Thoughts
for the Day for 13 to 7 June
are about the Most Holy Trinity.
A
message from Father Duncan on Wednesday
10 June 2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish and
doctors, nurses and care staff. The
Catechism teaches us that 'the mystery of the Most
Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian
faith and of Christian life'. This is because we
are created in the image and likeness of God as
the Bible tells us. Therefore, if God's essential
nature is love, so is ours! We have a built in openness
to other people. We are incomplete by ourselves.
We are created to give ourselves to others and to
receive others. The Father, from all Eternity, loves
the Son and pours himself into the Son and the Son
loves the Father in return - and that mutual love
is so complete that the Holy Spirit proceeds from
it. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your
family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Tuesday 9
June 2020 - Feast of Saint Columba
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish,
the sick and housebound. The
most fundamental and essential characteristic of
the Blessed Trinity is love. Not power, not knowledge,
not transcendence - but love. This explains why
Jesus came to earth in the first place - "God
so loved the world that he gave his only Son so
that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life" (John 3:16). This
also explains what the Holy Trinity is all about.
If God were solitary, how could his nature be love?
Love always means relationship and self-giving.
God is love. Please be assured of my
daily prayers for you and your family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Monday 8 June 2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish,
Hugh and Tommy McEvoy at their anniversaries and
Julia Paterson on her anniversary.
God Is Love Because he Is a Trinity - It's something
we have all heard many times. In fact, we may have
become so used to it that we don't remember how
revolutionary and unique that conception of God
really is. There are many religions in the world
and many of them have come to understand that God
is good - but almost all of them start with man's
search for God. Christianity is different. Christianity
is about God's search for man. When Jesus Christ
came to earth, he came in order to rescue the fallen
human race from evil and bring it to the joys of
eternal life. And so, in Christianity, we have the
privilege of receiving God's own revelation of himself
- he actually shows us, in Christ, who he is and
what he is like.
Please be assured of
my daily prayers for you and your family.
A message from Father Duncan
on Sunday 7 June 2020 - Solemnity of the Most Holy
Trinity
Today, I celebrate Holy Mass
privately for the Parish and Alison Dunn on her
anniversary. There is a
famous story about Saint Augustine who was walking
along the seashore one morning, trying to understand
the Most Holy Trinity. Suddenly he saw ahead of
him a little child playing. The child had made a
hole in the sand and was walking back and forth
between the hole and the ocean. He held a little
shell in his hands. When he reached the ocean, he
would fill the shell up with water. Then he would
carefully carry it back and pour the water into
the hole. He kept on doing this. After a while,
Saint Augustine asked what he was doing. The child
answered "I am going to empty the sea into
that hole which I have dug in the sand." Saint
Augustine laughed out loud. Then he said "Child,
that is quite impossible. Look how big the ocean
is and how small this hole is!" The child looked
at him and answered "And yet, it would be easier
for me to do this than for you to understand the
mystery of the Holy Trinity." And with that,
the child disappeared. Our faith in the Blessed
Trinity is a great mystery, so we must always stay
humble and confident in God, like little children.
Please be assured of my daily prayers for you and
your family.
Thoughts
for the Day for 6 June to 31 May are taken from
The Holy Spirit by Matthew Kelly.
A
message from Father Duncan on Saturday 6 June
2020 - Our Lady's Day
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish and
Nan Donohoe. You have another
decision to make. Are you going to welcome the Holy
Spirit into your life or ignore and reject him?
If you are going to welcome the Holy Spirit, then
prepare yourself to receive him. If you had an important
visitor coming to your home, you would tidy up and
make special preparations. The consequences of embracing
the Holy Spirit are peace, joy, order and purpose.
Please be assured of
my daily prayers for you and your family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Friday 5 June
2020 - Memorial of Saint Boniface
Today, I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish
and Mrs Gallagher who died recently. So,
what are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit?
1 Wisdom - the ability to discern what is true,
right, and lasting. Wisdom enables us to see life
from God's perspective. It helps you to establish
the right priorities in your life, and leads you
to think and act in mature ways.
2 Understanding - allows you to look beyond the
shallowness of the world and see the lasting truth
in every situation by recognising how God is working
in our lives.
3 Counsel - the right judgment that allows us to
see what is right and what is wrong and the prudence
to act accordingly.
