Llandudno -
Our Lady Star of
the Sea
Parish Priest: Fr Antony Jones STL - Telephone: 01492 860546
Sunday, August 5th 2007 - Eighteenth of Ordinary Time (C)
Parish Priest: Fr Antony Jones STL - Telephone: 01492 860546
Sunday, August 5th 2007 - Eighteenth of Ordinary Time (C)
Dear
Parishioner,
Last Sunday, at the 9:30am Mass, I reflected with you on the meaning of the Our Father, which was the teaching of Our Lord in that day’s Gospel. I would like to remind you in this newsletter of what we thought about then, so that you can, if the Spirit so moves you, spend time with it in quiet reflection.
There are two things to notice in general about the Lord’s Prayer. First, that it is the Lord’s prayer, in other words, it was Christ who composed it. As such it is the most perfect expression of prayer, of what a human being should be saying to God.
It follows from this that if the aspirations in my heart are in accordance with the aspirations expressed in the Lord’s Prayer, then I am at heart the kind of person God, my Creator and Redeemer, wants me to be. This means that if I can so mould my life that I can mean with utter sincerity what I say in the Our Father, then I will be a Christian in the fullest sense of that word.
Our Father. The words on the lips of those who recognise that the Almighty God and Creator of the Universe has become, through Christ, their very own Father. To have this conviction at the heart of our spirituality is to be truly Christ-like – for so precisely had He. So close was his relationship with his Father that he always called Him Abba (Daddy). The Lord’s Prayer thus keeps before our minds the awareness of this wonderful relationship we enjoy with God as well as that brother/sister relationship we have with others, for, by calling God Our Father, we recognise that all people, no matter their colour or creed, are children of the same Father as ourselves.
Hallowed be thy Name. May your name be held holy. God revealed his name at the very beginning of the history of salvation to Moses at the burning bush – Yahweh. But at the end of that history of salvation he revealed his name fully – Jesus. Jesus the Christ. Jesus, before whom the Angels and Archangels prostrate themselves in continuous adoration, while here below we hear that sacred Name taken so often in vain. Are we passionate that the Lord’s Name be held holy? Are we angry when we hear blasphemy on radio and television, as his Name is ridiculed and demeaned?
Thy Kingdom come. The Kingdom that Jesus preached is the Church, the Church that finds its fullest expression in the Catholic Church. Do we cherish in our hearts the hope that one day all men and women may come to know our Lord Jesus Christ in and through the Church? Do we really long for the day when everyone will be united with us at the table of the Eucharist, worshipping God in precisely the way he wants to be worshipped and finding themselves united with God in that sublime state we call holy communion? Do we long to see the teaching and justice of Jesus Christ observed throughout the world? Do we pray for the Pope? For the missionaries who seek to spread the Good News to those who have never heard it? Mankind, united intimately with God, united with one another and living in peace and justice - this is the Kingdom of God for which Christ prayed and for the coming of which we must passionately long.
Thy will be done. Do we passionately care that the will of God be done in each one of us and in society at large? Does it bother us that our government blithely passes legislation which is clean contrary to the will of God? Do we really want to see right and justice prevail in the world?
Give us this day our daily bread. Not give me this day my daily bread. Us. The poor men sleeping in the caves on the Orme. The pot bellied children of the Third World. Are we as passionate about them as we are about our own wellbeing?
Forgive us our trespasses. Are we passionately concerned that we stand at rights with God? That our sins are forgiven? When did we last go to confession?
As we forgive those who trespass against us. As disciples of Christ who turned the other cheek and prayed for those who drove six-inch nails through his hands and his feet, do we forgive as He did or do we hold our petty grudges?
And lead us not into temptation. Are we passionately concerned that we should never get into a situation whereby we could lose our faith in Christ? Do we hold our discipleship of Christ as our greatest treasure, the Church as our most valued possession?
Thus, the Lord’s Prayer expresses what God wants us to say and therefore expresses the deepest aspirations that should inhabit our hearts. The prayer becomes a challenge to us every time we say it.
The Vigil Mass next Saturday at 5:30pm will be our Mass for the Sick. You will remember that we hold this Mass on the Saturday nearest to the feast of Our Lady’s Assumption, which is the following Wednesday. May I remind you again that this Mass of Anointing is for the walking wounded of our parish? You don’t need to be in hospital or housebound to be in need to this great Sacrament, one of Christ’s most wonderful gifts to his Church. It will be followed by refreshments in Stella Maris. The SVP have once again kindly agreed to ferry here as many of the housebound of the parish as possible.
