Lord Jesus,
You called fishermen to be your disciples,
and you look with love upon all
those who live and work at sea.
Touch our hearts so that we can be watchful
of their needs– these our brothers and sisters and their families.
Help us to be more aware of the challenges and dangers they face,
and send your Spirit on those who can give them
better conditions for safe work and fair pay.
Support them and protect them in their difficulties,
And watch over their families,
and that in us they can find support and help.

Amen

This week let us also include in our prayers…..

• Those who have died, have lost loved ones and are feeling betrayed in Beirut….
• Those who are alone, unemployed, suffering and dying as a result of COVID-19….
• Those who are working tirelessly to heal our broken world….

May these prayers and all those we hold in our hearts, be felt by those who need them most.

Sunday’s Gospel- 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Please find shared in this week’s newsletter: the Sunday prayer at home which has some wonderful resources to unpack this week’s readings in a family friendly way.  

One of the striking features of the gospels is the unflattering picture they present of the Twelve. Jesus’ hand-picked disciples. They are shown to be dull of mind, slow to believe, prone to rivalry and ambition, and when it really mattered, cowardly. Jesus, by contrast is patient, passionate, steadfast, and powerful.

What is exceptional is a story in which Jesus is shown as coming off second-best. What is even more extraordinary is that his victor is not only a woman but a foreigner. That is the story from Sunday’s gospel. The Canaanite woman challenged the narrow horizons of Jesus’ mission: now her story takes the quest to us. How broad is our outlook? How inclusive is our vision? How courageous are we in going beyond what is familiar and comfortable? I have a fondness for this story as it shows the length that a mother will go to for her child. This unknown woman’s feistiness and persistence gets her the results she was after. Reading Reflections

May St Joseph smile on you,

Meg Newell

APRE/CST