|
SCRIPTURE
READINGS
|
I Kings |
19:16,
19-21 |
| Psalm |
15 |
| Galatians
|
5:1,
13-18 |
| Luke |
9:51-62 |
DOING
GOD'S WORK
The
prophet Elijah was nearing the end of his life on
earth and God had promised him someone to succeed
him ,
to
be a prophet who would intercede between Yahweh
and his
chosen
people.
Elisha
was a prosperous farmer tilling his land with his
workers and his twelve
yoke of oxen .
But
his plans and ambitions were
as nothing compared to God's plans and ambitions
for Elisha .
He
was to drop
whatever he was doing and become Elijah'
s
servant.
Elijah
himself had had to learn the hard way.
When
he was appointed prophet to lead back the chosen
ones from the evil ways of Baal to the love and
worship of Yahweh ,
he
was invested with miraculous powers ,
but
those powers w
ent
to his head. He lashed out with grea t
s igns
and wonders and he slew the prophets of Baal and
the people were very impressed at his showmanship
but they were not converted .
Elijah
was a failure .
He
wished he were dead.
With
fatherly gentleness God led Elijah back through
the history of His dealings with His
chosen
ones and then He put on a show of strength for Elijah
:
nature
at its most terrifying .
God
revealed Himself to Elijah ,
not
in the sound and fury ,
but
in a gentle breeze ,
and
then He ent him back to do the job properly ,
God's
way. And so Elijah became a great prophet, the restorer
of Yahwism
to Gods ,
chosen
people .
In
today'
s
Gospel James and John ,
nick-named
the sons of thunder,
had
to learn the same lesson :
the
Rambo complex to nuke evil and obliterate the bad
guys is not how our Father deals with us .
He
sent his own Son to be the sacrifice that takes
our sins away .
He
is our rise n
Presence
and we are all
baptised into him to be his prophets in ou r
own
place and in our own
time. Like Elisha, we are elevated to a different
plane of being and we too are gifted with e x
traordinary
power
here today:
summoned
into the Presence to listen and to hear what God
asks of us and to be given the power
to live
it out.
Cardinal
Newman
expresses
it very
well:
God
has created me to do Him some definite service:
He
has committed some work to me which
He has not committed to another.
I
have
my mission -
I
shall never know it
in this life ,
But
I shall be told it in the next .
I
am a link in a chain ,
a
bond of connection between
persons.
He
has not created me for naught. I shall do good ,
I
shall do His work.
I
shall
be an angel of peace,
a
preacher of truth in my
own
place while
not intending it - if I do but keep His commandments.
Therefore
I will trust Him. Whatever
,
wherever
I am, I can never be thrown away.
If
I am in sickness ,
my
sickness may serve Him ;
in
perplexity,
my
perplexity
may serve
him ;
if
I am in
sorrow ,
my
sorrow
may
serve
Him .
He
does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about.
He
may
take
away my friends,
He
may throw me among strangers.
He
may make me feel desolate ,
make
my
spirits
sink ,
hide
my future From me – still He knows what He is about.
Fr
Bill McCurtain, SJ
Mount
Street Jesuit Community
JAPANESE
CATHOLIC COMMUNITY
Many
of our parishioners may not be aware that we have
a Mass in Japanese on the third Sunday of every
month at 12noon in the House Chapel at 114
Mount Street .
This is organized by the Japanese Catholic Community
in London
. Although
not numerous, our Farm
Street
group is very strong and committed. We will have
a chance to meet some of their members at the parish
Garden
Party
on SUNDAY 4th JULY; we also draw your attention
to the notice below.
CONCERT
IN THE CHURCH
The
Japanese Catholic Community invites you to a concert
in support of the Jesuit Refugee Service on WEDNESDAY
14th JULY at 7:30pm
. Harpist
Yuko Tomonaga with ensemble will perform music by
Bach, Respighi, Elgar, Debussy and others. Admission
£10 (students £5). For further information,
contact Mr Matsuo on 0207 240 4250 or see Fr James.
FILIPINO
GROUP
The Farm Street
Filipino Community is a thriving part of our parish
life and continues to expand its activities and
interests. Every first Wednesday of the month at
6:30pm
, there
is a novena to Mother of Perpetual Help in the House
chapel at 114
Mount Street
and there are regular Masses in Tagalog. All these
occasions are capped by a splendid meal. Please
see the notices at the doors for contact details.
JESUS
CHRIST FULNESS OF LIFE
This
is an ecumenical group which we support and it is
made up of people from all ages. We invite you to
join the prayerful worship which the group organizes
once a month. We will meet in the church on the
first Thursday of July, August and September at
7:30pm
and
there will be a fellowship meal at 8:30pm
. Join
us on JULY 1st! For further information, see Fr
William or see their website www.jcfllondon.wordpress.com
.