4 Fortitude - the courage and strength of will to
do what you know you should, even if that means
personal loss or suffering.
5 Knowledge - the ability to see things from a supernatural
viewpoint, in particular, to know what God is asking
of you.
6 Piety - A loyalty to God that manifests as generous
love and affectionate obedience. This is the gift
that allows you to love and worship God as he deserves
to be loved and worshipped.
7 Fear of the Lord - reverence - helps us to grasp
God's greatness and our dependence on him. As a
result, we are filled with enormous respect for
God and we dread above all offending him or being
separated from him. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your
family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Thursday 4 June
2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish and
Joseph Gibb who died recently.
The Holy Spirit will allow you to maintain joy
even in the midst of suffering. Suffering is an
inevitable part of life. It is easy to be joyful
when things are going well but the Holy Spirit brings
us joy in times of suffering and that is a thing
of beauty. Saint Paul is a perfect example here.
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon
are called the 'prison' epistles because they were
written during Paul's first imprisonment, mentioned
in Acts 28. Throughout these writings he talks about
his joy and all the things he rejoices about. When
you think about the fact that he was in prison for
being Christian and you consider the filthy conditions
of prisons at the time, you have to ask yourself
- what did he have to be joyful about? He was joyful
even in the midst of suffering because he was filled
with the Holy Spirit. All this is what the Holy
Spirit wants to do for you. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your
family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Wednesday
3 June
2020 - Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish and
Theresa McGarvey. The Spirit
of God is within you. This is good news. It means
that you have a power within you that you have not
even begun to comprehend. The Holy Spirit will give
you the courage to face difficult situations. The
Holy Spirit means that you are never alone. He is
always with you, ready to guide you, encourage you,
comfort you and challenge you. The Holy Spirit is
a true friend who always wants what is best for
you. Think about Peter who denied Jesus three times
before his death out of selfish fear - but after
Pentecost he literally risked his life just to let
people know about Jesus. The Holy Spirit doesn't
change us into someone else - he just brings the
best and the most out of us. The Holy Spirit will
help you know and do God's will. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your
family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Tuesday 2 June
2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish and
Michael Collins at his anniversary. Are
you ready to have that power unleashed in your life?
What will unleashing the Holy Spirit in your life
mean to you? The Holy Spirit will help you find
and understand truth, and you will never have more
happiness in your life than you have truth. The
more truth you allow into your heart, mind, and
soul, the happier you will be. But if you allow
the truth to be crowded out with lies and deceit,
you will find yourself miserable. The Holy Spirit
wants to help you build a throne for truth in your
heart. Please be assured of my daily
prayers for you and your family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Monday 1 June 2020
- Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish and
Cathie McClintock who died recently. In
the Scriptures God is revealed as the Father who
creates us (Genesis 1), his Son who redeems us (Matthew
1) and the Holy Spirit who inspires us (Acts 1).
The whole history we find in the Bible is the story
of God's ongoing concern for the human family and
for each of us individually as his children. The
Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity.
He is the one whom Jesus promised the Father would
send to guide and encourage us. How often in your
life do you need guidance and encouragement? Whether
you are aware of it or not, you need these things
every day, and the Holy Spirit is within you to
provide them. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your
family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Sunday 31 May 2020
Today, I celebrate Holy Mass
privately for the Parish. Have
you ever noticed the difference between a person
who is inspired and one who is not? Sometimes when
you watch two teams compete in sports, you can tell
one team is inspired and the other isn't. Inspiration
makes a huge difference. For twenty years I have
been working with people of all ages and from all
walks of life and one thing that I have noticed
over and over again is that people don't do anything
until they are inspired - but once they are inspired
there is almost nothing they cannot do. The disciples
are a perfect example. Before Pentecost they were
full of fear. After Pentecost they were full of
courage. What changed? They got inspired. They got
filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus didn't leave
us to face the world alone. He promised he would
be with us and that he would send the Holy Spirit
to guide, inspire and encourage us. Jesus made that
promise not just to the disciples. it was a promise
he made to you. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your
family.
Thoughts
for the Day for 30 to 24 May are taken from Quotes
That Reveal the Secrets of the Holy Rosary by Eric
Robinson.
