'Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest.'

'Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened and I will give you rest.'

The words from the lips of Jesus in today's Gospel.

The heaviest weight that any of us carry is our sins. St Augustine comments, 'Jesus tells people who are sweating under heavy and useless burdens, "Come to me . . . and I will give you rest." Every time we confess our sins we are liberated, we are freed, because our sins, even venial sins, are repugnant to God and a burden for ourselves.'

Jesus invites us to take this yoke and exchange it for the burden of our sins; 'my yoke is easy . . .'

When we examine our conscience carefully we will find that we have much to confess. Let us ask Our Blessed Lady, refuge of sinners, to lead us regularly to the Sacrament of Confession.

Our Lady, refuge of sinners, pray for us.

If you ask for anything in my name I will do it . . .

'If you ask for anything in my name I will do it.'

This is the final sentence in the Gospel for today's Mass; Jesus always brings us consolation. He intercedes for us in Heaven and promises that everything we ask for in His name He will give us.

To ask for something in His name means to have faith in His mercy, it means asking Him for both human and supernatural things that are good for our salvation.

The Magisterium of the Church teaches 'That everybody should have firm hope in God's assistance. For if we are faithful to grace, just as God begins in us the work of our salvation, He will bring it to completion.'

Sacred Heart of Jesus, we put our trust in thee.

Gone fishing . . .

I was struck by today's Gospel . . .

Leaving Jerusalem for Galilee as Jesus had told them, they arrive near or at the same place where He had found them and invited them to follow Him. They had returned to their work . . . they had gone fishing, 'but that night they caught nothing.'

In the morning Jesus stood on the shore, the disciples did not know it was Jesus . . . they still didn't recognise Him. Then He speaks, 'Friends, have you caught anything?' They reply, ' No' and at His instruction they cast their net and haul in a huge catch of fish.

During the night, on their own, they laboured in vain; in the light when it was morning and at the word of God their nets were completely filled.

It is exactly the same for ourselves; in the absence of Christ there is emptiness. Through His word and in His light we bear fruit in abundance.

A great disappointment for any of us is when we cannot hear or see Christ because we are in the dark in our sins.

When we regularly receive the Sacrament of Confession we will always be in the light of Christ and bear much fruit.

God's Grace . . .

In today's Gospel Our Lord tells us how a seed grows when it is sown in the ground. The seed will grow independently whether the sower is awake or asleep.

God's seed of grace will grow in our souls in the same way if we do not put up barriers or obstacles in its way. It's God who gives the growth. God always gives us His grace to help us to be faithful.

We must never become discouraged at our apparent failures; we will frequently have to start again and again with our good resolutions.

God may indeed permit our failures in order to help us to trust Him more.

Nothing is impossible for God.

All Saints Day . . .

'Let us all rejoice in the Lord and keep a festival in honour of all the saints.

Let us join with the angels in joyful praise to the Son of God.' (Entrance Antiphon)

On this feast of All Saints we rejoice and ask the intercession of 'the huge number, impossible to count' who have reached heaven. They strove to practice the Beatitudes which Our Lord sets before us in today's Gospel.

Each year the Church recognises many saints of every age; as we have recourse to them we ask their intercession for our many needs.

It is a source of comfort to realise that people with whom we talked and spent time with are now contemplating the face of God. We continue to be united to them through the Communion of Saints.

Today we make St Teresa's prayer our own:

'O holy ones who knew how to prepare so delightful an inheritance, help us now that you are so near the fount of all holiness. Draw water for those of us who are perishing of thirst.'

See that you are dressed for action and have your lamps lit . . .

'See that you are dressed for action and have your lamps lit.'

These words Our Lord addresses to each of us in today's Gospel. Our Lord reminds us that our attitude should be like one about to set out on an important journey, or like one who is preparing to meet an important guest.

Our lives, as Catholics should not be marked out by apathy, indifference or neglect. These are two very good reasons for saying that; firstly the devil never takes a holiday, 'your enemy, the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.'

Secondly, the lover is never asleep; when one loves another, the hearts are always alive in eager expectation. Jesus asks us for our love, He visits us many times throughout the day, it would be a pity to be lethargic or sleepy and be unable to greet Him.

Our daily challenge is to listen with a keen ear for the His footsteps.

Our daily struggle even in small things will help to strengthen us to come closer to Christ, on the other hand our indifference, apathy and lukewarmness leave way for the entry of the enemy.

We ask Our Blessed Lady to help us to be vigilant and prayerful at all times.

Hail, Mary, full of grace . . .

Who is my neighbour? . . .

In the Gospel of today's Mass Our Lord teaches us who our neighbour is, and how we should live in charity towards others. This parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the most beautiful and moving in the Gospels.

Some of the Fathers of the Church have identified Christ as the Good Samaritan. St Augustin commenting on this parable identifies the man who falls into the hands of robbers as a symbol of humanity wounded as it is by original sin, and indeed personal sin.

St Bede commenting on the same parable writes that Sins are called 'wounds' because they destroy the integrity of human nature. The robbers or thieves represent the devil, our own unrestrained desires, and so on.

The Levite and priest symbolise the Old Covenant, which cannot 'cure' these wounds. The inn symbolises the Church.

From today's Gospel Jesus teaches us that our neighbour is whoever happens to be near us, regardless of race, colour, creed or political view.

We should do what we can to alleviate our neighbour's suffering.

Lord, help us never to fail you in our neighbour.

