Dunleer Parish | Archdiocese of Armagh

Sunday, 29th October 2017

parishoffice — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 10:23:10 +0000

Gospel

Matthew 22:34-40

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees they got together and, to disconcert him, one of them put a question, ‘Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ Jesus said, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.’

Sunday, 22nd of October 2017

parishoffice — Thu, 19 Oct 2017 09:57:26 +0000

Gospel

Matthew 22:15-21

The Pharisees went away to work out between them how to trap Jesus in what he said. And they sent their disciples to him, together with the Herodians, to say, ‘Master, we know that you are an honest man and teach the way of God in an honest way, and that you are not afraid of anyone, because a man’s rank means nothing to you. Tell us your opinion, then. Is it permissible to pay taxes to Caesar or not?’ But Jesus was aware of their malice and replied, ‘You hypocrites! Why do you set this trap for me? Let me see the money you pay the tax with.’ They handed him a denarius, and he said, ‘Whose head is this? Whose name?’ ‘Caesar’s’ they replied. He then said to them, ‘Very well, give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar – and to God what belongs to God.’

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Gospel Commentary

Jesus’ reply to those who are trying to trap him is one of his most brilliant putdowns. The Pharisees had put a lot of work into how they might trap Jesus and they thought that they had got him on the horns of an impossible dilemma. Whatever his reply, they figured, he could be criticised. It was, as we now say, a Catch 22 situation. This set-up situation is the first of a series of such entrapments, ironically in Chapter twenty-two of Saint Matthew’s Gospel. The Pharisees do not approach him themselves but send their disciples and some Herodians, followers of Herod who was part of the apparatus of the occupying power, Rome. They begin with flattery or plamás as we say in Irish. They call Jesus honest. They say that he teaches honestly. They say that Jesus is not afraid and is not swayed by the rank of an individual. It is the big build-up before the hoped-for fall. The question is sprung. Is it permissible to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Jesus sees immediately that this is a trap. He also sees the hypocrisy of those who set the trap. They are asking if God would want them to contribute to the Roman census or tax on produce. If he approves, this would make him a collaborator in the eyes of fellow Jews. If he says no, this might get him in trouble with the authorities as a revolutionary or Zealot. The very authorities that were questioning Jesus with hostile intent helped to farm the taxes and they knew that many people resented the tax. The questioners are insincere. They have no qualms about using the money in the Temple. They have no problem with the pagan emperor’s image and his blasphemous claims to be divine. Jesus, in his instruction to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, distances himself from the zealots who opposed Rome. His instruction to give to God what is God’s makes the obligation to the state relative. He replies that the state can demand of a person their money or services but only God can demand the complete gift of self. He teaches that obligation and obedience to the state can be the same as doing God’s will but our obligation to God is by far the greater one. There is no straightforward or simple rule. The state has its claims. God has even greater claim. We cannot serve two masters though and in the end all that truly matters is obedience to God. If coins with the image and inscription of Caesar belong to Caesar, then human beings created in God’s image belong to God.

Sunday 15th October 2017

parishoffice — Mon, 09 Oct 2017 14:03:53 +0000

Gospel

Matthew 22:1-14

Jesus began to speak to the chief priests and elders of the people in parables: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding. He sent his servants to call those who had been invited, but they would not come. Next he sent some more servants. “Tell those who have been invited” he said “that I have my banquet all prepared, my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, everything is ready. Come to the wedding.” But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his servants, maltreated them and killed them. The king was furious. He despatched his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town. Then he said to his servants, “The wedding is ready; but as those who were invited proved to be unworthy, go to the crossroads in the town and invite everyone you can find to the wedding.” So these servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests. When the king came in to look at the guests he noticed one man who was not wearing a wedding garment, and said to him, “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” And the man was silent. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.” For many are called, but few are chosen.’

LLR October/November 2017 – On Sale Now €2.00!!

parishoffice — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 17:02:16 +0000

Lots of the usual articles on local history, local happenings and Book and Movie Reviews.

