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Wis 12, 13. 16-19; Rom 8, 26-27; Mt 13, 24-43
God gives us time, but do we grab that time!!! Dear sisters and brothers, The first reading today is not easy to understand. The translation from the original language is complex and so when we hear the reading, it can often go over our heads. And those of us who must preach about this reading will often just skip over it—because it is difficult to understand. The reading is simply telling us that God is all-powerful but is gentle and always wants to give us time for repentance. We could perhaps even say that God invites us to change our ways of living so that every aspect of our life reflects His love and compassion. Repentance for us means that we are willing to change our ways of living and even to see that many of our ways of living are not what God is asking of us. Most of us want to follow God. Most of us come to Church because we believe in Christ and accept His Gospel. On the other hand, it is not easy for us to want to give up totally everything that stands in the way of a strong and vibrant relationship with God. The Gospel reflects this reality that we live every day. We find ourselves with a lot of good within us, but also some weedy parts of our lives. The Gospel even sounds like we should not get too concerned about the weeds! Rather, we should cultivate the good seed, that which is really good within us. This seems to be a fairly consistent teaching in our spiritual tradition. We must be careful not to think that we should pay no attention to evil at all, because that is not what the Gospel is telling us. Rather, we need to make sure that our daily attention is on doing good. One of the Psalms tells us: Turn away from evil and do good. Following Christ is not just about avoiding evil. It is much more about learning how to love the good and to do the good and to rejoice in doing good. Following Christ is about wanting to know Christ personally and to rejoice in this relationship and to live from this relationship. Perhaps we should think of the second reading! It is the Spirit of Jesus that will intercede for us and show us the way. It is the Spirit that will come to the aid of our weakness, showing us how to pray and how to live with joy and delight in the Lord. This Sunday we can renew our desire to turn away from all that may be evil within us, to turn away from all that is evil outside of us and still attracts us—and we can ask the Spirit to draw us with love and compassion so that we want to live the fullness of divine life in every aspect of our lives. Let us give thanks to God. Fr Ephrem Let us pray for all those who are unwell especially Hazel Kingston, Nesi Tan, Warren Stevenson, Eddie Wilkins, John Cairns-Cowan and Graeme Adams and for the wonderful people who are caring for the everyday needs of the sick in our Community. We also pray for the members of our Parish families who have died recently and those whose anniversaries occur around this time; Patricia Gallagher, Marie Burgess, Marie Hopkins, Margaret (Jean) Cheetham, Agnes Mora, Marie Sparkes-Jackman, Majorie Parker and Velda Ashton. A Memorial Mass for Rae Dawson will be held at Holy Cross Church 9.30am Friday 24th July. All welcome The toilet key in the sacristy at St Patrick’s is missing. If you have accidentally picked it up or have seen it, could you return please. It is on a yellow tag. Thank you. The following measures will remain till further notice:
Covid 19 - St Vincent de Paul Holy Trinity Parish . In our local eastern suburbs communities, many families are now experiencing ongoing hardship from COVID-19, such as going short of food, losing their job, cut backs in hours of work, digging into savings, debt, and difficulty clothing and equipping kids back at school. Do please continue to keep the sick, lonely, poor and marginalised in your prayers. Your SVDP Conference in Holy Trinity Parish is helping people in strict confidence if we hear who needs help, " following Jesus present amongst those who suffer or may be excluded from society" . Should you know of any households in need of emergency food, winter bedding, clothing items or simple friendly support, do please arrange contact with Tina Quidilla, local SVDP Conference, ph 021 159 2412, email: cquidilla@xtra.co.nz Also, if you wish to donate to your local Holy Trinity St Vincent de Paul group to purchase groceries, living essentials and student uniforms and items for families suffering hardship in the Eastern Suburbs, please pay online to: " St Vincent de Paul Society, Seatoun & Miramar Conference, BNZ Kilbirnie, Account No. 02 - 0576 - 0017817 - 06", or contact Maria Pene, our local SVDP Treasurer, ph 022 428 0427, email: mpene20@gmail.co.nz John 20:21 “Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.” Parish Office Support Roles - Wellington South Parish We are seeking to employ suitably qualified persons to join our Parish Office Support Team in administration and finance roles. Both are part-time, and the parish is open to one person with suitable skills doing both. For a copy of the job descriptions please email office@wellingtonsouthcatholic.org. Please send your application and CV to Fr Doug Shepherd: doug.shepherd@wellingtonsouthcatholic.org Engaged Encounter is a weekend experience for couples intending to be married. Remaining weekends for 2020 are 18 & 19 July and 14 & 15 November. Venue is Otari Parish presbytery, 301 Karori Road, Karori, Wellington. Registrations close 2 weeks before. For more details go to the website http://www.cee-wellington.co.nz/ Phone Kate and Simon Olson. 