Newsletter - Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St Patrick

7th August 2016
19th Sunday
in Ordinary Time
Our Lady of Mount Carmel & St Patrick
Newsletter
H
FAITH IN FOCUS:
SCRUNGE
appy
those servants
whom, the master finds
awake
when he returns.
Luke 12: 37
Pope Francis has urged us throughout this Year of Mercy
to recognize Jesus in everyone who needs help or healing,
compassion or care, and be like servants ready to open our
hearts immediately in loving service. ‘What sort of
steward,’ Jesus asks, ‘is faithful and wise enough for the
master to place him over his household? . . . Happy that
servant’ Today’s liturgy invites us once more to renewal.
The Letter to the Hebrews
There is a small block of readings from Hebrews (Sundays
19-22) this year. This letter was not written by Paul as once
thought. Its author is unknown but its title tells us to
whom it was written and so is full of references to the Old
Testament.
Theme: Faith The main teaching of the texts selected
for these next few weeks (Chapters 11-12) is Faith. The
example that the writer gives in today’s section is
Abraham, strongly supported by his wife Sarah. The last
selection, on Sunday 22, is the culmination of the letter,
looking to the heavenly Jerusalem as our goal.
Next Sunday…… Feast of the
Assumption
This Holyday, traditionally 15th August,
falls on Monday this year and so is
transferred to the Sunday.
Our faith proclaims that because Mary
gave flesh to God’s Son, the author of
all life, she was assumed body and soul
to share Jesus’ victory over death. She
is thus the beginning and image of what
the whole Church will one day be: a sign
of sure hope to us, God’s pilgrim people, still on our journey toward the kingdom of heaven.
f you were having a competition for ugly-sounding
words then “scrunge” would be a strong contender.
What does it mean? I don’t know, but you can tell from
its sound that it won’t be anything pleasant.
(Actually it doesn’t exist!)
Some words are off-putting. “Stewardship” sounds so
stuffy and institutional. It’s the sort of word we give a
wide berth to because it sounds rather boring and
overly religious. Yet today’s gospel has Christ
reminding us that we are all called to exercise
stewardship over what God has given us.
It’s easy to talk about global stewardship, about
saving the planet for our children and grandchildren.
It’s easy because it doesn’t necessarily bite home in
our lives. But stewardship is much closer to home
than global warming and carbon footprints. It’s about
how we use the ordinary things in our life.
How do we use our time? What are our priorities?
Is my time mine or am I aware that I am given it to do
good with? Am I generous with my time? They say that
if you want something doing urgently then ask a busy
person. Maybe that’s because people who pack lots
into their time are aware of how much needs to be
done, whereas the couch potato can never quite “get
round to it”. If my time is valuable then do I use
most of it on valuable things?
How do I use my talents? God has never made anyone
without talents. Are you even aware of what yours are or
do you falsely stay in the background pretending not to
have gifts and talents that can be put to the service of
others? Do you hide your talents or do you make them
useful by letting others benefit from them?
How do you use your treasure? And what is your
treasure, the thing that really “turns you on”, the
thing that you most value in life, that you would give
anything to defend and would do anything to possess?
Your treasure is what you love most of all in life. God
has given everyone treasure in abundance but it’s
to be used so that others can have a better
quality of life.
Jesus reminds us today that we all have time, talents
and treasure. And he tells us that one day we’ll have to
account for what we’re doing with them because they’re
only on loan. It’s called stewardship.
Parish Priest: Fr John Southworth Parish Office: 27 High Park St, Liverpool L8 8DX Phone: 0151 727 1463
www.mountcarmel-stpatrick.org.uk Email: olmc@rcaolp.co.uk
stpatrick@rcaolp.co.uk
Liverpool Roman Catholic Archdiocesan Trustees Inc Registered Charity No 232709
Newsletter of the Parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel & St Patrick
MASSES AND SERVICES
Missionaries of Charity —Summer Project
The Mother Teresa Sisters will be holding their
annual summer project for Primary School children
in St Patrick’s Church from 1st-16th August, Monday
to Friday from 2-5pm.
St Francis Xavier's College Open Evening for
Year 6 pupils will take place on Tuesday 13th
September 2016 at 6.30pm. Woolton Hill Road,
Liverpool L25 6EG.