A message from Father Duncan on Saturday 30 May
2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish and
Simon and Matilda Brannan. Finally,
my dear brothers and sisters, the daily Rosary has
so many enemies that I look upon the grace of persevering
in it until death as one of the greatest favours
God can give us. I hope that these words help you
to persevere in praying the rosary and being devoted
to the Blessed Virgin Mary so that our sole worship
to God may be magnified. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your
family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Friday 29 May 2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish and
for all those struggling in these difficult times.
Your closest enemies will
attack you all the more cruelly because they are
within you. I mean the powers of your soul and your
bodily senses, the distractions of the mind, distress
and uncertainty of the will, dryness of the heart,
exhaustion and illness of the body-all that will
combine with the evil spirits who say to you 'Give
up your rosary - that is what is giving you such
a headache. Give up your rosary - there is no obligation
under pain of sin. At least say only a part of it.
The difficulties you are having are a sign that
God does not want you to say it' You can say it
tomorrow when you are more in the mood - and so
on. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your
family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Thursday 28 May 2020
- also the anniversary of the Episcopal Ordination
of Bishop John Cunningham in 2004
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish and
John Ross who died recently.
Only he who perseveres
in asking, seeking, and knocking, will receive,
will find and will enter. It is not enough to ask
God for certain graces for a month, a year, ten
or twenty years; we must never tire of asking. These
crowns are not for the timid who are afraid of this
world's taunts and threats, neither are they for
the lazy and indolent who only say their rosary
carelessly, or hastily, just for the sake of getting
it over with. These crowns are not for cowards who
lose heart and lay down their arms as soon as they
see hell is let loose against their rosary. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your
family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Wednesday
27 May 2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish and
Katherine and Peter Finnegan. What
a wonderful thing to have Jesus Christ in our midst!
And all we have to do to have him with us is to
come together to say the rosary. That is why the
first Christians met so often to pray together,
in spite of the persecutions of the emperors, who
had forbidden them to assemble. They preferred to
risk death rather than to miss their gatherings
where our Lord was present. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your
family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Tuesday 26 May 2020
- Memorial of Saint Philip Neri, priest
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish and
Deceased Members of the Little family at their anniversaries.
It is not so much the length
of a prayer as the fervour with which it is said
which pleases God and touches his heart. A single
Hail Mary said properly is worth more than a hundred
and fifty said badly. When the rosary is well said,
it gives Jesus and Mary more glory and is more meritorious
for the soul than any other prayer. But it is also
the hardest prayer to say well and to persevere
in owing especially to the distractions which almost
inevitably attend the constant repetition of the
same words. Please be assured of my daily
prayers for you and your family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Monday 25 May 2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish that
we may be strengthened by the power of the Holy
Spirit. Our Lady … revealed
to several people that each time they say a Hail
Mary they are giving her a beautiful rose and that
each complete Rosary makes her a crown of roses.
Please be assured
of my daily prayers for you and your family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Sunday 24 May 2020
Today, I celebrate Holy Mass
privately for the Parish. When
I was on my journey from Protestantism to Catholicism
over five years ago, Mary was my biggest stumbling
block to coming into the Church. It's that way for
many converts. I did not see her importance in Scripture
and probably would have told you that the Hail Holy
Queen prayer was a certain form of blasphemy. Alas,
seeing Mary in the Scriptures as the 'New Eve',
'New Ark of the Covenant' and 'New Queen Mother'
overcame my discomfort with devotion to her. Though
I was comfortable enough with the Church's teaching
about Mary to join the Catholic Church, it took
a severe trial in my life a year later to get me
to pray the rosary on a daily basis. For the first
few months, the rosary seemed burdensome, cumbersome
and not very fun at all. Yet, through the grace
of God, I persevered in praying my rosary and it
has since become my absolute favourite form of prayer.
Much could be said about Mary in this wonderful
month of May, which is dedicated to her honour.
For my part, I will leave you with six quotes by
Saint Louis De Montfort from his book called The
Secret of the Holy Rosary. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your
family.
Thoughts
for the Day for 23 to 17 May are taken from the
Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC).
