The Amalekites challenged the Hebrews to a decisive battle. Moses watched from a distance. His brother Aaron and his companion, Hur, stayed with Moses. As long as Moses arms were raised holding his staff – the power of God – the Israelites were winning; when his arms came down, the Amalekites were winning. The position of his raised up arms is an ancient one of prayer. As Moses remained united to God in prayer, God’s power prevailed. He couldn’t do it alone; he needed the support of others; even with help, it took all Moses had to persevere. The gospel also, humorously, demonstrates perseverance in prayer. Nobody could tell the unjust judge what to do until he meets this widow, she wouldn’t give it a rest! She knew she was right; she wanted justice. She badgered him night and day. The widow kept pestering the judge for a just decision. Moses kept his arms raised in prayer until the Israelites won. Jesus says the most important thing about prayer is to pray continually. So let us keep raising our arms to God in prayer, and keep pestering God. He always listens and always loves us.
ST JOHN HENRY NEWMAN: GOD KNOWS ME AND CALLS ME BY HIS NAME:
God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me, which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments and serve him in my calling. Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about.
20th October is WORLD MISSION SUNDAY and there will be a second collection for Missio, Pope Francis’ charity for overseas mission. Today is an opportunity to support the missionary work of the Church through prayer and offerings. The collection will go directly towards helping people in areas of poverty across the world.
Luke 17: 11-19 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus travelled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered one of the villages, ten lepers came to meet him. They stood some way off and called to him, ‘Jesus! Master! Take pity on us.’ When he saw them he said, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ Now as they were going away they were cleansed. Finding himself cured, one of them turned back praising God at the top of his voice and threw himself at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. The man was a Samaritan. This made Jesus say, ‘Were not all ten made clean? The other nine, where are they? It seems that no one has come back to give praise to God, except this foreigner.’ And he said to the man, ‘Stand up and go on your way. Your faith has saved you.’
THE PRISONS WEEK PRAYER 13th -19 Oct 2019
We have been trusted to look after something precious; guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit.We have many gifts to be looked after and used; three of them make us Christians. The first comes at our baptism when we were gifted with the Life of God; we need to guard this Life. We can’t let ourselves be influenced by the immorality that destroys the Life within us. The second great gift is the Word of God. The Bible is God’s Word; we need to guard against treating it as a self-help book. It is God telling us about Himself, His Life, and how we are to live His Life. The third great gift is the Eucharist; Jesus Christ transformed bread and wine into His Body and Blood and entrusted us with this Great Mystery. We need to guard this mystery against those elements within ourselves that can downgrade the Eucharist into a pious religious act. The Eucharist is the source and the summit of our faith. It is Jesus Christ. Jesus came for all people; He commissioned us to go out and proclaim the Kingdom of God to the whole world. We pray today for the grace to guard these gifts and to use them in proclaiming His Kingdom.
Extraordinary Month of Mission: Pope Francis has declared that October 2019 will be a special month of prayer and action to strengthen and grow God’s mission and the Church. This is the work of Missio, his charity for overseas mission, supporting the Church where it is too poor to support itself, training local clergy and helping children in need.
Look and See! St Luke’s gospel is a gospel of compassion – the lowly being raised up. Today we are challenged by the parable of Dives and Lazarus. St Luke is not defaming those who have worked hard for their position in life, but rather challenging everyone to recognise the responsibilities their position in life demands. The Rich Man, now in hell, lifts his eyes and for the first time sees Lazarus as a person. Perhaps he’d noticed Lazarus in stinky, dirty clothes begging, as he opened his front door to welcome his dinner guest. He may have called the police to complain about the vagrant at his door. All he saw was a hungry man; and he didn’t even give him the scraps from his table. He’d never seen Lazarus because his possessions had blinded him to those around him. The first time he saw Lazarus it was too late. What do I do? Do my eyes look away if I meet someone who might be in need? Do I make rash judgments? Am I more concerned with what I have done and what they failed to do? Jesus calls us to see by having faith in Him not in our possessions or status. Today we ask Him to open our eyes.
What was lost is now found, alleluia! Today’s Gospel is about joy: a lost sheep is found, a lost coin is found and a lost son is found. In all three cases, the sheep, coin or son could have been written off. After all, the shepherd had 99 other sheep, the woman had nine other coins, and the father had another son! He could have washed his hands of the son who had treated him so badly and offended everything the father stood for. He could have decided that he just needed to be happy with the son who was faithful to him. He couldn’t and he wouldn’t. People who care, don’t write other people off, rather they focus on them. God does not give up on us; He calls us by name, seeking us out individually. He never gives up on those who have been far from the faith or from morality. He calls us all into the joy of His Presence, the Joy of the Banquet of the Lord. The return of those who have had been away is a time for celebration. The cause of their leaving no longer matters. They have returned. The family is back together. Therefore we need to celebrate.
At the 10am Mass next Sunday 8th September we will be joined by Fr Charlie from the Montfort community in Malawi. Fr Charlie used to be a priest in Sitima parish, the parish that Marian and others have been to visit and worked in, but he still has close links with them. 
Holy Trinity and St George 