Dear Parishioners and all those who logged into our Parish,
may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be in you and upon you.
This celebration of Mass took place at 10am on Tuesday 14th July in the Church of the Immaculate Conception – Parishioners were able to attend at Mass and others joined via the webcam and radios at home.
First reading: from the prophet Isaiah 7:1-9.
Isaiah tells the king not to fear
Responsorial Psalm 47.
God upholds his city for ever
Gospel: according to Matthew 11:20-24.
It will not go as hard with Sodom on Judgement Day as with you.
My few words:
At the beginning of Mass:
We gather together with those here present in Church and also at a distance via radio or webcam to celebrate the Eucharist. Welcome to all.
This morning we gather for Mass for the Sick: for those at home please have a small teaspoon of olive oil available to bless those who are sick or preparing for/recovering from operations or receiving treatment at this time or are aged or anyone who is living with addiction or mental health or emotional health or spiritual health issues. We will do that later in the Mass.
If you have a relative or friend who cannot be present at home or here in the Church, I hope you have a photo of them at hand. And those at home light a candle.
Today is the feast day of St Camillus of Lellis, an Italian, who lived in the sixteenth century and also St Kateri Tekakwitha. She lived in the seventeenth century and is celebrated in the USA and Canada.
All of us are in need of God’s healing that comes with God’s mercy and forgiveness. We acknowledge our sinfulness, our selfishness…
After the Gospel:
Universalis, is an app containing the Mass and readings and prayers and notes on the saints for each day of the year. I find it very useful and I recommend it as a present especially for those who attend Mass regularly and is very handy when away from home.
The app tells us about St Camillus: He was born in Italy of a noble family. He became a soldier but his taste for gambling and riotous living eventually lost him everything. At the age of 25 he converted as the result of hearing a sermon. He twice tried to join the Capuchin friars but was rejected because of his poor health. Having had experience of hospitals from the inside, he determined to improve them, and he devoted the rest of his life to the care of the sick. He offered himself to the hospital of San Giacomo in Rome and eventually became its bursar. Hospitals in those days were filthy, and hospital staff brutal and inadequate. He introduced many reforms and founded a congregation of priests and lay brothers, the Servants of the Sick (later known as the Camillians) to serve the sick both spiritually and physically. He was ordained priest in 1584. He resigned as head of his congregation in 1607 but continued to look after and visit the sick almost until the day of his death.
St Kateri is known as the “Lily of the Mohawks” and the “Geneviève of New France,” she was born in the Mohawk fortress of Ossemenon in what is now New York State, the daughter of a Mohawk warrior and a Catholic Algonquin woman whom he had saved from captivity at the hands of the Iroquois. When she was about four, smallpox killed her parents and her brother and left her scarred and with impaired eyesight. She was adopted by her uncle, the chief of the Turtle clan, and had many offers of marriage. She received some knowledge of Christianity from Jesuit missionaries when she was 11, and she determined to live the life not only of a Christian but of a Christian virgin: a heroic determination at the time. She was baptized when she was 20 and eventually, to escape persecution and death threats, she fled to an established Christian community at Kahnawake in what is now Québec in Canada. She advanced in union with God, with bodily mortification and intense prayer, and died at the age of 24.
These two people had first-hand experience of sickness and the fatal result sometimes of sickness. Their experiences led them to lives of devotion to God and the care of fellow humans, especially those in need physically and spiritually. Through their intercession may those who carry the burden of sickness, in all its forms, find strength and solace and healing. Who carries such a burden? – the sick, the addicted, their families and friends and their medical and care teams.
Ritual for those at home
Have the teaspoon of olive oil ready.
The Lord Jesus, who went about doing good works and healing sickness and infirmity of every kind, commanded his disciples to care for the sick, to pray for them, and to lay hands on them. In this ritual we shall entrust our sick sisters and brothers to the care of the Lord, asking that he will enable them to bear their pain and suffering in the knowledge that, if they accept their share in the pain of his own Passion, they will also share in its power to give comfort and strength.
Response: Lord, give those who are sick the comfort of your presence.
1. Lord Jesus, you came as healer of body and of mind and of spirit, in order to cure all our ills. Response.
2. You were a man of suffering, but it was our infirmities that you bore, our sufferings that you endured. Response.
3. You chose to be like us in all things, in order to assure us of your compassion. Response.
4. You experienced the weakness of the flesh in order to deliver us from evil. Response.
5. Lord Jesus, you called the little children to come to you and said that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these; listen to our prayers for these children and babies. Response.
6. For those bound by the chains of addiction or substance abuse or mental health or emotional health or spiritual health issues; that we encourage and assist them in their struggle. Response.
7. At the foot of the Cross your Mother stood as companion in your sufferings, and in your tender care you gave her to us as our Mother. Response.
Prayer of praise for the oil.
Praise to you, almighty God and Father. You sent your Son to live among us and bring us salvation.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, the Father’s only Son. You humbled yourself to share in our humanity, and you desired to cure all our illnesses.
Praise to you God the Holy Spirit, the Consoler. You heal our sickness with your mighty power
Lord God, with faith in you our beloved – or if you are alone, yourself – will be blessed with this oil. Ease their/my sufferings and strengthen their/me in their/my weakness.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Now I invite you to bless on the forehead whoever is in need of blessing and we will listen to the hymn – Turn your eyes upon Jesus – James Kilbane.
We continue with the Prayer of the Faithful
Priest: Let us pray to God for the graces we need at this time.
1. In this time of the coronavirus pandemic we pray that God’s mercy may bring healing and reconciliation to all humankind. …pause… Lord, hear us.
2. That all who suffer in mind or body may find in Mary, the Mother of God, who stood at the foot of the cross, the strength to endure and accept. …pause… Lord, hear us.
3. That the sick may receive healing. That those addicted may have courage and strength. That those who carry the stress of mind, emotional or spiritual crosses may see a way through life. …pause… Lord, hear us.
4. May medical teams at hospital, medical centres, in the community be blessed and guided in their work of healing and support. …pause…Lord, hear us.
5. May family and friends who care and worry and serve the sick be given patience and understanding. …pause… Lord, hear us.
6. We pray for peace in our families and in our country. That healing and reconciliation may be experienced by those who seek it. …pause… Lord, hear us.
Priest: O God, listen to our prayers and grant them through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Hymn post Communion: These alone are enough, Dan Schutte – St Louis Jesuits
At the end of Mass:
After the Prayer after Communion –
For those present at Mass – you can come again tomorrow for Mass.
I wish you all health and happiness.
Continue to do what we are doing for the good of us all – stay at home!
Keep safe and well and keep your distance!
Lord, our God, who watch over us with unfailing care, keep us in the safe embrace of your love. With your strong right hand raise us up and give us the strength of your own power. Minister to us and heal us so that we may have from you the help we long for.
Blessing
Followed by James Kilbane cd
Before Mass James Kilbane