A message from Father Duncan on Saturday 23 May
2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish
and Esther Tumilty who died recently. Mary
is the object of our devotion and the measure of
the Church's Greatness. 'All generations will call
me blessed' (Luke 1,48). 'The Church's devotion
to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian
worship' (Paul VI, Marialis cultis, 56). The Church's
structure is totally ordered to the holiness of
Christ's members and holiness is measured according
to the great mystery in which the Bride responds
with the gift of love to the gift of the Bridegroom"
(John Paul II, Mulieris dignitatem, 27). Mary goes
before us all in the holiness that is the Church's
mystery as 'the bride without spot or wrinkle' (Ephesians
5,27). This is why the Marian dimension of the Church
precedes the Petrine (Mulieris dignitatem, 27) -
CCC 971,773. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your
family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Friday 22 May 2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish
and Lily McCartney who died recently. Mary
is inseparable from her Son. Mary's role in the
Church is inseparable from her union with Christ
and flows directly from it. Thus the Blessed Virgin
advanced in her pilgrimage of faith and faithfully
persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross.
There she stood, in keeping with the divine plan,
enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity
of his suffering, joining herself with his sacrifice
in her mother's heart, and lovingly consenting to
the immolation of this victim, born of her to be
given by the same Christ Jesus dying on the cross,
as a mother to his disciple, with these words 'Woman,
behold your son' (John 19, 26f, Lumen Gentium, 58).
After her Son's Ascension, Mary 'aided the beginnings
of the Church by her prayers' (Lumen Gentium, 69).
In association with the apostles and several women,
'we also see Mary by her prayers imploring the gift
of the Spirit' (Lumen Gentium, 59) - CCC 964,965.
Please be assured
of my daily prayers for you and your family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Thursday 21 May 2020
- the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish and
John Ross who died recently.
Mary is our Mother. Her
role in relation to the Church and to all humanity
goes still further than being our model. 'In a wholly
singular way, she cooperated by her obedience, faith,
hope, and burning charity in the Saviour's work
of restoring supernatural life to souls. For this
reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace'
(Lumen Gentium, 61) - CCC 968.
Please be assured
of my daily prayers for you and your family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Wednesday 20 May 2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish and
Joseph McIver who died
recently. Mary is
the Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church. Since
the Virgin Mary's role in the mystery of Christ
and the Spirit has been treated, it is fitting now
to consider her place in the mystery of the Church.
'The Virgin Mary ... is acknowledged and honoured
as being truly the Mother of God and of the redeemer'.
She is clearly the mother of the members of Christ'
... since she has by her charity joined in bringing
about the birth of believers in the Church, who
are members of its head (Lumen Gentium, 53) - CCC
963. Please be
assured of my daily prayers for you and your family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Tuesday 19 May 2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish
and William Calvert at his anniversary.
Mary is ever-Virgin and
Mother of the faithful. The deepening of faith in
the virginal motherhood led the Church to confess
Mary's real and perpetual virginity even in the
act of giving birth to the Son of God made man.
Jesus is Mary's only son, but her spiritual motherhood
extends to all men whom indeed he came to save.
'The Son whom she brought forth is he whom God placed
as the first-born among many brethren, that is,
the faithful in whose generation and formulation
she cooperates with a mother's love' (Lumen Gentium,
63). CCC 499,501.
Please be assured of
my daily prayers for you and your family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Monday 18 May 2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish
and William Sheehan senior at his anniversary.
Mary is the 'Mother of
God'. Called in the Gospels 'the mother of Jesus',
Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting
of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son,
as 'the mother of my Lord' (Luke 1,43). In fact,
the one who she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit,
who truly became her Son according to the flesh,
was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the
second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church
confesses that Mary is truly 'Mother of God' (Theotokos,
Council of Ephesus, 431) - CCC 495. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your
family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Sunday 17 May 2020
Today, I celebrate Holy Mass
privately for the Parish. Mary
is 'full of grace'. The angel Gabriel at the moment
of the annunciation salutes her as 'full of grace'
(Luke 1,28). In fact, in order for Mary to be able
to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement
of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly
borne by God's grace. Through the centuries, the
Church has become ever more aware that Mary, 'full
of grace' through God, was redeemed from the moment
of her conception - CCC 490-491.
Please be assured of my daily prayers for you and
your family.
Thoughts
for the Day for 16 to 10 May are taken from Our
Lady, Undoer of Knots by Marge Fenelon.
