SACRAMENT of EUCHARIST

This week begins the Parish celebration of our Year 5 children receiving the Sacrament of Eucharist. While most of our StFA children are not receiving the Sacrament until the weekend of the 21st and 22nd of September, Ben Ryan will receive his Sacrament alongside 39 other children from the Parish this weekend. We send prayers and best wishes to Ben as he makes this monumental step in his faith life.  Overall we have 101 children in the Parish receiving the gift of Jesus' Body over the next 3 weekends. Please keep all these children, but especially the 26 children from here at St Francis in your prayers.   

Lord Jesus,

Bless the children coming forward to receive Holy Communion for the first time.

May this day be an initial step into a life-long love of the Eucharist.

Give them a hunger for this sacred food so that they turn to You for comfort,

guidance, and wisdom as they grow into full discipleship.

Amen

Sunday Gospel Reflection- Mark 7:31-37

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

Jesus heals the deaf man.

Strangely, this week’s gospel about the healing of a man who was deaf and dumb is less about healing than it is about Jesus being the Messiah. The theme is set up in the first reading when the prophet, Isaiah, describes the signs by which the coming of the Messiah will be recognised: the blind will see; the deaf will hear; the lame will leap; and the dumb will speak. When Jesus healed the man in the gospel story the crowd were admiring of what he had done. They even exclaimed, ‘he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.’ These words are a direct echo of the Isaiah text – they were recognising Jesus as fulfilling the prophecies of the promised Messiah.

However, the passage also demonstrates to us that Jesus was trying to show the people that he was not exactly the Messiah that many of them were anticipating. This healing story takes place in the region of The Decapolis – south-east of the Galilee region and populated mostly by Gentiles. By travelling in this area and working miraculous healings, Jesus is making the point that his mission is to all people, not just ‘the Chosen People’ of Israel. He commands the crowd who witnessed the healing to tell no one about it but, filled with the idea that Jesus was the Messiah they had been waiting for, they broadcast the news. Jesus wanted their silence because he knew that they did not fully understand the sort of Messiah that he was. Only when they understood that this Messiah must suffer and die would he have allowed them to speak of his deeds.

Adapted from Greg Sunter

Have a great Week

Sharee Thomas

REC