Thegoodnews from YOUR Parish
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The Good News from YOUR Parish OUR LADY OF LEBANON MARONITE CO-CATHEDRAL - HARRIS PARK Sunday 9 October 2016 Season of the Glorious Cross www.olol.org.au FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER The Gospel THE GLORIOUS CROSS The Epistle Jesus said, “Who then is the faithful and Now concerning the times and the wise slave, whom his master has put in seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For charge of his household, to give the other you yourselves know very well that the slaves their allowance of food at the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom night. When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will his master will find at work when he come upon them, as labour pains come arrives. Truly I tell you, he will put that upon a pregnant woman, and there will one in charge of all his possessions. be no escape! But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for But if that wicked slave says to himself, that day to surprise you like a thief; for Next Sunday’s Readings ‘My master is delayed,’ and he begins to you are all children of light and children of Fifth Sunday after beat his fellow slaves, and eats and drinks the Glorious Cross the day; we are not of the night or of with drunkards, the master of that slave Phil 2: 12-18 darkness. So then let us not fall asleep as Mt 25: 1-13 others do, but let us keep awake and be will come on a day when he does not sober; for those who sleep, sleep at night, expect him and at an hour that he does and those who are drunk, get drunk at not know. He will cut him in pieces and night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of put him with the hypocrites, where there One faith and love, and for a helmet the hope will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. of salvation. For God has destined us not Mt 24:45-51 who for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died Prayer of the week for us, so that whether we are awake or makes asleep we may live with him. Therefore Merciful Father, encourage one another and build up each During this season of the Holy Cross, no other, as indeed you are doing. we pray the Cross of your son, 1Thess 5: 1-11 Our Lord Jesus Christ, be for us mistakes, a reminder of our call to be your faithful and wise stewards. makes Month May we always be working of the to bring about your kingdom, nothing. so that we may be blessed to be in Holy your presence on the last day. St Teresa of Avila Rosary Amen! SUNDAY HOLY LITURGIES (Masses) OLOL Co -Cathedral, Harris Park 8am (Arabic), 9:30am (English Family), 11am (Ar/Eng), 5pm (Ar/Eng), 7pm (English Youth) Mass Centre - St Patrick’s, Guildford 6pm (Ar/Eng) WEEKDAY HOLY LITURGIES (Masses) Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri 7am, 8.45am & 6pm. Wed 7am, 8.45am & 5:30pm; 7pm (English Youth) Sat 7:30am & 6pm (Ar/Eng) CONFESSIONS Before and during Saturday 6pm and Sunday Masses or by appointment on weekdays WEEKDAY DEVOTIONS Rosary: Mon & Tues 8pm, Wed 6:30pm, Thurs 7:30pm Sun 6:30pm Divine Mercy followed by Rosary Fri 7:30pm Adoration Hour: Thursdays 8pm – 9pm 42 Hour Adoration: This Friday of the month from 9:30am - Saturday 7:30am Parish Contacts : Office: 9689 2899 Fax: 9689 2068. (Email: [email protected]). Fr Tony Sarkis (Dean): 0433 211 248 A.P’s: Fr Youwakim Noujaim 0406 060 445. Fr Raphael Abboud 0401 627 777. Fr Pierre Khoury 0411 735 258. Fr Youhanna Khalife 0403 715 105. Fr Antoun Bou Antoun 9689 2899. Fr Paul Joubeir 0414 900 016. Fr Bernard Assi 0411 811 807. Fr Yuhanna Azize 0435 764 824. Subdeacon Danny Nouh 0477 008 787. Light from the word The Catechism no rest for the wicked what makes a good confession? This Sunday’s Gospel passage brings to mind the Is it necessary to confess every sin? saying, ‘There is no rest for the wicked.’ We can It is necessary to confess every mortal sin which has not understand this in two ways. yet been confessed and forgiven; it is not necessary to confess our venial sins, but it is better to do so. Often when we say it, we are not implying the person is wicked, but rather we say it in jest because the He that hideth his sins shall not prosper; but he that shall person never rests but are endlessly doing something. confess and forsake them shall obtain mercy. Today’s Gospel seems to agree with this. When the (Proverbs 28:13) master finds the slave doing the right thing he puts the slave, ‘in charge of all is possessions’ (v47). So not only was the ‘wise slave’ busy doing the right thing, he is What are the chief qualities of a good confession? even given extra duties. We find that’s the case The chief qualities of a good confession are three: it must everywhere. A good worker is heavily relied upon to be humble, sincere, and entire. get things done because masters/employers find it is more beneficial to use this person’s talents rather than When is our confession humble? risk giving work to a lazy person who will mess it up. It Our confession is humble when we accuse ourselves of may not seem fair but behind it all, the slave/employee our sins with a conviction of guilt for having offended God. who knows what to do and does it well, will grow in their skills and will find many more opportunities to O God, be merciful to me the sinner! (Luke 18:13) grow in their career. When is our confession sincere? On the other hand the saying, ‘there is no rest for the wicked’ can be taken literally because wicked people Our confession is sincere when we tell our sins honestly are always conniving and plotting and so are always and frankly. working away, never at peace with themselves or the world. In the Gospel account the wicked slave was too When is our confession entire? occupied with brutality, gluttony and drinking. In the Our confession is entire when we confess at least all our end the master punished him severely, placing ‘him mortal sins, telling their kind, the number of times we with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and have committed each sin, and any circumstances changing gnashing of teeth’ (v51). It is a life of no rest, but their nature. instead of anger and bitterness. When a man or woman shall have committed any of all the So when we work, let us do it in the spirit of love and sins that men are wont to commit, and by negligence shall respect in order to find true rest, which comes from have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and doing good deeds. Amen Sr Margaret Ghosn MSHF offended: they shall confess their sin. (Numbers 5:6-7) The Servant’s Word Are you Ready? Brothers and Sisters in Christ, In order to fully understand this parable that our Lord equips us with this week, we need to look back to the three verses that come before it. In Matthew 24:42, our Lord tells his disciples to “stay awake” because you do not know the day when your master is coming. Before he proceeds with the parable of the faithful and wise slave, he goes on to tell them “to stand ready because the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” As with all the readings during this Glorious Season of the Cross, today’s Gospel also points to the eschatological dimension of our faith, the end of the world and the second coming of the Lord. Today, many people think that the end of the world is close and at hand. They live their lives concerned about the end of the world. Every time something tragic takes place, such as wars, famines, terrorist attacks, they say “this is the end of the world”. Every time something takes place in society which is contrary to their ideals and beliefs, they say “the end of the world has come.” The truth of the matter is that regardless of what is taking place in the world, nobody knows when the end will come except for the Father. In fact, Saint Mark in his Gospel tells us “But as for that day or hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, no one but the Father!” (Mk 13, 32). The question at hand shouldn’t be when or how. The question should be “are you ready?” for the when and for the how. The example of the master and the slave is very important in this context. Each one of us has a responsibility to be good stewards of the gifts that God has given us. How we behave and the choices that we make in life truly matter and reflect on our character and level of growth. Regardless of whether our “Master” is present or not, we should act with responsibility and be trustworthy “servants”. Further to this, our work in the Church should not be dependent on the person of the priest.