A
message from Father Duncan on Saturday 16 May 2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish
and James Joseph Timmons at his anniversary.
One of the defining aspects
of being Catholic is devotion to Mary. I favour
no Marian celebration more highly than May Crowning,
the feast that recognises Mary as queen of heaven
and earth. To a person of any age, this is a mighty
big title but to a child of five or six or seven,
it expands to enchanting, magical proportions. How
many queens does one get a chance to meet in a lifetime,
much less crown? May Crowning marked a new spiritual
season. Our Mary, queen of heaven and earth, lifted
us right out of the last long, cold days of winter
and firmly planted our hearts in the warm and promising
soil of spring. I will be forever grateful to the
Church for bringing me Mary and grateful to Mary
for bringing me her Son. For that was my route.
I might not have discovered the gaze of Jesus if
I had not first felt the maternal, nurturing and
safe embrace of my mother in heaven. Through Mary,
I became enamoured of the holy family. Through Mary,
I was invited into the Catholic fold. It was her
feminine presence and the safety of her motherhood
that helped me grow. My child's heart was so full
of love for my mother in heaven and understood already
what my head could not yet know - Mary would bring
me to Jesus. The growing would be toward Jesus,
for Jesus, with Jesus. Through Mary, Jesus was brought
to you and to me. She was delivered up like an innocent,
perfect spring flower to lighten our spirits, complete
our senses, bring the very aroma of heaven to our
world in need of warming, and welcome our hearts
into the eternal mystery of spring and growing things.
This was written by a mum of three children.
Please be assured of
my daily prayers for you and your family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Friday 15 May 2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish
and John Mullen at his month's mind. The
Knots of Envy and Pride - "What is the law
of the People of God? It is the law of love, love
for God and love for neighbour according to the
new commandment that the Lord left to us (John 13:34).
It is a love, however, that is not sterile sentimentality
or something vague, but the acknowledgment of God
as the one Lord of life and, at the same time, the
acceptance of the other as my true brother, overcoming
division, rivalry, misunderstanding, selfishness
- these two things go together. We must ask the
Lord to make us correctly understand this law of
love. How beautiful it is to love one another as
true brothers and sisters. How beautiful! Let's
do something today." - Pope Francis. Envy and
pride can lead us to segregate our lives into quarters,
like the Old City of Jerusalem, in the sense that
we separate the 'haves' from the 'have-nots'. Whether
it's property, popularity, talents, intelligence
or something entirely different, we can be prideful
when we have more than others and envious of those
who have more than we do. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your
family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Thursday 14 May 2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish and
Mary Durkan who died recently.
The Knots of Grief and
Loss - "Dear young people, let us entrust ourselves
to Jesus, let us give ourselves over to him because
He never disappoints anyone! Only in Christ crucified
and risen can we find salvation and redemption.
With him, evil, suffering, and death do not have
the last word, because he gives us hope and life.
He has transformed the Cross from being an instrument
of hate, defeat, and death to being a sign of love,
victory, triumph and life." - Pope Francis.
Every injury, every one of our pains and sorrows,
has been borne on the shoulders of the Good Shepherd
who offered himself in sacrifice and thereby opened
the way to eternal life. His open wounds are the
cleft through which the torrent of his mercy is
poured out upon the world. Let us not allow ourselves
to be robbed of the basis of our hope! Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your
family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Wednesday 13 May 2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish and
Joseph McIver who died
recently. The Knot
of Hopelessness - "May the Church be a place
of God's mercy and hope, where all feel welcomed,
loved, forgiven and encouraged to live according
to the good life of the Gospel. And to make others
feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged, the
Church must be with doors wide open so that all
may enter. And we must go out through these doors
and proclaim the Gospel." - Pope Francis. Pope
Francis assured them of the Lord's goodness and
mercy. He gave them hope. We are all exposed to
sin, to evil, to betrayal. We are fully conscious
of the disproportion between the grandeur of God's
call and of own littleness, between the sublimity
of the mission and the reality of our human weakness.
Yet the Lord in his great goodness and his infinite
mercy always takes us by the hand lest we drown
in the sea of our fears and anxieties. He is ever
at our side, he never abandons us. And so, let us
not be overwhelmed by fear or disheartened, but
with courage and confidence let us press forward
in our journey and in our mission. Do you think
your situation is hopeless? Are you struggling with
a chronic illness, or an unrelenting burden of circumstance?
