NEWSLETTER INSERTS - WORLD DAY OF THE POOR

‘By recognizing that God is our first and only hope, we too pass from fleeting hopes to a lasting hope. Once we desire that God accompany us on the journey of life, material wealth becomes relativized, for we discover the real treasure that we need’.

Pope Leo XIV, Message for 9^th World Day of the Poor

‘Let all your hope be in God: feel your need for him, and let him fill that need. Without him, whatever you possess will only make you all the more empty’.

St Augustine, Commentary on Ps., 85:3.

‘The poor are not a distraction for the Church, but our beloved brothers and sisters, for by their lives, their words and their wisdom, they put us in contact with the truth of the Gospel. The celebration of the World Day of the Poor is meant to remind our communities that the poor are at the heart of all our pastoral activity’.

Pope Leo XIV, Message for 9th World Day of the Poor

‘The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins.’

Soren Kierkegaard

‘The Parish to which one belongs indicates a community, a sense of belonging and a sense of pride.  While a parish is a Church structure, it is also more than that.  The parish is a place of evangelisation, a place where the sacraments are celebrated and a place where we celebrate our faith, but it is also a place with which we associate and identify ourselves’.

Bishop Tom Deenihan

‘The Second Reading at Mass this weekend offers a word of encouragement for all those who find their work difficult, who battle with long commutes, who earn low pay and who cannot find work. The Church acknowledges your struggle and sees you doing your best for yourself and your families. But let you define your work rather than your work define you. God created you and has intentionally blessed you with a unique set of gifts and talents that he wants you to use for some service or good. So never think that you are less talented than others or devoid of any gifts. You are wanted and willed and have a combination of gifts that the world needs. This intentional creating of us is closely linked to love. God has created us in love, and because of love he calls us to do him some definitive service, some kind of work’.

Fr Billy Swan