Parish of Our Lady & Saint David, Cwmbran

A spring of water welling up to eternal life

The Gospel of the third Sunday is the remarkable conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman by the well, the theme is water – which gives life, which cleanses, which is so necessary. This reading forms part of the catechesis given before Baptism at Easter: the candidates who would go into the water are invited to reflect on what that means. But more necessary than the water which gives life is the water which gives eternal life – the water of baptism, the water flowing from Jesus’ side on the cross. Even if your Church does not have any candidates preparing for Baptism, we will all renew our baptismal promises at Easter: we should take this opportunity to reflect on what baptism has given us, and what God has done for us in this gift.

3rd Sunday of Lent 2017 Newsletter

What’s on This Week

Lent is a Season of preparation for the whole Paschal Triduum, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday: not just a time to reflect on the Cross. Often our Lenten devotions can focus exclusively on the Cross, and the idea of Baptism can be lost. This is why the Church invites us to join the disciples in looking beyond the cross this Sunday: we see the glory of Easter, the glory of the resurrection and the glory of the baptised. We see all this in the Transfiguration: we are invited to recognise who Jesus is. It is the glorified Jesus, whom we will celebrate at Easter, who calls us to journey through Lent, just as God called Abram to journey far from his home. So the readings lead us to acknowledge that Lent is a very special calling, to follow the Lord of glory to the renewal of baptismal purity.

2nd Sunday of Lent 2017 Newsletter

What’s on This Week

In the Cycle of Sunday Readings, the oldest are those of Year A in Lent these Gospels have accompanied the Church for many centuries. We must realise why: Lent was originally the time of immediate preparation of candidates for Baptism at Easter (something which has been reintroduced to the Church by RCIA): those already baptised used it as a time to prepare for the renewal of Baptismal promises. This is why so much of the Scripture in Lent is about Baptism, New Life and Salvation. What is the new life of Baptism? What are we set free from? What is sin? We begin Lent by hearing about sin and temptation; the Gospel will tell us of Jesus own temptations, something he shares with us, though he did not sin. The other Scripture readings prepare us for the Gospel, in which Jesus, the new Adam, triumphs over temptation.

1st Sunday of Lent 2017 Newsletter

What’s on This Week

“Do not worry about tomorrow.”

In these weeks, as we follow the Sermon on the Mount in Saint Matthew’s Gospel, it can feel as though we are dealing with some very obvious and familiar teachings. Last week we had “Love your neighbour, and this week the extremely simple message that God loves and cares for us. This is because the Sermon on the Mount is a great summary of the most basic teachings of our faith, and we should take this opportunity to renew within ourselves our awareness of these teachings. After a simple, yet beautiful image in the first reading, Jesus elaborates on the idea of the constant care of God for us with some more beautiful images: he invites us to look at the birds and the flowers, which do not have money, mortgages, computers, cars or so many of the things we have and worry about, and yet manage to be beautiful and happy in what God provides. The message is simple, and is expressed right at the beginning of the Gospel: trust God; be the servant of God, relying on God for everything, not on money or the other things of this world.

8th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2017 Newsletter

LENT 2017

Ash Wednesday this year falls on 1 March. This means the feast of St. David will be celebrated in the Diocese on Tuesday 28^th February.

28^th February: St David’s Day Mass Times

9.30am St David’s

11.00am Our Lady’s

1^St March: Ash Wednesday Mass times

10am Our Lady’s

7.00pm St David’s

3^rd March – 7^th April: Lenten Talks and soup lunch every Friday at the Salvation Army. Soup served from 12noon -1.15pm

Friday 3^rd March: Women’s World Day of Prayer at Holy Trinity Church, Pontnewydd at 7pm

Friday 10^th March: CAFOD FAMILY FAST DAY

“Love your enemies.”

Love your neighbour as yourself.” These are words we associate so clearly with the teaching of Jesus and the way of life the Gospel calls us to. But it may be a surprise to some people to hear that these words come first from the Old Testament, in the mouth of Moses himself. Moses was speaking the Lord God’s instruction for the community – the community of the people of Israel in flight from Egypt in their long sojourn in the wilderness. God’s instructions were about how that community had to work without grudges, resentment or vengeance, but with love and forgiveness and tolerance. When Jesus comes with the message of the Kingdom of heaven, it is the same – instruction for a perfect, God-guided society, which depends on how each of us lives with others. The wisdom of this world, which Saint Paul mentions in the Second Reading, will not teach us this: the world will believe in vengeance and friendship only for your friends. Each of us must ask how we can embrace the apparent folly of Jesus teaching: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

7th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2017 Newsletter

“You have learnt how it was said to your ancestors; but I say this to you.”

Back in the 60s some groups adopted” Jesus Christ as an icon of rebellion, overturning authority and tearing up the rule book, possibly because of the frequent confrontations between Our Lord and the Pharisees. Today’s Gospel, however, shows us Jesus not as rule-breaker, but as rule-fulfiller, bringing an even greater depth to the rule that had guided the people of Israel for centuries. Jesus does not throw out the rulebook – or as the first reading says, He does not command us to be godless!  He challenges us in this Gospel to see how far our keeping God’s Law will go: will it just be about the letter of the Law (I have never killed anyone”), or will it look deeper (“Have I ever been angry? Have I been violent in my thoughts?). The challenge of the Kingdom of Heaven is to keep the commandments first and foremost from within, so that our outward behaviour conforms to the requirements of God’s Law.