Are you suffering from anxiety or depression that
is wreaking havoc in your personal life? Take it
to Mary. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your
family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Tuesday 12 May 2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish
and John Ross who died recently. The
Knot of Separation - "The divisions among Christians,
while they hurt the Church, they wound Christ. And,
divided, we wound Christ. The Church is indeed the
body in which Christ is the head. We know well how
much Jesus cared that his disciples remain united
in His love" - Pope Francis. Can you think
of a time when you felt the pain of being separated
from a friend or loved one? At one time or another,
most of us have had such an experience. Rest assured,
Our Lady wants you to place your troubles into her
lap, with confidence and childlike trust. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your
family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Monday 11 May 2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish
and Kathleen Cairns. The
Knot of Injustice - "You young people, you
have a particular sensitivity towards injustice
but you are often disappointed by facts that speak
of corruption on the part of people who put their
own interests before the common good. To you and
to all, I repeat - never yield to discouragement,
do not lose trust, do not allow your hope to be
extinguished. Be the first to seek to bring good,
do not grow accustomed to evil, but defeat it with
good. The Church is with you, bringing you the precious
good of faith, bringing Jesus Christ, who 'came
that they may have life and have it abundantly (John
10:10) - Pope Francis. What injustice burdens you?
Have you been discriminated against because of your
culture or religion? Perhaps it was something subtle,
like a snide remark whispered behind your back,
or the withholding of some privilege. That can be
painful and disturbing. Injustice becomes a knot
that can trap us in sinfulness and turn us away
from God. We can become caustic and vengeful. Revenge
can lead us to hatred and that's a serious sin.
That's why we need to turn our knot of injustice
over to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots - before it entangles
us in sin and ruin. We might prefer to cling to
the knot, seeking vengeance or believing we deserve
restitution. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your
family.
A message from Father Duncan
on Sunday 10 May 2020
Today, I celebrate Holy Mass
privately for the Parish and Ian McCormick on his
anniversary. Knots.
Bumps in the road. Thorns in the side. Rough edges.
Call them what you will, but we all have them -
those difficulties in life that make life knotty,
bumpy, thorny or rough. Some of them are, unfortunately,
of our own creation - we make bad choices and things
get complicated. Others come of the craziness that
is life-illness, misunderstandings, unforeseen situations.
While I certainly couldn't begin to explain the
reasons or solutions for the many knots in life,
I can say with one hundred percent certainty that
we all have them. During his 12 October 2013, catechesis,
Pope Francis revealed to the world his special devotion
to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title Our Lady,
Undoer of Knots. In his address, he spoke of Mary
as the 'new Eve' who unties the knot of Eve's disobedience.
He is referring to a beautiful image of Our Lady
where she unties the knots of our problems and worries.
Each day this week tackles a different knot-injustice,
separation, confusion, hopelessness, grief and loss,
discord, betrayal, envy and pride and affliction.
Please be assured of
my daily prayers for you and your family.
Thoughts
for the Day for 9 to 3 May are taken from taken from
Answering the Questions of Jesus by Father Andrew
Apostoli.
A
message from Father Duncan on Saturday 9 May 2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish
and Michael Bruin at his anniversary. Sixth
question - Do you love me? Peter's reconciliation
with Christ should give us courage. In spite of his
denial, he is still entrusted with the great work
of the Church. We should never use our failures as
an excuse to stop trying to serve the Lord. The Lord
restores us. He gives us the grace and the strength
because we can't do it by ourselves. Like Peter, we
begin again. Pope Saint John XXIII said that when
we die, the Lord will only ask us one question - How
much did you love me? We can prepare for answering
that question by asking ourselves as if Jesus himself
were addressing us - Do you love me? How would we
answer that right now? Do you love me? - that's the
question. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Friday 8 May
2020
Today, I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish
and Jean Owens and Nora King who both died recently.
