Fri 22 May 2020

7th Sunday of Easter

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The one theme that we find in the readings for this Sunday is that of Prayer. In the First Reading we are told that the apostles along with Mary, Our Mother go back to the upper room and pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit. This is what Our Lord had told them to do.
That upper room had become a place of refuge for the apostles, it was in that upper room that they had the Last Supper with Jesus, it is in that upper room where Jesus appeared to them after his Resurrection, it is that upper room that they might have felt that special closeness to Christ. They now wait in prayer for the Holy spirit that would help them to understand Jesus’s teaching and the meaning of his life that would enable them to go out and be faithful to the mission given to them of preaching the Good News and baptizing the people in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Mary, on the other hand, wasn’t waiting for the Holy Spirit because as we know she had the Holy Spirit in her from the time of the Annunciation, when she was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. She is in prayer in solidarity with the apostles for that gift of the Holy Spirit. In the gospel, it is also in the upper room that Jesus prays for the apostles.
Prayer, therefore, is vital in our relationship with Jesus Christ. It is our communication with the Lord.

In this time of crisis that we find ourselves as a Church that we are encouraged to spend time in prayer. We need to pray for an end to the crisis, for those who are affected by the Crisis, those who have passed away from the Covid-19 pandemic, as a community, we need especially need to pray for all those doctors, nurses and other essential workers that are on the frontline combating the disease in order for us to remain healthy. My encouragement to you therefore, is to spend time in prayer for all of us. Like the apostles who were united in prayer, so too by us being united in prayer, we can give hope to one another that we will soon be united in coming together to give Public Praise and Thanksgiving to our Lord as we open up the Churches once more.
Once again I would encourage you at this time to remember those in our community that are struggling Financially and maybe be in need of food. If you are aware of any one of our parishioners in need of food, then please inform me and we can try and help them in some way. Another way is to support the Archbishop’s Appeal for food parcels. The letter of appeal and banking details can be found on the Parish website under the title Lockdown.

I would like to end of with a question that you as a family could discuss:

• Where does prayer play a role in my Life?
• Is it a priority in my Life?
• Do I encourage my family to pray?
• Do I set a good example in the way I pray?
  God Bless.
  Fr Mark

Ascension - Thur 21 May 2020

Dear Brothers and sisters.
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension of Our Lord into heaven.
In the readings we hear about the account of the Ascension. The First reading gives an actual account of the Ascension. We are told how the apostles kept looking up to heaven in awe. Then angels come and tell them to go back to Jerusalem and wait for the promised Holy Spirit that would teach them everything. The Gospel gives us the real mission of the apostles once they have received the Holy Spirit. They need to go out into the world and proclaim the Good News and baptize people in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Good News that they need to spread is not so much the birth of Christ or the teachings of Christ but the very fact of his resurrection. Without the Resurrection, all the other teaching would be useless. It would just tell of a wonderful man who lived on this earth called Jesus Christ who had wonderful power. He could heal the sick, cast out demons and raise certain people to life. He would be only one fact of history. It is the Resurrection that gives meaning to all the teaching of Christ. The feast of today is also important because if Jesus did not ascend into heaven then the apostles would not have received the Holy Spirit which would help them to understand all that Jesus had taught them.
The Ascension is also important for us because we are called to spend time in prayer as the apostles did for the Holy Spirit to enter into our lives. It is this Holy Spirit that will enable us to try and understand what the Lord is trying to teach us in our lives. This gift of the Holy Spirit that we received at Baptism and had strengthened at Confirmation, is meant to be dwelling in us and guiding us in our spiritual lives. We need to be open to that spirit, especially in this time of crisis.
Over the next ten days between the feast of Ascension and Pentecost, we are encouraged to pray for Christian Unity. When we read the Gospel of John, we read about Jesus praying to his Father that the apostles would be one and united with one another. Unfortunately, this has not happened. We are divided in our union with one another. Our prayer should be for unity. I encourage you to pray for this unity during the following days.
Another concern is as time of this lockdown is continuing, our children are missing out on an important aspect of the Christian journey, that is their catechism. My encouragement is for you as parents to spend some time with them, telling them about your own journey of faith.
This can be done maybe on a weekend or any other suitable time. As a start, if your child is preparing for the sacrament of First Confession or Holy Communion share with them your own experience of receiving these wonderful sacraments. Maybe discuss with them about saying sorry and asking for forgiveness.
What does it mean to forgive? It is not only saying the word but more importantly, that forgiveness needs to come from the heart. As in First Holy Communion, discuss what a wonderful gift the Lord has given us in his Body and Blood.
If your child is preparing to receive the sacrament of Confirmation discuss with them What it means to be a committed Christian in the world of today. Talking as a family also opens up lines of communication, where as a family, people can feel free to express their thoughts, feelings and emotions without fear of been judged or condemned.
In ending, I would like to assure you of my prayers each day for you all. I am aware that communicating is not as it should, but it is difficult with me not been technically minded. For this I apologise. If you do read this message that I have been posting each week during lockdown, please share it with those you know in order for more parishioners to go onto the website and read the message and what the Bishops might been saying to us under the title Lockdown.
God Bless.
Fr Mark

