Happy 70th Birthday, Fr Barnabas!
It was lovely to be able to wish a very Happy 70th Birthday to Fr Barnabas on Sunday.
We prayed, with thanks, for Fr Barnabas and all clergy during Mass and then we all enjoyed cake in the hall after, and it was a really nice atmosphere to see so many people there to wish him well... or, as he said, maybe some were just there for the cake!
The choir led us all in singing Happy Birthday at the end of Mass too. A really lovely celebration.
What will we do for his 80th?!
The Clifton Diocese Pilgrimage to Lourdes is taking place with pilgrims coming from all over the Diocese to embark on this journey.
Please be aware the deadline for deposits is 31st March 2024, with payment is full by 31st May 2024.
Use this link for info:
https://cliftondiocese.com/pilgrimage/lourdes/
Please see the following vacancy for Head of Theology at St Bernadette Catholic Secondary School
"Would you like to be part of a forward-thinking, supportive school community where your professional development is a priority? Governors of this outstanding 11-16 Catholic school are seeking to appoint for September 2024 , a practising Catholic who is a dynamic and inspirational Head of Theology and PSHE to lead an ‘outstanding’ RE Faculty (Section 48 inspection October 202).
To discuss the post or to arrange a school visit, please contact Mr Daniel Leiblich, Deputy Headteacher, on 0117 3772050 or email recruitment@stberns.bristol.sch.uk.
Application packs are available on the school website www.stberns.bristol.sch.uk
"Would you like to be part of a forward-thinking, supportive school community where your professional development is a priority? Governors of this outstanding 11-16 Catholic school are seeking to appoint for September 2024 , a practising Catholic who is a dynamic and inspirational Head of Theology and PSHE to lead an ‘outstanding’ RE Faculty (Section 48 inspection October 202).
To discuss the post or to arrange a school visit, please contact Mr Daniel Leiblich, Deputy Headteacher, on 0117 3772050 or email recruitment@stberns.bristol.sch.uk.
Application packs are available on the school website www.stberns.bristol.sch.uk
Thanks to Deacon Vincent for his Reflections for Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B
1st Reading from the book of Job 7: 1-4, 6-7.
The book of Job resembles many other works of Wisdom literature from Mesopotamia and Egypt as it wrestles with the problem of innocent suffering. It goes much beyond this, however in that it teaches us that it is permissible to argue with God, and that God’s loving wisdom is a mystery far beyond anything we can imagine. The book concentrates on how Job once prosperous and an excellent servant of God, is challenged to maintain his faith in God when things go radically wrong. His so-called friends believe he must have offended God for this disaster and they plaque him to own up or discover what it is that has brought this awful situation about. This passage we have before us today is Job’s first response to their accusations. He is at an all-time low ebb and very depressed. We can feel his pain with him and ponder why does God allow this to happen to a just man? We need to read the book to discover whether the writer gives us a clue as to why ill times befall good people. Maybe there is not an answer, maybe it is a condition of the Fall? Is this what Jesus came to help us understand the true nature of suffering? There are many questions for us to ponder this week.
Psalm 146: 1-6.
This song tries to give us hope that God always heals the broken hearted, we need to trust God’s wisdom, and trust in the Lord through thick and thin.
2nd Reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 9: 16-19, 22-23.
Paul is still dealing with the question that Christians are free, although they do not quite see it against their previous way of life. He is explaining that Christian’s freedom is not being able to do what we like. No, we are restrained by the Law of God, and by consideration for others. He is explaining that his task of preaching was laid upon him by God, it was not something he sought. So, although he is a free man he has made himself slave of all to be able to reach out to them. He makes himself all things to all men in order to save them. It is a very difficult point that Paul is trying to make to a people that have lived in the freedom of licentious behaviour without restraint or consideration for others or the consequences of their actions. This is the same thorny treatise we are having to tease out today.
The Holy Gospel according to Mark 1: 29-39.
Here we might have a clue about human suffering, and God’s attitude to it. Jesus goes to Peter’s house and finds Peter’s mother-in-law is ill with a fever. Jesu immediately heals her. Our human condition is vulnerable to illness and infection, it is not a punishment from God. Jesus actions throughout his ministry shows that God wants us to be well and does not punish us with sickness. Whenever God can, there is healing or God is enlightening us to be able to find cures. Jesus went through terrible suffering at the hands of men to set us free and enable us to lift ourselves above human greed and avarice. Jesus, also, shows us the need to be alone with God and pray, enter into conversation with God, to keep us well in mind and body. It is in the stillness that we can access God and be accessed by God. That way we discover what God wants us to do for Him. If Jesus needed those moments to clarify his path, then surely we need it so much more, if we are to find our true vocation in life.
God give us the grace to listen for your voice in this noisy world. Deacon Vincent.
1st Reading from the book of Job 7: 1-4, 6-7.
The book of Job resembles many other works of Wisdom literature from Mesopotamia and Egypt as it wrestles with the problem of innocent suffering. It goes much beyond this, however in that it teaches us that it is permissible to argue with God, and that God’s loving wisdom is a mystery far beyond anything we can imagine. The book concentrates on how Job once prosperous and an excellent servant of God, is challenged to maintain his faith in God when things go radically wrong. His so-called friends believe he must have offended God for this disaster and they plaque him to own up or discover what it is that has brought this awful situation about. This passage we have before us today is Job’s first response to their accusations. He is at an all-time low ebb and very depressed. We can feel his pain with him and ponder why does God allow this to happen to a just man? We need to read the book to discover whether the writer gives us a clue as to why ill times befall good people. Maybe there is not an answer, maybe it is a condition of the Fall? Is this what Jesus came to help us understand the true nature of suffering? There are many questions for us to ponder this week.
Psalm 146: 1-6.
This song tries to give us hope that God always heals the broken hearted, we need to trust God’s wisdom, and trust in the Lord through thick and thin.
2nd Reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 9: 16-19, 22-23.
Paul is still dealing with the question that Christians are free, although they do not quite see it against their previous way of life. He is explaining that Christian’s freedom is not being able to do what we like. No, we are restrained by the Law of God, and by consideration for others. He is explaining that his task of preaching was laid upon him by God, it was not something he sought. So, although he is a free man he has made himself slave of all to be able to reach out to them. He makes himself all things to all men in order to save them. It is a very difficult point that Paul is trying to make to a people that have lived in the freedom of licentious behaviour without restraint or consideration for others or the consequences of their actions. This is the same thorny treatise we are having to tease out today.
The Holy Gospel according to Mark 1: 29-39.
Here we might have a clue about human suffering, and God’s attitude to it. Jesus goes to Peter’s house and finds Peter’s mother-in-law is ill with a fever. Jesu immediately heals her. Our human condition is vulnerable to illness and infection, it is not a punishment from God. Jesus actions throughout his ministry shows that God wants us to be well and does not punish us with sickness. Whenever God can, there is healing or God is enlightening us to be able to find cures. Jesus went through terrible suffering at the hands of men to set us free and enable us to lift ourselves above human greed and avarice. Jesus, also, shows us the need to be alone with God and pray, enter into conversation with God, to keep us well in mind and body. It is in the stillness that we can access God and be accessed by God. That way we discover what God wants us to do for Him. If Jesus needed those moments to clarify his path, then surely we need it so much more, if we are to find our true vocation in life.
God give us the grace to listen for your voice in this noisy world. Deacon Vincent.
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