Fifth question - For what
can a man gain in return for his life? We need to
live with the end of our lives in mind. Heaven will
fulfil our every desire. All the happiness, beauty
and joy we can find in this life are but a tiny reflection
of the happiness, beauty and joy of God himself. Heaven
is going to fulfil every hope we've ever had - every
dream will come true. And hell will fulfil every dread
we've ever had - every nightmare will come true. The
stakes are high. It's eternal happiness or eternal
misery. We have to live each day making sure we follow
the way that will lead us to Christ. It can be shocking
to hear Our Lord talk about the lengths we should
go to in order to see Heaven and avoid hell. He famously
said "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck
it out and throw it away. It is better that you lose
one of your members than that your whole body be thrown
into hell." (Matthew 5:29). The point is that
there should be nothing in this life that we should
be unwilling to sacrifice if it stands in the way
of our getting to heaven. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Thursday 7 May
2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish,
Lorraine Docherty and Patrick McGuire at his anniversary.
Fourth
question - Do you know what I have done to you?By
performing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy,
we will not only be fulfilling Jesus' teaching in
this Gospel story but will also be building the 'civilisation
of love' that Pope Saint John Paul II, Pope Benedict
and Pope Francis have talked about. Remember the old
saying, 'It is better to light one candle than to
curse the darkness'. If we see all the problems in
the world and just throw up our hands and walk away,
then we're avoiding our responsibilities. But if we
light one candle, others will be encouraged to do
the same. We can change the world, as Mother Teresa
would say, one person at a time. The second way we
can answer this question of Jesus is by honestly asking
ourselves - what has Jesus done for me?
Please be assured of
my daily prayers for you and your family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Wednesday 6 May
2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish, Noelle
Collins at he anniversary and Shirley Currie who died
recently. Third question
- Will you also go away? Jesus is telling his Apostles
that if they can't handle His teaching on the Eucharist,
then they should walk away as well. That's how insistent
he is on this teaching - and that's why we say in
the Church that the Eucharist is the source and centre
of the Christian life. In response, Peter, acting
as a spokesman for the apostles, affirms their faith
and trust in Jesus. At this point they probably did
not understand how Jesus could possibly feed them
with His flesh and blood - just as we don't often
understand what Jesus wants from us. Even so, they
believed He was the one whom the Father had sent,
so they trusted him. Unlike the disciples who left,
they believed without seeing the proof with their
own eyes. That faith was rewarded at the Last Supper,
hen Jesus formally instituted the Eucharist. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Tuesday 5 May
2020
Today,
I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish
and Jean McLellan in thanksgiving and John McLaughlin
who died recently. Second
question - Why are you afraid, have you no faith?
Faith also has a second aspect, this one related to
the heart - or, more specifically, the confidence
we have to live according to the faith. In this sense,
faith is like trust. This is a similar message that
we read in Paul's Letter to the Hebrews. Again, let's
take the idea of Heaven. Not only do we believe it
exists, but we also have confidence - 'assurance'
- that we will achieve the Kingdom of Heaven with
God's grace. When Jesus dealt with people, he wanted
them not only to believe in the truth that he taught,
but also to have confidence in organising their lives
around those truth. Jesus had to teach that kind of
trust to his disciples. If the people were going to
follow him, they had to trust him. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Monday 4 May 2020
Today, I celebrate Holy Mass
privately for the Parish Geralyn McGarvey and Mandy
Dillon. First question
- Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?
When Jesus asks his parents why they didn't go directly
to his 'Father's house,' he is, first of all, as we've
said, revealing His relationship to his Heavenly Father.
He continues to be Mary's and Joseph's son. As we
saw in the Gospel, he went back to Nazareth and 'was
obedient to them.' This is a great reminder that Christ
spent three decades with the Holy Family, living in
Nazareth. He was getting ready for his mission work.
But He was also the Son of the Eternal Father. His
parents can't quite grasp this but Mary ponders it
in her heart - and there's a second takeaway from
this question of Jesus - He is telling us where to
find him. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Sunday 3 May 2020
Today, I celebrate Holy Mass
privately for the Parish. Pope
Francis has said that our Faith is found not just
in lists of doctrines but in relationship with a person
- Jesus Christ. What better way to deepen that relationship
than to enter into conversation with him? And what
better way to enter into conversation with Jesus than
to answer the questions he asked throughout His ministry?
Every day this week, we will reflect on some of the
questions asked by Jesus that gently guides us into
a deeper understanding of the wisdom of who he is
and what he is asking of each one of us.
Please be assured of my daily prayers for you and
your family.