PARISH BULLETIN St Kieran Catholic

Church in Campbeltown and Islay

4th February 2018

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Psalm response Bless the Lord my soul who heals the broken-hearted.

Gospel acclamation Alleluia, alleluia! He took our sickness away, and carried our

diseases for us. Alleluia! Communion Antiphon

Let them thank the Lord for his mercy, his wonders for the children of men, for he satisfies the thirsty soul, and the

hungry he fills with good things.

St. Kieran’s

Tuesday – Wednesday Holy Mass 10.00 am

Thursday No Mass

Friday Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament 6.00 pm

Holy Mass 6.30 pm

Saturday Vigil Mass 6.00 pm

Sunday Holy Mass 10.00 am

Sacrament of Reconciliation: Saturday 5.30-6.00pm

Islay

Ash Wednesday: Liturgy of the Word and the distribution of Ashes, 6.30 pm

frtony@stkieransrc.org www.stkieransrc.org https://www.facebook.com/campbeltownrcchurch/

A Parish of the R.C. Diocese of Argyll and the Isles; Charitable Trust, a registered Scottish Charity, SC002876 Parish Priest: Fr. A. Wood, St. Kieran’s, Campbeltown; Tel. 01586 55216

I HAD A CHOICE:

TO BE ANGRY WITH

GOD FOR WHAT I

DON’T HAVE OR TO

BE GRATEFUL FOR

WHAT I HAVE. Nick Vujicic

Invest just five minutes a day, and your faith will deepen and grow — a day at a time.

Monday, Feb 05, 2018 MEMORIAL OF SAINT AGATHA, VIRGIN, MARTYR Inner peace be with you It’s stories like that of Agatha, a young virgin from Sicily (d. 251) who was tortured by having her breasts cut off, that make following in the footsteps of the saints seem so, well, horrible. But what’s often missing from popular accounts of the lives of saints is their ability to find God, and therefore joy, in all things — including those experiences that an observer might consider unbearable. Today as we contemplate our own voluntary deprivations during the quickly approaching season of Lent, we can glimpse the inner peace that conquers hardship when our intention is, as Agatha put it, that “Christ possess alone all that I am.”

TODAY'S READINGS: 1 Kings 8:1-7, 9-13; Mark 6:53-56. “They . . . began to bring in the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.”

Tuesday, Feb 06, 2018 MEMORIAL OF SAINTS PAUL MIKI AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS Give your all Japanese-born Paul Miki (1562-97) was baptized at the age of 5. A man of his culture with a profound knowledge of Buddhism, he made an effective and affectionate preacher among the Japanese. When his fellow Jesuits were expelled from Japan, he remained and was eventually crucified with 25 others in Nagasaki. For each generation of Christians the demands of faith and the promises of Christ remain the same: Love God and love one another and you will live in love eternally.

TODAY'S READINGS: 1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30; Mark 7:1-13. “You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition.”

Wednesday, Feb 07, 2018 What’s for break-fast? With the season of Lent and its practice of fasting arriving next week, it’s a little puzzling to remember that Jesus was a great breaker of fasts and violator of religious food rules — that was one thing that got him into trouble with the authorities. His followers gathered grain on the Sabbath because they were hungry. He ate with sinners and outcasts. He did not simply follow the rules, but for a purpose: to show how the rules should not control but rather serve to bring a person into a more loving relationship with God and neighbour. What makes a person holy is not external observance but internal faith and love, which leads to right behaviour.

TODAY'S READINGS: 1 Kings 10:1-10; Mark 7:14-23. “Everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile . . . . But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles.”

Thursday, Feb 08, 2018

MEMORIAL OF SAINT JEROME EMILIANI Let the children come Born into a noble family, Jerome Emiliani (1481-1537) led the life of a carefree and dissolute soldier. After being captured and imprisoned, however, he underwent a conversion. Upon release he began devoting his resources to overseeing the educations of his nephews and caring for the sick and poor. Eventually he dedicated himself to abandoned children, of whom he is now the patron saint. Jerome helps us to remember that unwanted children are all around us, and that all children need care and support.

TODAY'S READINGS: 1 Kings 11:4-13; Mark 7:24-30. “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

Friday, Feb 09, 2018 Embody mercy Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology that proposes that human beings must have their basic physical and emotional needs met before they can realize their fullest potential. Catholics are expected to help others satisfy those needs through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, which include feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, and visiting the sick as well as teaching those who lack education, forgiving offenses willingly, and comforting the afflicted. Through works of mercy the world gets closer to reaching its fullest potential. Let’s all get to work!