Fri 15th May 2020

6th Sunday of Easter 17 : 17 May 2020

My dear Brothers and Sisters.

Greetings from the Parish. I hope you are all well. Over the last 7 weeks I have found it difficult. For me the absence of you the parishioners has been the most difficult, but we need to put our trust in the Lord. I am very aware of the fact that I haven’t been able to communicate with you all as I would like to. The one thing that I would like to assure you of is that every day I pray for you all in my daily prayers and at Holy Mass.

This weekend we celebrate the 6th Sunday of Easter. In the readings we read about discipleship. In the First reading we see how the message of the Resurrection of Our Lord is not confined just to the people of Israel but also to the Gentiles. This is indeed a time of rejoicing.
In the Second reading we get encouraged to remain steadfast in our faith despite that at times we might feel abandoned. For us this might be what we are experiencing at the moment. But the Gospel is what gives us courage. Jesus is speaking to his disciples at the Last Supper where he has been telling them that he is leaving them but that they must not lose hope because he will come back to fetch them, to take them to that special place that he by his death and resurrection, is going to prepare for them. He also assures them that he will not leave them orphans but that he will send them the Holy Spirit, who will teach them everything. The Holy Spirit will help them to understand all that he had taught them. All that was required of them was that they keep his commandments. He is not speaking about the 10 commandments, which yes they need to keep, but more importantly how they need to be - people of Love. Love is the most important emotion that they need to portray. Therefore, it is not so much observing do’s and don’ts but rather observing the commandments in Love.
For example, he is saying that they mustn’t resort to evil when something evil happens to them. They mustn’t judge or condemn but rather reach out in love. This is not only to those who they love but to those that maybe they don’t really get on with. We just need to read the gospels to see how Jesus reached out to all people in love. Even those who were seeking to kill him. This is also shown in the way he treats the tax collectors and other sinners. He was always showing them respect and dignity and challenging them in love.
We, therefore my brothers and sisters, are encouraged to do the same. Love needs to be the very basis of our faith. We should not repay evil with evil or judge because we don’t know the circumstances or condemn because as the Lord tells us several times in the Gospel, there is only one judge and that is the Lord himself. Also we are assured by the Lord that just as he was present to the disciples, he is present to us as well. It is the same Holy Spirit that is given to us in the sacraments as the disciples were given at Pentecost that the
Gentiles were given as we read in the First Reading.

God Bless.
Fr Mark

Fri 8 May 2020

THANK YOU DEAR PARISHIONERS:

Thank you for your support, your patience, your prayers and your continued ongoing financial support during this time, which enables me to continue to run the parish.