6th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2017 Newsletter

LENT 2017

Ash Wednesday this year falls on 1 March. This means the feast of St. David will be celebrated in the Diocese on 28 February.

3rd March – 7th April: Lenten Talks and soup lunch at the Salvation Army. Soup served from 12noon -1.15pm

3rd March: Women’s World Day of Prayer at Holy Trinity Church, Pontnewydd at 7pm

10th March: CAFOD FAMILY FAST DAY

You are the light of the world

While the world may seem to be very indifferent to Christianity most of the time, it can be very critical of Christians who do not seem to be following the most basic tenet of their faith – to be a people of “good deeds”, as Jesus teaches in today’s portion of the Sermon on the Mount. While we may sometimes feel indignant about the world’s criticism of our faults, we have to remember that we are in a vital relationship with the word we are to be its light. This means that we should welcome the world’s gaze and scrutiny of our actions and beliefs and we should, in a sense, be accountable to the world for the way we live. We should never be salt that loses its taste. This openness to the gaze of all is not for our own glory, however: it is so that others may find what we have found their way to the Father.

PSALM

He is a light in the darkness for the upright: he is generous, merciful and just.
The good man takes pity and lends, he conducts his affairs with honour.
The just man will never waver: he will be remembered for ever.
He has no fear of evil news; with a firm heart he trusts in the Lord.
With a steadfast heart he will not fear; open-handed, he gives to the poor;
his justice stands firm for ever. His head will be raised in glory.

First Reading: Isaiah 58:7-10

Second Reading: 1 Cor 2:1-5

Gospel: Mathew 5:13-16

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2017 Newsletter

Last week we heard Saint Matthew describing the beginnings of Jesus’ public ministry. This week Saint Matthew begins the most important summary of the proclamation of the kingdom of God – what we refer to as the “Sermon on the Mount.” This great collection of Jesus’ teachings begins with the Beatitudes – the Charter of the Kingdom. It is essential to understand these, if we are to understand what we will read in Saint Matthew during the rest of this year: the key, as underlined by the First Reading, is that the values of this world are not the values of the Kingdom of God – the Kingdom will see things turned upside down: happiness and blessing belong to those whom this world would ignore or mistreat. If we truly wish to live out the Gospel, we would do well to reflect on the virtues laid out in this familiar passage.

PSALM

It is the Lord who keeps faith for ever, who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry, the Lord, who sets prisoners free.
It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind, who raises up those who are bowed down,
the Lord, who protects the stranger and upholds the widow and orphan.
It is the Lord who loves the just but thwarts the path of the wicked.
The Lord will reign for ever, Zion’s God, from age to age.

First Reading: Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13
Second Reading: 1 Cor 1:26-31
Gospel: Mathew 5:1-12

4th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2017 Newsletter

He went and settled in Capernaum:
in this way the prophecy of Isaiah was to be fulfilled.

We will spend most of the Sundays of the coming year in the company of Saint Matthew. His Gospel (like the others has its own characteristics. He is writing for a Jewish audience, and so is always at pains to stress one thing: that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah. He does this by reference to Jesus’ teaching and miracles, and very often by quoting the prophecies of the Old Testament to show that Jesus was their fulfilment. Today is a perfect example. “Zebulun and Naphthali” was an old name for the area round Capernaum by the side of the Lake of Galilee, a busy fishing and trading area, with many Gentile towns and settlements: it is here, rather than in the dangerous town of Nazareth, that Jesus “settles” and begins his ministry. This is where the proclamation of the Kingdom of God begins, as was foretold, and the first followers are invited to join Jesus.

PSALM

The Lord is my light and my help; whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life; before whom shall I shrink?
There is one thing I ask of the Lord, for this I long,
to live in the house of the Lord, all the days of my life,
to savour the sweetness of the Lord, to behold his temple.
I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.
Hope in him, hold firm and take heart. Hope in the Lord!

First Reading : Isaiah 8: 23-9:3
Second Reading: 1 Cor 1:10-13,17
Gospel: Mathew 4:12-23

3rd Sunday Ordinary Time 2017 Newsletter

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 18^th -25^th January

Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.

There is no break between Christmas and Ordinary Time – one flows almost seamlessly into the other through the Baptism of Jesus. We ended our Christmas Season thinking about the “revelation” of the Son of God – people realising who this “Jesus of Nazareth” actually was – and this continues today, as we interject a passage from Saint John before we begin our weekly reading through Saint Matthew’s Gospel. New Year is about beginnings, and as we return to the beginning of Our Lord’s public ministry there is a sense of something exciting about to happen – even though we know the story, we dive into it once more, like returning to a favourite novel or film. So it is with joy that we stand in the country of the river Jordan, and recognise Jesus of Nazareth as the Chosen One of God, who offers himself to do God’s work.

PSALM

I waited, I waited for the Lord and he stooped down to me;
he heard my cry. He put a new song into my mouth, praise of our God.
You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings, but an open ear.
You do not ask for holocaust and victim. Instead, here am I.
In the scroll of the book it stands written that I should do your will.
My God, I delight in your law in the depth of my heart.
Your justice I have proclaimed in the great assembly.
My lips I have not sealed; you know it, O Lord.

First Reading: Isaiah 49:3,5-6

Second Reading: 1 Cor 1:1-3

Gospel: John 1:29-34

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 18^th -25^th January

2nd Sunday Ordinary Time 2107 Newsletter