Soul Food for Sunday 10th September, the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (AND the Second Sunday in The Season of Creation 2023)
On the morning of 3rd February 1986, in the town of Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab, Pakistan, hundreds of college students from Kwaja Farid College stormed through the gates of the Catholic Church compound where a Spiritan community lived. The students had been directed by a college professor to invade the compound – in response to the incursion of the Israeli defence forces into Al Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem the previous day. The students proceeded to wreak havoc in the compound. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured but the parish church, parish house and vehicles of two parishes suffered huge damage. In the church all the windows and doors were smashed, a large crucifix mutilated, the tabernacle thrown to the ground and a large Bible stolen.
Author: - September 5, 2023
Soul Food for Sunday 3rd September, the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (AND the First Sunday in The Season of Creation 2023)
Last Friday began the Season of Creation for this year of 2023. Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople led the opening day with the Prayer of Creation. It extends to 4th October, the Feast of St Francis in the Christian churches. Thus, it is a major ecumenical event and also one not merely of importance to the followers of Jesus of Nazareth but to all humanity whose very existence is threatened at this point in history.
Author: - August 26, 2023
Soul Food for Sunday 27th August 2023 the Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time
Several years ago, when working in school chaplaincy, I was with a class preparing for the Sacrament of First Eucharist. We were creatively exploring who Jesus is. At the end of the exercise, I asked “And who is Jesus for you?” I requested that the answer be an image. There were several answers: Jesus was like a ‘summer day on the beach’; Jesus was the ‘best footballer who knew how to pass’; Jesus was a ‘warm blanket on a winter’s day’...
Author: - August 3, 2023
Soul Food for Sunday 20th August 2023, the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
We can all remember a time when a parent stayed strong for us. We can remember times when we were ill, or in need of a listening ear and our mother or father came to listen and respond. Today we heard a similar tale from the Canaanite woman who pleaded with Jesus for help. Like somebody taking their case to the Liveline radio programme, or the Irish Independent about an ill child or the need for a medical card, she was not letting Jesus off the hook.
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