Fr Mark

Fri 8 May 2020

My dear brothers and sisters.
This Sunday we celebrate the 5th Sunday of Easter.
The Gospel reading is a wonderful reading of Love and Concern. The context of the Gospel is that Jesus is at the Last Supper with his disciples. He had just washed their feet and once again spoken about his impending death. They are downcast and he encourages them, saying that they mustn’t despair because, by his death, he is going to go and prepare a place for them. All they need to do is to trust in God and trust in him. He also says that he is going to go and prepare a place for them in his father’s house and that he will come and take them to that place. This is a wonderful thing for them because Jesus is assuring them that, despite the trials and tribulations that they might have to endure, there is a place in heaven for them if they continue to trust in him. They have a home to go to.
When we think of home we think of a place of safety, a place of love, a place of belonging.
This is what Jesus is trying to tell his disciples.
There is a wonderful story of a young man who had been released from prison.
During his incarceration, his parents had not visited him because they we poor and the prison was a far way off. Now he was released and he wasn’t sure if he would be welcome home again. He had written to his parents and said that if he was welcome to come home, they must tie a white ribbon in the apple tree that grew in the garden. This would be a sign to him that he is welcome. If not, they must do nothing, then he would just carry on by and lose himself in the city. As he approached the house he looked towards the tree and instead of seeing only one ribbon, he saw a tree full of ribbons.
This gave him such joy because he now knew that he indeed had a home to return to.
This is the same for us. We fall into sin all the time and at times we might be discouraged because we feel that God might get tired of us and that we might not be welcome. Jesus assures us that no matter how many times we sin and we return to him to ask for forgiveness, he will always forgive us and we are always welcome in his house. We just need to express our sorrow and ask for forgiveness.
If we do this, then one day, he will return and take us to that place that he has prepared for us by his death and resurrection. We will feel welcome and get that same feeling of love, safety and belonging.
At this time of Easter, we are normally encouraged by the Church to go and make a sacramental confession, but because of the lockdown, we are unable to do so. Bishop Sylvester has written to us as a Church in Cape Town and encouraged us to make a spiritual confession. On the website of the Parish is a link to that letter and prayers that we can do in order to do a spiritual confession.
I would encourage you to do that in this time with the resolution that when it is possible again to then go to Sacramental Confession to receive the graces that come from Sacramental Confession.
God Bless
Fr Mark

Fri 1 May 2020

My dear brothers and sisters,

Today we have started a new stage in the lockdown of the country. This is good, because it is the beginning of trying to restart our economy, but we need to constantly be aware that a lot of our community is still suffering because of a lack of income. Because of this, I request that if you are aware of any of our parishioners in need of food, that you contact me or a member of the Parish Councils of St Bernard’s or St Ignatius in order for us, as a community, to try and help our fellow parishioners.
I would like to thank all those parishioners who have sent me messages enquiring if I am okay. It is appreciated. I have coped with the lockdown but I have to be honest that I really miss the contact with you, the parishioners. I want ensure you, that when I celebrate Mass each day, I pray for the day that we will able to open our Churches to all again and we can once again publically celebrate our unity and praise with God.
This Sunday we celebrate Vocations Sunday.
This is a day that the Church encourages us to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
As you are aware we have a shortage of priests and religious brothers and sisters in our Archdiocese. At the moment we have 7 seminarians studying for the priesthood in Pretoria and 8 in the Neo Catechumenate seminary in Cape Town. On the other side of the scale, we have a number of priests who are reaching the retirement age of 75. These priests need to be thanked for their dedicated service to the Church of Cape Town. Also if a person indicates that they might have a calling to priesthood or religious life, please encourage and support them and do not discourage them.
Today’s gospel is about Christ our Good Shepherd.
When we think of a shepherd, the image that comes to mind is that of a caring person, a person who shows compassion, a person who is concerned about other people other than themselves. Christ very often, in his parables, used the image of a shepherd to bring a certain teaching to mind. We can think of the parable of the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine sheep and goes and looks for the lost sheep. When we read the gospels, we come to see that Christ showed concern for all people, like the widow of Nain who was on her way out of the town to bury her only son. Jesus raises him up; or the blind man who he gave back his sight and many other miracles, all done out of love, mercy and compassion.
We need to look at the example of the Good Shepherd and as Christians need to imitate him in our relationships with others. We too, need to show love, mercy and compassion, especially in this time of the Pandemic. This we do by reaching out to each other and showing concern for people in need.
As we continue in lockdown, I encourage you to continue to pray for one another and continue to follow the Mass on livestreaming from the different parishes that are able to livestream.
I also encourage you each Wednesday and Friday, to visit the Archdiocese website at adct.org.za and listen to the spiritual message given to us by Archbishop Brislin and Bishop Sylvester.

God bless.

Fr Mark