Conor Dunne on Why University?
Essays on Halloween subjects and more from those days at school by Lorna Murphy, Debbie McGuill, Charlie Monaghan, Brendan McEvoy Sarah Brennan Ciaran Reynolds Shane Kennedy.
Nursing in the U.S.A. by Anne Dunne.
Scoil Uí Mhuirí new Principal and Vice Principal.
Outgoing and incoming Church organists, John Conlon and Daithi Kearney… and much more.

Sunday 8th October 2017

parishoffice — Tue, 03 Oct 2017 11:57:41 +0000

Gospel

Matthew 21:33-43

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people, ‘Listen to another parable. There was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard; he fenced it round, dug a winepress in it and built a tower; then he leased it to tenants and went abroad. When vintage time drew near he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his servants, thrashed one, killed another and stoned a third. Next he sent some more servants, this time a larger number, and they dealt with them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them. “They will respect my son” he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, “This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him and take over his inheritance.” So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ They answered, ‘He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will deliver the produce to him when the season arrives.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures:
It was the stone rejected by the builders
that became the keystone.
This was the Lord’s doing
and it is wonderful to see?
‘I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.’

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Commentary

This is a good time to read the parable of the vineyard. It is autumn and we are expected to show some harvest. We have been entrusted with much. If the owner were to return suddenly and demand an account from us of our stewardship, how might we rise to that demand for accountability. Would he find integrity in our lives as he demands in the first reading? Would he find us at peace with one another, with God and with ourselves or might he find that the ways of anger and hate and bloodshed prevail? We have been put in charge, put in charge of something very precious. We stand in the place of God. God has charged us with stewardship of his kingdom, entrusted us with the care of his people and of creation, the environment. We are to build up the kingdom, to promote the ways of justice and peace and of mutual respect and dignity. We are to pray for the coming of that kingdom as well. We pray, ‘Thy kingdom come’ as we try to build it up and to make it a reality among us. The vineyard of the Old Testament represents the responsibility and the blessings and the privileges given to us and the demand that we show some return on all that we have been entrusted with. One day we will be called to account for how we looked after the care which was entrusted to us. We cannot hope to be part of the kingdom of eternal life surely if we have not prayed for it and taken an active part in its being built up. Who would hand over the house he had built and paid for to strangers who had made no contribution? God has never been weary with us. Time and time again, God has watched us build up our own little kingdoms. God has seen us abdicate our responsibilities and fail in our duties to care for the uncared for, and to gather in the little ones. God has watched us disregard his promises and his messengers. He has seen the disrespect some have for his name and for his beloved son, Jesus. The harvest time is coming and we are challenged to show the results of our stewardship. Otherwise he will strip us of our responsibility and of our reward. Care of the kingdom will be given to those who will produce results.

Sunday 1st October 2017

parishoffice — Tue, 26 Sep 2017 22:15:00 +0000

Gospel

Matthew 21:28-32

Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people, ‘What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He went and said to the first, “My boy, you go and work in the vineyard today.” He answered, “I will not go,” but afterwards thought better of it and went. The man then went and said the same thing to the second who answered, “Certainly, sir,” but did not go. Which of the two did the father’s will?’ ‘The first’ they said. Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you solemnly, tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you, a pattern of true righteousness, but you did not believe him, and yet the tax collectors and prostitutes did. Even after seeing that, you refused to think better of it and believe in him.’

Sunday, 24th September 2017

parishoffice — Mon, 18 Sep 2017 10:24:20 +0000

Gospel

Matthew 20:1-16

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner going out at daybreak to hire workers for his vineyard. He made an agreement with the workers for one denarius a day, and sent them to his vineyard. Going out at about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place and said to them, “You go to my vineyard too and I will give you a fair wage.” So they went. At about the sixth hour and again at about the ninth hour, he went out and did the same. Then at about the eleventh hour he went out and found more men standing round, and he said to them, “Why have you been standing here idle all day?” “Because no one has hired us” they answered. He said to them, “You go into my vineyard too.” In the evening, the owner of the vineyard said to his bailiff, “Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last arrivals and ending with the first.” So those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came forward and received one denarius each. When the first came, they expected to get more, but they too received one denarius each. They took it, but grumbled at the landowner. “The men who came last” they said “have done only one hour, and you have treated them the same as us, though we have done a heavy day’s work in all the heat.” He answered one of them and said, “My friend, I am not being unjust to you; did we not agree on one denarius? Take your earnings and go. I choose to pay the last comer as much as I pay you. Have I no right to do what I like with my own? Why be envious because I am generous?” Thus the last will be first, and the first, last.’