TODAY'S READINGS: 1 Kings 11:29-32; 12:19; Mark 7:31-37. “He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Saturday, Feb 10, 2018 MEMORIAL OF SAINT SCHOLASTICA, VIRGIN Devote yourself from beginning to end We know few facts about Saint Scholastica: She lived in Italy in the fifth and sixth centuries, was the sister of Saint Benedict, became a nun and a prioress, and helped found Benedictine monasticism. Yet, thanks to two brief comments by Saint Gregory the Great, we know volumes about how she lived her life. Of her childhood Gregory wrote: “She was devoted to God from a very early age,” and a few paragraphs later he added that when she died “her soul ascended into heaven in the likeness of a dove.” Though seemingly innocuous, these comments are like bookends of Scholastica’s existence and give us a sense of the rich content of her biography. As you think about your life’s journey, what do your bookends look like?

TODAY'S READINGS: 1 Kings 12:26-32; 13:33-34; Mark 8:1-10. “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd.”

Readings for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time Job 7:1-4, 6-7

Job laments the futility of human existence.

Psalm 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

God heals the broken-hearted and sustains the poor.

1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23

Paul describes the passionate role of the preacher.

Mark 1:29-39

Jesus is ever on the move, proclaiming the Good News from town to town.

Anointing – sacramental therapy for the sick

The principle aim for the anointing of the sick is not preparation for

death, nor healing, nor forgiveness, neither is it sanctifying illness – as

we sometimes think. This sacrament is to lead those who are ill to an

authentic meeting with Christ in suffering.

Disease and death, as the effects of sin, remain inseparable from earthly

life. However, imitating the behaviour of Christ, the sick can accept the

pain and suffering of illness and give it a supernatural meaning. The

sacramental life helps in this.

A Sacrament for the living, and not the dead

Extreme unction, the last rites – sound like a death sentence. It is no

surprise that the sick and their families fear this term. In serious cases they

delay calling the priest until death is confirmed, so as to “not upset the

person” – as it is often explained later. And in this way we deprive a sick,

and often dying person, the greatest comfort and strength in this difficult

stage of life. Generally a sick person is aware of their condition and wants

comfort and hope, and not to be cheated. Whereas it is most often the

healthy who are most afraid of thinking about suffering and eventual death

and therefore don’t want to hear or talk about the priest and the sacrament

of anointing.

The proper name of this rite is the anointing of sick, and not the last rites.

The sacrament for the dying is called VIATICUM and is actually given in

the last stage before death, while anointing of the sick can be received

many times, even regularly a few times a year, over years.

The principle aim for the anointing of the sick is not preparation for death,

nor healing, nor forgiveness, neither is it sanctifying illness – as we

sometimes think. Yes, of course, these effects may appear at the

celebration of the sacrament, but they are in a way side effects of the work

of grace, and not a primary or independent aim. The real aim of the

sacrament of the sick is to lead the sick to an authentic meeting with Christ

in their suffering, so this suffering is brought to a union with the suffering

of Christ and gives it a supernatural meaning. Only by the light of faith and

the saving work of the cross may illness and death be accepted. By

themselves they have no power nor any sanctifying or saving value. Quite

the opposite: they are the most painful effects of sin and should not be

extolled or glorified, but fought and overpowered. And this can only be

done by Christ and this is why those who are ill need to entrust themselves

to Christ.

In the administration of the sacrament of the sick the most important thing

is to overcome fear and reluctance in the face of serious illness, and

especially death. The sacraments are for the living, and not for the dead.

After confirmation of death, the sacrament can no longer be given. A priest

can then, just as anyone else, only pray for the deceased, nothing more.

This is why we do not wait for the last breath of our loved ones. So, it is

best to ensure in the instance of a serious illness or a deterioration in health

of a sick person, that they receive anointing immediately, and the elderly

regularly, e.g. on the world day of prayer for the sick, or when the priest

periodically visits with Holy Communion.

Oil is not “a wonder ointment”

At the other extreme of misunderstanding, the sacrament of anointing is

treated as a healing ointment of miraculous action – a wonder oil.

‘Miraculous actions’ are only found in medications advertised in

magazines, but sometimes we bring this blissful notion to the action of the

sacrament of the sick. It can seem to us that the visit from the priest should

result in an immediate improvement in the state of health, if not the

complete healing of the sick person. We expect that anointing will

immediately and certainly “help”. Anointing cannot be treated as an

alternative or in competition to medical means. It is not one more remedy

to be applied to achieve a cure or even just an improvement in health.

All the more reason not to equate the sacrament of anointing with a

magical action or therapy, and an automatic effect. Only Jesus can heal and

most often He does through natural means or the normal use of medical

treatment and medicines, which have to be accompanied by our faith and

prayer. The sacrament is a sign that Jesus is with the sick, that He stands at

their side and wants their good, that the spirit is healed and the whole

person is saved – which is not always equate to an external cure.

