25th March 2012 FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT

Dear Parishioners,

In today’s gospel, Jesus tells of the cycle of life and death. We have the image of the wheat grain that falls on the ground and dies in order to yield a rich harvest. Each day we are called to die to selfishness so that we can be renewed and make a new start as followers of Jesus Christ.

This story can remind us of so many aspects of our lives. Letting go of things cannot be easy. We have difficulty in letting go of hurts and wrongs that have been done to us. We hold fast to the memories and strong feelings associated with injury, hurt and betrayal.

The sense of loss is more common than we think. Yes, death of a loved one is obvious; but if we are to grow we have to let go of attachments, dreams, friends … We have to let go of youthful good health and energy; the dreams to save the world; our real expectation of others and sometimes ourselves. There can be so many unfulfilled hopes we have to let go of. The final act is death itself.

Over the coming weeks, we reflect on Jesus’ own passing from death to life. The pilgrims arrive in Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover. The sacrificial lamb will be Jesus himself. Now the time is at hand. Jesus must face death; the loss of freedom; the loss of friends who ran away; the loss of support; the feeling of being abandoned by God. Jesus is troubled. He is aware that suffering, betrayal, agony and the cross is facing him. His prayer in agony to the Father: “Let your will be done”.

The suffering of Jesus is the source of our life. He is the “grain of wheat”, the lamb of sacrifice which gives us new life. These are the truths we will try to pray about and engage in over, the coming days of Holy Week and Easter.

Parish Presbytery refurbishing: Please take a leaflet of the report from the ‘Open Parish Meeting’ last Tuesday evening. Those present looked at various possibilities. We need to plan our strategy in order to work out what is best for the parish in the long run. Any suggestion will be helpful to show us the way forward and we continue the process on Wednesday 18th April.

Dates for Your Diary: Our Parish Mission will be from Friday 15th – 22nd June. The theme is: “Christ our Reconciliation”. The Eucharistic Congress will be taking place in Dublin about that time. So we need to keep that in view as well.

That’s all for now, have a good week.
Fr. Joe

Newsletter - March 25, 2012