Parish of Hoyland Saint Andrew
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Week Commencing 26th September 2021

9/28/2021

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FORTHCOMING SERVICES
Thursday 30th Sept Feria 10.00am
Sunday 3rd Oct Parish Mass 9.30am
COFFEE MORNING
Our newly revamped Church Mice Cafe is open every Tuesday from 10.00am to 11.45am for a coffee and a natter.
REFLECTIONS
 
How easy is it to get away with using someone else’s work?  Plagiarism, the passing off of someone else’s ideas or work as one’s own, has a bad name.  I saw recently how one comedian accused another of using one of his jokes as though it were his own.  The joke was about an internet-connected fridge that sent out so many messages it was like a nagging partner.  This was why he didn’t plan to get married.  I can see that you are not exactly helpless with laughter, but if this were your joke, you might not want someone else using it.
   Both in the book of Numbers and in St Mark’s gospel today we see people who are copying someone else’s work and there are people who are up in arms about it.  The spirit that had come down upon Moses and on those who were with him at the time, was inspiring two men, who continued to prophesy.  Some people complained to Moses to tell these people to stop, but Moses told them not to be jealous on his account. 
   In a similar way, there was a man casting out evil in the name of Jesus and his disciples were scandalised.  They went to tell Jesus that he was doing these things in his name.  Jesus responded by saying that if this man was doing good works in his name, then he must not be stopped from doing so.  He may not have been numbered among the disciples, but there was no doubt that he was on the same side as Jesus.
   God is generous in the outpouring of his Holy Spirit.  When we receive that gift in baptism and when it is confirmed within us, this is something very special, but it is never exclusive.  Faith is deeply personal but it is never a purely private matter.  Last week we heard in the letter of St James about how faith is not about indulging our own desires.  Neither is faith limited to our personal salvation, but it expresses itself through good works that are for the benefit of others
   One of the five marks of mission is to respond to human need through loving service.  Christians are called to live out their faith in generosity of spirit.  This is why we support the Women’s Refuge.  The recipients of that generosity and practical care may not themselves be committed Christians.  They may be people with messy lives, who have made mistakes along the way.  Our part is not to judge whether people are deserving or not, as our society often encourages us to do, but instead to see people who are loved by God and who need our care.
   As Christians and as disciples who learn from Jesus, we are all called to take part in God’s Mission (Missio Dei).  The mission of the Church is God’s mission and not ours.  So we are chosen by God to join in with the work that we see Jesus doing.  This is the work that the Holy Spirit empowers people to do in every age.  As the people of God we have been given freedom.  Of course we can use that freedom to exalt ourselves and to dominate other people and to choose our own path.  This would not be a path that leads to life, but would lead us and other people astray, with serious consequences for us and for them.  Jesus speaks of this in the gospel.  A better use of our freedom is to build others up, to encourage them and to enable them to find their place in the Mission of God.
   We see in Jesus the scope of God’s generosity.  Jesus did not share his disciples’ jealousy when they came across someone who was bringing hope and healing to other people in his name.  Instead he recognised that work as being his own.  Unlike a comedian or a musician, protective of the thing he has created, Jesus rejoices when other people take up his work and join in.  They are on his side and this can only be to the good.  Church members do not have a monopoly on charitable work or in showing goodness to other people.  There are many good things that go on in the community and the world around us.  God is at work beyond the walls of the church and this is something we can welcome and join in with.  Whether it is a foodbank, a refuge, a community garden – in all these ways we can see the marks of God’s Mission.
   The generous grace of God is poured out among us and as followers of Christ we have been called “salt and light”.  In a world with so much darkness, our small light and those of others can make a difference.  Never tell yourself that the difference is too small.  Too much salt in our food may not be great for our health, but a small amount brings flavour.  God transforms our lives by his generous grace and when we join in with the work of Jesus we can help to transform the world around us, so that the forgiveness and the compassion of God shines through.  We encounter God’s generous grace through the sacraments of the church and are encouraged in turn to be generous in allowing that grace to flow outwards into the world through the way we live.
   Can we make it a part of our rule of life to think of how we can make a difference to people’s lives in our community and beyond?  I’m sure some of those things are already happening, in which case we can encourage others to be part of it.  Let’s discern what God is doing here among us, so that we may move from maintenance to mission.



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Week commencing 29th August 2021

9/1/2021

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FORTHCOMING EVENTS
​Services

Feria Parish Mass Thursday 2nd September at the earlier time of 9.30am
Parish Mass Sunday 5th September at 9.30am
Coffee Mornings
We are pleased to announce that these will resume from Tuesday 7th September from 10.00am and every Tuesday thereafter. We look forward to meeting old and new friends alike.

REFLECTIONS 
   St Mark’s gospel today shows us a scene where the Pharisees are observing the disciples of Jesus and criticising them for eating with unclean hands.  We might think that they had a point.  After all, if we are paying attention lately, we shall still be very aware of the risk that germs carry.  We are still quite rightly being asked to sanitise our hands for our own safety and for that of other people. 
   To put this gospel passage into context it has more to do with ritual purity.  The practice of washing the arms as far as the elbow and of people sprinkling themselves when returning from the market perhaps had its origins in a healthy desire for hygiene.  Still, we get the sense here that the Pharisees are more bothered about traditions.  They seemed very aware of their own propriety and saw people less observant than themselves as people to be shunned.  In their desire to stick to rules, those rules became an end in themselves.  The love that was at the heart of God’s law was being squeezed out in favour of human traditions.
   Jesus has no qualms about shining a spotlight on this hypocrisy.  We see in the gospel that Jesus was willing to mix with sinners and to eat with them.  The Pharisees and others were scandalised.  Did Jesus not know what these people were like?  Well, he did, but he still saw them as human beings and had compassion on them.  Jesus was not taken in by outward appearances, because he knew what was on people’s hearts.  He knew that people who were labelled sinners could be capable of kindness and compassion.  He also knew that the righteous and the ritually clean could be capable of envy, pride and hardness of heart.
   Above all, Jesus taught that it was not outward things that would contaminate our spiritual lives.  What makes the difference in the end is what comes from our hearts.  It is easy to blame other people for what goes wrong or to look past our own faults, so as to highlight the faults of others.  Jesus names the dishonesty that is at work here.  He compels us to look at our own hearts first.
  We don’t have to look too hard at the world to see the effects of human sinfulness.  The terrible scenes from Afghanistan in recent days show the human capacity for evil very clearly.  No doubt the perpetrators of these dreadful events believe themselves to be in the right.  In comparison with this our own faults may seem very small.  But Jesus shows us that sin should never be taken lightly.  Every human being has a capacity for goodness but also for doing harm.  The closer we get to the goodness of God, the more we shall become aware of our own need for repentance and forgiveness.  If we are honest, then we shall stop blaming outside causes, especially other people, and instead see our own need for God.
   When Jesus calls the Pharisees hypocrites it may sound as though he himself is being judgmental.  Really it is more of a wake-up call.  Hiding behind rules and traditions will not make us holy.  It is only when we take the word of God into our hearts that our lives begin to change.  No matter how divided our hearts may be and whatever darkness may lurk there, God is calling us back to himself.  God alone can cleanse our hearts.  We see in Jesus the compassion of the God who does not wish to condemn us or other people.  Instead we discover healing and new life.
   When we are honest with ourselves and when we accept God’s forgiveness, then we experience a love that is all embracing.  Through this we cannot help but look at other people and desire for them the same gift.  So let us pray today that our hearts may be cleansed by God’s life-giving grace and our lives transformed so that we may be channels of that same healing love.
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    Saint Andrew

    I am a rather old Saint.

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