04 801 6192 or email simonolsen@gmail.com Notice of a public meeting with National’s Hon Alfred Ngaro MP on Referendum and Conscience issues. Thursday 23 July, 7.30pm-9 pm, at the Brentwood Hotel, 16 Kemp Street, Kilbirnie. For catering purposes, please RSVP to Elizabeth: kawerau55@gmail.com . Parking available at the venue. Hosted by David Patterson National Party Candidate for Rongotai (022 170 4184) JOSHUA FELLOWSHIP Come and join other men for a cuppa, prayer and a talk on Thursday 16th July 2020 at 7:30pm (Note: fellowship from 7:00pm for 7:30pm start) In CONNOLLY HALL, Guildford Terrace, Thorndon (behind the Sacred Heart Cathedral). Speaker: Jack Ponting, our Joshua Newsletter Editor on “Gift of JOY, pure and simple” Want to know more? Ring Steve Ready 027-356-9555 or email: joshua.wgtn@gmail.com Marist St Pats RFC – Past Players and Supporters Complimentary luncheon and launch of the Clubs 50th Jubilee Book “C’mon Red” Saturday 25 July at the Hataitai Clubrooms. The Coast to Coast Rosary for Life and Faith will be held this year on Saturday 15th August at 3 pm. Please help lead or join a group in your parish or community. For more information, please go to www.coasttocoastrosary.co.nz or phone Clare 022 1912 886 Pa Maria Marist Spirituality Centre - Revised Programme for 2020, with dates for the Winter Film Series, Spiritual Theology Course and Non-Residential Retreat. If you would like an emailed copy, please contact Brian Cummings SM at bgcummings@xtra.co,nz United Nations World Day Against Trafficking in Persons – 30th July, 2020 "On this World Day against Trafficking in Persons, let us reaffirm our commitment to stop criminals from ruthlessly exploiting people for profit and to help victims rebuild their lives." -- UN Secretary-General António Guterres People trafficking and modern day slavery is a massive world-wide problem with very few countries immune. The United Nations has set aside this day annually to raise awareness and increase prevention. Human Trafficking Statistics
Apply now – The Suzanne Aubert Tertiary Scholarship is open Tertiary students in the Archdiocese of Wellington and the Diocese of Palmerston North who are entering into their third year or more of study are invited to apply for a Suzanne Aubert Tertiary Scholarship. Each student selected receives $3,000 towards their third year of tertiary study. For more details contact Kevin Crighton at sisteam@compassion.org.nz https://compassion.org.nz/latest-news/suzanne-aubert-tertiary-scholarship/ for application. Closes on 16 October 2020. Seafarers Worldwide Last Sunday was the day of prayer for Seafarers. These are very difficult times for many of those who work on ships all over the world. Some crews, particularly those on cruise ships are in a kind of limbo, unable to berth, maybe in quarantine or isolation and unable to get home to families for whom they are often the main or only breadwinners. Other crews are on ships and are still working but are also under stringent restrictions, delivering food and goods between countries where borders are open. Support is offered to all crew members in some ports around the world especially through the work of the Apostleship of the Sea, a Catholic Charity, internationally also known as Stella Maris. Its aim is to help support the welfare of all seafarers irrespective of nationality or belief while they are in port. You may be interested in learning more about at the Apostleship of the Sea and its work at https://www.aos.org.nz/ AND https://www.missiontoseafarers.org/wellington/ Eternal Father strong to save Whose arm has bound the restless wave Who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep Its own appointed limits keep O hear us when we cry to Thee For those in peril on the sea. (First Verse from a Hymn for all seafarers by William Whiting -1860) This verse of the hymn Eternal Father Strong to Save, is sung in video footage from Marine Nationale de France. Video 2:08 dur. View Video Here (The hymn starts almost halfway in) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dlXmuYuAYc "Know you are not alone and that you are not forgotten." Pope Francis speaks to seafarers and fishermen. View Vatican video here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuTWFXJq3bk) You may like to offer this prayer for the 1.3+million men and women seafarers across the world. Be with Seafarers, Lord, on all their voyages, to cheer them and keep them safe in all dangers. Let nothing afloat or on shore cut them off from you. May they please you in everything they do. Bless all on board their ship, whatever their responsibility. Enable everyone to do their duty. Help them to be good shipmates and bring them back again safely to their homes and to those who long for their return, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
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