MEET
YOUR NEIGHBORS
Churches
Together in Westminster
invites
you to visit the French church (Notre Dame de France,
Leicester
Place ,
off Leicester
Square ,
Soho
) on
WEDNESDAY 14th JULY at 6:30pm
. Talk,
tour and refreshments. The event is free. See Fr
William for more information.
LITURGICAL
DATES
TUESDAY
29th JUNE: SS PETER AND PAUL (Holy Day of Obligation.
There will be music at the 6pm Mass.)
FARM
STREET
SUMMER
GARDEN PARTY
AND
OPEN DAY
SUNDAY
4 TH JULY, 12pm – 4pm
We
extend a big invitation to everyone for this popular
annual event. “Bring and share” picnic in Mount
Street Gardens (additional refreshments will be
available). Punch and Judy show, children's games,
cakes and jam, bookstall and a band! Tour of the
church at 3pm , Benediction at 4pm .
Bring friends!
HANDS-ON
HELP FOR THE NEEDY
The
Farm
Street
branch of the St Vincent de Paul Society organizes
a ‘soup-run' for homeless people in the local area
on a Monday evening. New volunteers would be very
welcome. If interested, please come along to 114
Mount Street
any Monday at around 8pm
or
contact Dominic Beary for further information at
svpfarmstreet@gmail.com
.
BOOK
SIGNING
In
1910 Pope St Pius X imposed an oath against Modernism
to be taken by all Catholic priests. At the forefront
of the Modernist movement was an English Jesuit,
Fr George Tyrrell
(at Farm
Street
1896 – 1900). He died excommunicated from the Church.
Fr Oliver Rafferty, SJ is a member of the Mount
Street community and will be signing copies of his
new book George Tyrrell and Catholic Modernism
on SUNDAY 27th JUNE in the Hall following
9:30am and 11am Masses.
VISITING
CHOIR
We
welcome today at the 6:15pm
Mass
the women's choir of Cornelia
Connelly
Catholic
School
from
Anaheim
, California
. The
choir is on tour and will be visiting, among other
venues, Cambridge
and
Dublin
. They
will be performing works by Mozart, Mendelssohn
and Duruflé. If you are at this Mass please
meet the choir and give them a big welcome to our
beautiful church.
PAPAL
VISIT
Material
regarding the Pope's visit is available at the church
doors. Please help yourself. We regret that we are
unable to provide tickets for the Papal events.
ST
IGNATIUS MASS AND CELEBRATION FRIDAY JULY 30th
The
Feast of St Ignatius, Founder of the Jesuits, is
celebrated on the 31st, but in order to ensure that
as many as possible can be with us for the Mass
and reception, we are having a Solemn Mass on Friday
at 6pm
. The
choir will be performing and we will be welcoming
Jesuit alumni and alumnae from all over the world
for a reception in the gardens. A very special event!
OUR
SENIORS
We are receiving
many good ideas regarding our pastoral care for
those who are in the senior years of life and especially
those with limited mobility and other needs. Please
let Fr William know if you have any suggestion.
MOUNT
STREET JESUIT
CENTRE
114
Mount Street , London W1
Bookings
and information:
Lynne
Galloway 020 7495 1673 lynne@mountstreet.info
EXPLORING
PRAYER THROUGH DANCE
SATURDAY
WORKSHOP – 3 rd JuLY
11
am - 4 pm
Led
by Sr LORRAINE PRATT
Using
modern choreography, this workshop involves participants
in exploring the spiritual dimension of dance: ‘a
meditation in movement, where every step becomes
a prayer.' For details see leaflet.
END
OF YEAR COMMUNITY MASS
SUNDAY
11 th JULY at 5pm
in the House Chapel 114, Mount Street. If you have
ever attended any event at the Centre then this
mass is for you, come along and celebrate bring
family and friends. The celebrant will be Fr Holman
SJ our provincial. Drinks and nibbles afterwards.
(Please note change of time from 7pm
, due
to world cup..!)
DEEPENING
OUR AWARENESS OF GOD
WITH
US
FROM
SEPTEMBER 2010 TO JULY 2011
Once
again Fr TONY HORAN SJ is offering his popular course
on the Spirituality of St Ignatius. You can either
apply for the course on Tuesday evenings, 7pm
to 9pm ,
or on Thursday mornings, 11am
to 1pm.
Nearly 100 people have done this course since 2006,
as one of them said, “ The
course is a very special time to reflect, pray,
explore, and share with others. We come together
as a group, sensitively and gently guided -- all
of us seeking to deepen our lives with God. It is
a time for going further into the heart of things,
and for lesser things to fall away.” Application
forms can be obtained from
the MSJC or
at tony.horan@btinternet.com
. Limited number for each course. It is important
to fill in the application form carefully and submit
it by TODAY, JUNE 27th to the above address.
Details
of these programmes can be found in the leaflets
at
the doors of the church.
If
you would like us to put on a course or a one day
workshop on a particular topic of interest to you
now is your opportunity to make your requests.
Please
use Gift-Aid envelopes for your donations if you
are a UK
Tax-payer .
|
