PRIESTS OF THE PARISH
Rev John Doherty PP Tel: 028 7188 2274
Rev Paul Farren Tel: 028 7188 3247

Sunday 21st March 2010

Fifth Sunday of Lent

The Lord who wipes away our sins

Jesus said to the crowd: “If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him/her be the first to throw a stone at her”. We live in a world that takes delight in other people’s sins, a world that is always baying for punishment and revenge. In a very real way we can understand this and accept it. And yet it has no place in our following of Christ. The Gospel story of the woman who was caught in the act of adultery, and whom the Law said should be stoned to death, is a wonderful revelation of the way Christ sees the person who has sinned. He does not condone her actions but with great gentleness he sets her free with the command to go and not to sin again. This is the gentleness we are called to develop towards one another while always remembering that our own sins should hold us back from throwing the first stone.

Fr. Johnny Doherty, C.Ss.R.

Sunday 21st March 2010

Fifth Sunday of Lent

First Reading : Isaiah 43: 16-21
God will rescue his people from slavery and they will sing his praises.

Second Reading: Philippians 3: 8-14
All I want is to know Christ and share in the power of his resurrection.

Gospel: John 8: 1-11
The mercy of Jesus reveals the compassionate love and forgiveness of God.

The Condemned Woman

Well, there we were, the lads and I sort of half-listening to Jesus. Well, we’d heard him before, and could talk to him privately later on. ‘Familiarity breeding indifference?’ I hear you say in surprise. Well, we all tend to take people for granted, don’t we?

Now, where was I? Oh yes, there was this commotion, a crowd driving a young woman, like a wild animal. They told Jesus they caught her committing adultery. The law was clear – it was death by stoning. ‘What have you to say, Master?’ they asked.

It was brutal. There she stood, frightened, ashamed, and disgraced in full view of everyone. No human being deserved this. But Jesus said nothing, didn’t even look at her, he just traced the sand with his finger, like something a child would do.

Well, time went by, they waited, everyone waited. I don’t know how long, probably seconds, but it felt like years.

Then he spoke – just one sentence; ‘If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Then in silence he doodled in the sand and they looked on thunder-struck. What happened next? Well, one after another they went away, and all you could hear were stones dropping and sandals flopping. Nobody was left, just the woman, Jesus and us.

Do you know what he did next? He said to her; ‘Where’s everybody gone? Didn’t anyone condemn you?’ She was sobbing there, relief mixed up with fright. She said, ‘No one, sir.’ He just stood up, took her two hands between his, and said; ‘Well, I won’t condemn you either. You can head off now, and don’t sin anymore.’ ‘Thanks,’ she said, ‘thanks very much.’ Then he turned to us; ‘Now what was I saying before we were interrupted.’ Off he went again, but we all new it was to give her a chance to go away quietly and without notice.

Last Sunday’s collection was £1,563.00.

Many Thanks!

Sick and Housebound

The sick and the housebound will be attended on the

morning and afternoon of Tuesday 23rd March.

Palm Sunday

Next Sunday 28th March will be Passion [Palm Sunday].

Palms will be blessed at all Masses.

Questions People Ask

Q. Whatever happened to the partner of the woman being stoned for adultery? Was it a case of one law for men and another law for women?

A. We do not know what happened him. Maybe he evaded capture or, perhaps, he was tried separately. The same law applied equally to men and women, but it was an ancient law which was rarely put into effect. It was used now to set a trap for Jesus. However, the wisdom of Jesus unmasked the hypocrisy of the accusers.

Q. I always understood that before Easter is the best time for confession but now I’m told that Divine Mercy Sunday, after Easter, is the time Jesus wants us to go.

A. Your traditional idea is more in keeping with the wisdom of the Church’s liturgical year. The Sunday Gospels this Lent are great stories of divine mercy: the parable of the gardener who gives the fruitless tree another chance, the banquet for the Prodigal Son, and the mercy of Jesus towards the woman condemned to death. The choice of these stories is to move us to celebrate God’s forgiveness in preparation for sacred triduum when we celebrate the Last Supper, the Passion and the Resurrection of the Lord.

Fr. Silvester O’Flynn OFM Cap

Millennium Forum

‘The Priests’

with special guest Camilla Kerslake

will perform in the Millennium Forum on Tuesday 15th June at 8.00pm. Tickets cost £19.50, £24.50 and £29.50. To book please contact the Box Office on [028] 71264455.

Penitential Service

A Penitential Service will take place in the Immaculate Conception Church, Strabane next Sunday [28th March] from 5.00pm until 6.30pm. Several priests will hear confessions.

Alzheimer’s Support Group
The next group meeting will take place on Wednesday 24th March at 7.30pm in Melmount Manor Care Home, 1 Orchard Road, Strabane. Guest speaker will be Angel Carson [Northern Ireland Energy Agency] who will be speaking on ‘Energy Efficiency and Fuel Poverty’. Everyone is welcome to come along.

Carmelite Retreat Centre, Termonbacca
An Easter Weekend Retreat from 8.00pm on Friday 26th March until Sunday
28th March. A quiet residential weekend, which will be a spiritual preparation for Easter. For further details and booking please telephone [028] 71262512.

To Parents of a New Born Child

• Baptisms are normally celebrated in Leckpatrick on Saturday at 7.45pm or on Sunday at 12.15pm.

• Each sponsor must not be less than sixteen years of age and must be a practising Catholic.

• Please bring a baptismal garment to the ceremony. The infant should not be wearing it coming to the church, but will be clothed in it by the priest at the appropriate point in the ceremony.

• Please bring a reasonably substantial candle to the ceremony. It is preferable that each child in the family should have his or her own baptismal candle.

• Note that Canon Law states that ‘parents, sponsors and parish priests are to take care that a name is not given which is foreign to Christian sentiment.’

• Please make arrangements with the priest in good time, and see that the baptismal card is completed three or four days before the ceremony at the latest.

• Kindly remember that the church is a sacred space, and is worthy of reverence and respect at all times, including the period when photographs are being taken after the ceremony.

• Finally, congratulations on the birth of your child! Your child’s baptism will be a special occasion for you and your family. It will also be a special occasion for our parish as we welcome your new born baby into the Christian community.