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Commentary

The gospel parable told by Jesus recounts the events of a single day, from sunrise to
evening. It is a story of Jesus’ time and place and culture. The props of the story
were familiar to his readers; a vineyard, a landowner, workers employed and
unemployed, and the issue of a just wage. Like all the parables, the story is
somewhat provocative. It tries to provoke us into expanding our understanding of
the nature of the God we believe in. It is also a parable of the last judgment. It is a
reminder that the last can be first and that we should never presume that, because
we have worked hard and long for the gospel that we are at the front of the queue.
One of the words for heaven in the Irish language, ‘flaitheas’ suggests generosity.
God is seen as the great host who provides generously for his guests. Heaven is seen
as the generosity of God in action. This is a God who is rich in forgiving, who is rich
in all things and who is correspondingly generous.
This generosity of God is at the heart of the Gospel story. Those who arrive at the
last moment are treated generously by the landowner. God’s kindness satisfies
justice and then goes further so that the less deserving (in the eyes of the world)
may receive as much as the more deserving. God rewards human beings according
to an unexpected kindness, goodness and generosity.
The ways and the thoughts of God are not ours, we are told. That can be obvious
sometimes. Other times we try vainly to understand the ways and thoughts of God
by thinking that God operates in ways which are human. We do an injustice to God
by thinking that God is confined by the same limitations as ourselves.
‘The heavens are as high above earth as my ways are above your ways; my thoughts
above your thoughts’, as the prophet Isaiah tells us in the first reading. God created
us, we are told, in his own image and likeness. We are constantly tempted to return
the favour and mould God in our image and likeness.
The Gospel story makes two points very clearly. God is generous even to those who
come at the last minute. God’s ways are not our envious ways. Jesus tells the parable
to teach us about the kingdom of God and about the generous God we believe in
and he has the landowner figure in the parable leave us with a teasing question,
‘Why be envious because I am generous? God is rich in forgiving, rich in reward, rich
in judgement. God is generous, flaithúil as we say in Irish – and that generosity
awaits all who seek God, who turn to God, and who remain faithful.

Sunday 17th September 2017

parishoffice — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 13:19:13 +0000

Gospel

Matthew 18:21-35

Peter went up to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.

‘And so the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who decided to settle his accounts with his servants. When the reckoning began, they brought him a man who owed ten thousand talents; but he had no means of paying, so his master gave orders that he should be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, to meet the debt. At this, the servant threw himself down at his master’s feet. “Give me time” he said “and I will pay the whole sum.” And the servant’s master felt so sorry for him that he let him go and cancelled the debt. Now as this servant went out, he happened to meet a fellow servant who owed him one hundred denarii; and he seized him by the throat and began to throttle him. “Pay what you owe me” he said. His fellow servant fell at his feet and implored him, saying, “Give me time and I will pay you.” But the other would not agree; on the contrary, he had him thrown into prison till he should pay the debt. His fellow servants were deeply distressed when they saw what had happened, and they went to their master and reported the whole affair to him. Then the master sent for him. “You wicked servant,” he said “I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me. Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you?” And in his anger the master handed him over to the torturers till he should pay all his debt. And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.’

Cappogue Patrún

parishoffice — Thu, 07 Sep 2017 10:01:26 +0000

In memory of Fr Colm Mathews; photographs and video from Patrún day in Cappogue Graveyard part of Dunleer Parish from Saturday 12th August 2017. Celebrant on the day was Monsignor Alex Stenson from the Dublin Archdiocese.

Dunleer Parish Media Youtube Channel

Sunday, 10th September 2017

parishoffice — Thu, 07 Sep 2017 09:16:31 +0000

Gospel

Matthew 18:15-20

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain any charge. But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a pagan or a tax collector.
‘I tell you solemnly, whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.
‘I tell you solemnly once again, if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.’