Thanks to all who were able to attend the Volunteers’ Party last Thursday. It was a very gentle evening and I think everyone enjoyed it thoroughly. Thanks, again, to John and Sara Dennison for organising it.
God bless you,
Fr Antony Jones
Last Sunday, at the 9:30am Mass, I reflected with you on the meaning of the Our Father, which was the teaching of Our Lord in that day’s Gospel. I would like to remind you in this newsletter of what we thought about then, so that you can, if the Spirit so moves you, spend time with it in quiet reflection.
There are two things to notice in general about the Lord’s Prayer. First, that it is the Lord’s prayer, in other words, it was Christ who composed it. As such it is the most perfect expression of prayer, of what a human being should be saying to God.
It follows from this that if the aspirations in my heart are in accordance with the aspirations expressed in the Lord’s Prayer, then I am at heart the kind of person God, my Creator and Redeemer, wants me to be. This means that if I can so mould my life that I can mean with utter sincerity what I say in the Our Father, then I will be a Christian in the fullest sense of that word.
Our Father. The words on the lips of those who recognise that the Almighty God and Creator of the Universe has become, through Christ, their very own Father. To have this conviction at the heart of our spirituality is to be truly Christ-like – for so precisely had He. So close was his relationship with his Father that he always called Him Abba (Daddy). The Lord’s Prayer thus keeps before our minds the awareness of this wonderful relationship we enjoy with God as well as that brother/sister relationship we have with others, for, by calling God Our Father, we recognise that all people, no matter their colour or creed, are children of the same Father as ourselves.
Hallowed be thy Name. May your name be held holy. God revealed his name at the very beginning of the history of salvation to Moses at the burning bush – Yahweh. But at the end of that history of salvation he revealed his name fully – Jesus. Jesus the Christ. Jesus, before whom the Angels and Archangels prostrate themselves in continuous adoration, while here below we hear that sacred Name taken so often in vain. Are we passionate that the Lord’s Name be held holy? Are we angry when we hear blasphemy on radio and television, as his Name is ridiculed and demeaned?
Thy Kingdom come. The Kingdom that Jesus preached is the Church, the Church that finds its fullest expression in the Catholic Church. Do we cherish in our hearts the hope that one day all men and women may come to know our Lord Jesus Christ in and through the Church? Do we really long for the day when everyone will be united with us at the table of the Eucharist, worshipping God in precisely the way he wants to be worshipped and finding themselves united with God in that sublime state we call holy communion? Do we long to see the teaching and justice of Jesus Christ observed throughout the world? Do we pray for the Pope? For the missionaries who seek to spread the Good News to those who have never heard it? Mankind, united intimately with God, united with one another and living in peace and justice - this is the Kingdom of God for which Christ prayed and for the coming of which we must passionately long.
Thy will be done. Do we passionately care that the will of God be done in each one of us and in society at large? Does it bother us that our government blithely passes legislation which is clean contrary to the will of God? Do we really want to see right and justice prevail in the world?
Give us this day our daily bread. Not give me this day my daily bread. Us. The poor men sleeping in the caves on the Orme. The pot bellied children of the Third World. Are we as passionate about them as we are about our own wellbeing?
Forgive us our trespasses. Are we passionately concerned that we stand at rights with God? That our sins are forgiven? When did we last go to confession?
As we forgive those who trespass against us. As disciples of Christ who turned the other cheek and prayed for those who drove six-inch nails through his hands and his feet, do we forgive as He did or do we hold our petty grudges?
And lead us not into temptation. Are we passionately concerned that we should never get into a situation whereby we could lose our faith in Christ? Do we hold our discipleship of Christ as our greatest treasure, the Church as our most valued possession?
Thus, the Lord’s Prayer expresses what God wants us to say and therefore expresses the deepest aspirations that should inhabit our hearts. The prayer becomes a challenge to us every time we say it.
The Vigil Mass next Saturday at 5:30pm will be our Mass for the Sick. You will remember that we hold this Mass on the Saturday nearest to the feast of Our Lady’s Assumption, which is the following Wednesday. May I remind you again that this Mass of Anointing is for the walking wounded of our parish? You don’t need to be in hospital or housebound to be in need to this great Sacrament, one of Christ’s most wonderful gifts to his Church. It will be followed by refreshments in Stella Maris. The SVP have once again kindly agreed to ferry here as many of the housebound of the parish as possible.
Thanks to all who were able to attend the Volunteers’ Party last Thursday. It was a very gentle evening and I think everyone enjoyed it thoroughly. Thanks, again, to John and Sara Dennison for organising it.
God bless you,
Fr Antony Jones