Marriage and family life . . .

In today’s Gospel we meet Jesus as He is approached by some Pharisees who ‘were testing him’. They asked Jesus to give a judgement on the Law of Moses; they said, Moses allowed us 'to draw up a writ of dismissal and so to divorce’. Moses indeed did permit divorce because of the ‘hardness of heart’ of the chosen people.

A woman at that time could be dismissed by her husband for virtually any reason.

In this scene Jesus avails of the opportunity to affirm the indissolubility of marriage as originally planned at creation. He quotes the words of Genesis from the First Reading, ‘For this reason a man leaves father and mother and joins himself to his wife, and they become one body’.

Our Lord very clearly states that the unity and indissolubility of marriage had been established from the beginning. The disciples were surprised at this teaching and asked Jesus to explain it further. He said to them, ‘whoever divorces his wife and remarries commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery’, it would be impossible to express it more clearly.

Yet how is it possible that there are Catholics who call into doubt this teaching on marriage and continue to consider themselves followers of Christ?

John Paul II in his Apostolic Exhortation, Familiaris Consortio says,

‘Being rooted in the permanent and total self-giving of the couple, and being required by the good of the children, the indissolubility of marriage finds its ultimate truth in the plan that God has manifested in his revelation. He wills and He communicates the indissolubility of marriage as a fruit, a sign and a requirement of the absolute faithful love that God has for man and that the Lord Jesus has for the Church.’ The bond of marriage can be broken only by death; it is an image of the bond between Christ and his Mystical Body.’

The stability and dignity of marriage is of the greatest importance to the futures of our families, of our children, and of society generally. When matrimony is corrupted then our society is seriously ill.

Today we pray in a special way for families and family life.

'I was sick and you visited me . . .

'And he sent them out to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal.'

In today's Gospel, Jesus sent out His disciples to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

The Church has always recommended that the faithful undertake corporal works of mercy, especially that of visiting the sick. The Church also encourages us to follow and imitate Our Lord who showed so much concern and compassion for the sick during His life on earth.

Jesus taught the disciples to see the sick in a new way: 'I was sick and you visited me.' Each time we take care of a sick person we take care of Christ,Himself; each time we visit a sick person, we visit Christ, Himself. 'As long as you did it to one of these, the least of my brothers, you did it to me.'

Let us try to be more attentive to the sick in our midst, for it is Christ Himself we minister to in every sick person.

Don't hide your light . . .

'No one lights a lamp to cover it with a towel or to put it under a bed.'

This is a sentence from today's Gospel and are the words from the lips of Our Lord.

He is speaking to us of our responsibility as His followers. As followers of Christ we are expected to light up the place where we work and live; we should give off light; if we do not we are like a lamp concealed under a vessel.

Our responsibility as followers of Christ begins in the Sacrament of Baptism and is reaffirmed in the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Let us ask ourselves today about our example to those with whom we live, in the place where we work, and in our social activities.

Do these people see in us the light which illumes the path that takes us to God?

Do these same people feel encouraged to lead better lives?

"It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."

Following on from yesterday's Gospel, Jesus speaks to his disciples about material possessions.

As the rich young man went away 'sad' the disciples looked on with sorrow in their hearts. Jesus chose that very moment to say to the disciples, 'it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven' and He repeats it saying, 'it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.'

If we fill our hearts with the material things of this world it is impossible to have a real and meaningful relationship with Christ. Material possessions may help us to reach Christ but we cannot make our possessions our god.

'Our hearts are restless until they rest in Christ.'

Do I value the needs of my soul more than the needs of my body?

"Good Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

The scene pictured in today's Gospel is when a young man comes and kneels before Jesus and asks that question, 'Good Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?'

This rich young man had a desire to give himself, to love more . . . maybe he was unhappy with his life.

Jesus tells him to keep the commandments, and the young man replies that he has obeyed them, and asks what he is lacking. This is indeed the question that many people ask when they recognise that something is missing in their lives.

Jesus is instructing the young man to leave behind all of his possessions, that is the invitation to empty his heart of its possessions and to fill it with things of God; in other words to exchange a love of worldly possessions for love of Christ.

But the young man was not generous and went away sad; he chose to keep his riches which he could enjoy for a few years and lost his opportunity to have Jesus whom he would have forever.

Jesus meets us very often at the pathways of life, He asks a lot from us so as to give us more.

It may happen that Our Lord will invite us to follow Him more closely, without leaving our position in this world. Our Lord asks us to give of our best at all times no matter what our vocation.

Vocation is the most important aspect of our lives. When we've found our vocation it should occupy all our energies with the help of God's grace.

Repent ...

'... Repent, and believe the Good News.' (Mark 1:15)

In the closing words of Sunday's Gospel reading Jesus urges us to repent of our sins; a reminder to us that when we sin we are damaging our relationship with God.

This theme echoes the words used by our Bishop, Kieran in his pastoral letter which we heard the previous Sunday.

'There are forty days of Lent. There is time to think, to prepare and to make time for this precious opportunity to refresh our relationship with God, the one we call our Father.'

Let us look at the Sacrament of Confession anew in our preparation for the Great Feast of Easter.

Times for Confession in the parish:

Saturdays: 10.30 am - 11.30 am

5.00 pm - 6.00 pm

After each Mass on the first Sunday of every month.

And at call.

Lenten Reconciliation Service: Tuesday 31st March at 7.30 pm here at St Ann's.