In Church this week
Sunday 7th August
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sat 5pm
Sun 9.45am
Sun 11.15am
Monday
9am
John Southworth
Feast of the Week - Monday 8th August
St Dominic
Dominic was A Spanish priest and the founder of the
Order of Preachers, or more commonly known as
Dominicans. He is the patron saint of astronomers.
Our Archbishop, Malcolm McMahon is a member of
the Dominican order so we wish him a happy feast
day.
OLMC
Parishioners
OLMC
No Mass
St Patrick
OLMC
Tuesday
7pm
OLMC
Wednesday
10am
St Patrick
Thursday
10am
St Patrick
Friday
10am
OLMC
Sunday 14th August
Feast of the Assumption
This replaces the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sat 5pm
OLMC
Sun 9.45am
Parishioners
St Patrick
Sun 11.15am
OLMC
Humour in the Bible (cont)
To call the bible comical is not true, but
you would have to be blind and deaf not to
KEEP
realise that there are sections of the bible
CALM
that are intended to be funny. To read the
AND
bible does not mean that you have to be a
GET
A SENSE
killjoy.
OF HUMOUR
The way we read the story of Adam and
Eve tells us a lot about our sense of
humour. The talking snake, the luscious fruit, the husband blaming
the wife, both of them trying to hide from God in the garden, the
sudden realisation that they had no clothes on, is all worthy of any
modern-day farce, while at the same time conveying the most
profound religious teaching about the nature of God and humanity.
The whole of the Book of Jonah is a comedy script. The timid Jonah
is sent to preach in one of the roughest areas of the day. He
deliberately gets a boat going in the opposite direction, gets thrown
overboard by the crew, is swallowed by the “whale” and is belched
up not far from the very place that God had told him to go to. When
he gets there he announces that God will punish the people if they
don’t repent. To make it all worse, the people decide to repent and
God saves them, so he misses out on the great destruction. Angry
with God he goes and sits on a hill, but he ends up under a castor-oil
plant and God sends a worm to eat it so that it withers and Jonah gets
burned.
Next week we will look at the humour Jesus showed in his teaching.
Evening Service 7pm Thursday
Short Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament OLMC
Sacrament of Reconciliation:
Saturday 4-4.30pm
OLMC
Bonus Ball / Mount Carmel and St Patrick
The bonus ball for Wednesday 13th July was no 23
Winners won £30 each
Collections
Many Thanks
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Envelopes £202.14 Loose £174.34Total £376.48
Apostleship of the Sea £131.70
St Patrick
Envelopes £0 Loose £129.23 Total £129.23
Apostleship of the Sea £52.79
Please Pray For….
The sick: Lynn Keane, Christopher Browne, Clifford Browne, Gary Hollinson, Jackie Heath-Anderson, Ted Cunningham, Anne Deuchar, Charlotte Rice,
Patricia (Patsy) Walls, Irene Finneran, Lisa Balshaw, Mary Kewley, Claire Kearney, Ann Menagh, Mair Beck, Lyn Barton, Betty Devine, Tony Jones,
Kathleen Devine, Joseph Baxendale, Ann Chapman, Nadia Kent, Susan Roberts, Alex Sielski, Lee Foster, Paula Lacey, Denise King, John Dunning,
Tommy Huyton, Emily Rolands, Angela Kent, David Majoury, Donald Smith, John & Frances Hutchinson, Pius Laizer, Maria Jones, Mary O’Toole, Sally
Wilkins, Michael Murphy, Gerty Tomley, Margaret Chung, David Stevenson, Thomas & John Paul Conroy, Keith Holden, Kathleen Crowny, Joanne
Fairbrother, Eileen Edwards, Erin Caulfield, Lisa Ginley, Lillian O’Connor, Owen Hall, Anne Brannigan, Thelma Mainwaring, Cheryl and Lenny Hart, Sheila
Chapman, Elaine Gorry, Justin French, Alexandra Reid, Winifred Williamson, Kathryn Reid, Wally Williams, Chrissy White, Nicholas Maher, John Hodson,
Terry Macklin, Muriel Minshull, Peter Benger, Maureen Ryan, Mary Ryan, Regna Lewis, David Shea, Steven Binks ,Teresa Koo, Holly and Lucy Brown.