St. Patrick's Church, Aghyaran.

Parish Priest: Fr. J. Gilmore

Telephone 8167 0728

Sunday, 22nd January 2012

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Follow me and I will make you into fishers of people.” Those words of Jesus, which are given to us for this week, are usually thought of as being addressed to people with a vocation to the priesthood or religious life. They are about vocation certainly but are addressed to each of us. The four great vocations in the Church are single life, married life, religious life and priesthood. All of us who are baptised are living one of those and each of us is vital to the health of the whole body, the Church. We live our vocations in different ways but to the same end, the salvation of the world. Our task is to discover how to live our own vocation to the full. This means discovering how to make our love radiate out to those around us. We begin in our homes with those who are closest to us. Then we can reach out to the world around us. When we are with Christ and following him love will be the characteristic of our lives.

Fr. Johnny Doherty, C.Ss.R.

Sunday, 22nd January 2012

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading: Jonah 3:1-5-10
The prophet Jonah calls the people of Nineveh back to God; they respond.

Second Reading: Corinthians 7:29-31
Avoid getting too caught up in the worries and pleasures of life.
God’s gift of life is not just a gift for the here-and-now; it is for eternity.

Gospel: Mark 1:14-20
Jesus begins his public life with a call to pay attention to God; the apostles respond.

Reflection

At his first Sunday Mass, Pope Benedict XVI described the divided Church of Christ as a torn net no longer holding together all that it should contain. He prayed: ‘Alas, beloved Lord, with sorrow we must now acknowledge that [the net] has been torn! But… let us do all we can to pursue the path towards the unity you have promised… Grant that we may be one flock and one shepherd! Do not allow your net to be torn; help us to be servants of unity.‘ Each year, from 18th – 25th January, Christians all over the world have a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, during which we especially seek to respect our differences, to listen and talk together and to pray together. While there are significant differences in the way we see some aspects of Christianity, there are larger areas of agreement. A significant part of our division is cultural, brought about through history and habit. Anything that we can do to broaden & sustain the natural bonds of friendship will lessen our inherited sense of division and broaden our awareness of what we already have in common.