is so precious, that every second of it must cherished and lived
as fully as we possibly can. There is no room for waste. This is a gift, that
only really comes into its own when it is shared, and shared generously. God
shared all of himself with us. We must do the same for one another.