Because sometimes there are no external or immediate effects, we therefore

doubt the effectiveness of anointing. These doubts we can also transfer to

God. We think He could and should help us, and since a cure has not

occurred we come to the conclusion that it appears God is powerless, and

the sacrament does nothing. Both conclusions are false and are evidence of

a mistaken understanding of the intentions and actions of God. God never

promised man that He would cure all illness. Even Jesus who miraculously

healed so many people did not eliminate disease form the world. It is only

through His resurrection that He has accomplished the final victory, but the

full fruits of this victory will be revealed in the life to come. Disease and

death, as the result of sin, remain an inseparable attribute of earthly life. As

long as there is sin, there is a broken world.

The sacrament of victory over fear

Not only as a minister of the sacrament of the sick, but also as a recipient,

there is one thing I can be sure of: spiritual healing and its specific effects.

Trying to imitate the attitude of Christ as a sick person I am able in some

way to accept whatever pain, physical or mental, there is and transform it

into saving suffering, that is a sacrifice freely offered to God. I then leave

behind the disheartening mindset that focuses on my misfortune in favour

of reaching out to and clinging to Christ Crucified and Raised. This helps

me to be liberated from loneliness, despair and discouragement, seeing life

from the perspective of the eternal.

Probably the worst thing in illness is fear for myself, the future, and the

fear of what comes before death. This fear affects not only me, the sick

person, but also encompasses those closest to me, and affects them more

than the illness itself. In this way every serious illness, and especially life-

threatening ones, are infectious and can cause an epidemic of fear and

uncertainty in family and friends. The feeling of my own powerlessness,

the awareness that the illness marks the beginning of an end, uncertainty

about the future (in this life and the next!), gives rise to an unobserved,

subjective pain, which those closest also experience. For this type of pain

medicine does know of any remedy.

Whereas faith has such a remedy. This remedy is hope in life eternal. The

limitations of illness and death do not limit human life. Illness becomes

merely another way to experience the closeness of Christ, and death is

merely the way we access another way of existing, the start of a new stage

– eternity, the eternal love of God. God loves us with an unlimited love and

in this love He wants to give us a dwelling place. Here on earth everything

ends conclusively, sometimes in very tragic circumstances, but only so as

to begin in a totally new way with God.

Being anointed with oil is a sign that Christ takes me as it were in to His

own possession, under His care. From then nothing evil can reach me,

because I am His. But so that I receive this blessing provided through

anointing I have to receive and experience it with faith. And it is not just

about faith in its practical effects, but faith in Christ, in entrusting my

whole self into His hands.

The “active substance” of anointing is faith

Once again I want to underline, that it is not illness which saves, neither

does the sacrament, but Christ, and the salvation, which we receive and

become participants in, is through faith. Sacraments are essentially

sacraments of faith and only in the spirit of faith is their action effective.

Faith enriches and provides for a person, not only in reaching eternity, but

also in our worldly lives. It provides the environment for the action of the

sacrament, like a psychological background for the fruitful celebration of

anointing. Such faith Jesus needed when He had someone to heal.

Rites and formulas alone, that is the sacramental ritual, must be

complemented with the spiritual commitment of the participants, and the

primary commitment belongs to the priest as dispenser and spiritual guide.

So, his attitude has to clearly confirm what is happening and what is set out

in the form of the sacrament: “may the Lord in his love and mercy help you

with the grace of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord who frees you from sin

save you and raise you up”. If we truly believe in the reality which is in

these words, they become a perceived fact. This reality does not necessarily

mean miraculous healing, but it will consist of support, redemption,

forgiveness and raising the sick person’s spirits.

Such an atmosphere of prayer full of faith can accomplish real healing of

the sick. How it specifically looks from the external side, will depend on

what God decides. But it would be an unforgivable mistake if our pettiness

was an obstacle to God’s action and sacramental efficacy.

A. Wood

The Holy Father’s prayer intention for February

Universal: Say ‘No’ to Corruption. That those who have material, political or spiritual power may resist any lure of corruption.

PrayersPlease pray for all those who are in need or have asked for our prayers: Willy Robertson, Russell Carroll, Robert Boyce, Maureen McLaughlin, Mary Wareham. Please remember in your prayers all whose anniversaries occur at his time.

News and EventsNancy Glen: anyone who wishes to donate to the fund held by the Clyde Fishermen’s Trust to raise the Nancy Glen and support the families can do so via their JustGiving page - https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/nancyglencampaign or if you do not have internet access, donate in an envelop labelled Nancy Glen and put it in the collection. Family Retreat – 16th – 18th March, based at Craig Lodge. Contact 01838 200 216, mail@craiglodge.org. See poster in porch. Tea and coffee in the hall after Sunday Mass. Next Sunday: will be the World Day of the Sick. The sacrament of

anointing will available for anyone who has a serious illness, a chronic illness, whose health is deteriorating, who is elderly, during Mass (Vigil and Sunday). Those who wish to be anointed at home should let Fr. Tony know. of the Sick 2018