A
message from Father Duncan on Monday 30 March 2020
Dear
Parishioners
Today, l celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish, key workers
and their families. No time Is without its grace. Christs
death and rising is a grace that should shape every day of a Christians
life and above all in these days. In this time of trial we are called
to seize the grace of showing ourselves, by the power of the Spirit
of Christ, to be, like Christ, filled with faith in Gods care
for us. Please be assured of my daily prayers for you and your family.
A
message from Father Duncan on Sunday 29 March 2020
Dear Parishioners
Today, l celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish, key workers
and their families. This Is the Lent God our Father wants us to have.
God in Christ is the Lord of history. He's in charge. His providential
plan for our salvation and happiness cannot be defeated. If he has
permitted us to have to be for a while without our public celebration
of the Holy Eucharist and our usual Lenten devotions, his Spirit offers
us other means to prepare ourselves for Holy Week and Easter. Please
be assured of my daily prayers for you and your family.
A message from Father Duncan on Saturday 28
March 2020
Dear
Parishioners
Today, on Our Lady's Day, l celebrate Holy Mass privately for the
Parish, Gerry Swan as a month's mind and David Russell's special
intention. 'I have a dogmatic certainty - God is in every person's
life. God is in everyone's life. Even if the life of a person has
been a disaster, even if it is destroyed by vices, drugs or anything
else, God is in this person's life. You can, you must try to seek
God in every human life. Although the life of a person is a land
full of thorns and weeds, there is always a space in which the good
seed can grow. You have to trust God. Pope
Francis
A
message from Father Duncan on Friday 27 March 2020
Dear
Parishioners
Today, I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish Brian Meechan
and Lettie Anderson who both died recently. The saints throughout
the ages have witnessed to the value of spiritual Communion. In
a vision, Our Lord explained it to Saint Catherine of Siena by showing
her two chalices - 'one made of gold, the other of silver' she wrote.
'He told her that her sacramental Communions were preserved in the
gold chalice and that her spiritual communions were in the silver
chalice.' Saint Teresa of Jesus wrote 'When you do not receive Communion
and you do not attend Mass, you can make a Spiritual Communion,
which is a most beneficial practice. By it, the love of God will
be greatly impressed on you.' Many of the saints practiced this
throughout the day such as Padre Pio, who encouraged everyone to
do so frequently for a closer union with God. In Seven Secrets of
the Eucharist, author Vinny Flynn explained 'If you practice the
holy exercise of Spiritual Communion several times each day, within
a month you will see your heart completely changed.' He also related
that 'Saint Francis de Sales resolved to make a Spiritual Communion
at least every fifteen minutes so that he could link all the events
of the day to his reception of the Eucharist at Mass.'
A
message from Father Duncan on Thursday 26 March 2020
Dear
Parishioners
Today, I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish and the Ketchen
family on an anniversary. It is only during the Mass at the consecration
that the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
Thus, cancelling Masses is monumental. As explained in the Catechism
of the Catholic Church, the Eucharist is 'the source and summit
of the Christian life. The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical
ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist
and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained
the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our
Pasch' (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1324). Through this sacrament,
'we unite ourselves to Christ, who makes us sharers in his Body
and Blood to form a single body' (Catechism of the Catholic Church
1331). The Church encourages frequent, even daily, Holy Communion,
but because we cannot go to Mass in or out of this season of the
coronavirus, we can still unite ourselves to the Eucharist through
making a Spiritual Communion. By making an Act of Spiritual Communion,
we express our faith in Christ's Real Presence in the Eucharist
and ask him to unite himself with us. Here is the Act of Spiritual
Communion written by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori - My Jesus, I believe
that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love you above
all things and I desire to receive you into my soul. Since I cannot
at this moment receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually
into my heart. I embrace you as if you were already there and unite
myself wholly to you. Never permit me to be separated from you.
Amen.
A
message from Father Duncan on Wednesday 25 March 2020
Dear
Parishioners
Today, on the Solemnity of The Annunciation of Our Lord, I celebrate
Holy Mass privately for the Parish, Andrew McCance and Betty Toner
who died recently. 'During this Lent, especially, let us all take
the opportunity to deepen our relationship with God. As your bishops
and with our priests and deacons, we assure you of our continuing
commitment to your spiritual, pastoral and sacramental needs. We
want to maintain and foster the life of faith in every way we can,
while also being informed by the advice and guidance of Government
and health professionals. Over the centuries, the Church has often
been a source of comfort in times of trial and transformed sadness
and fear into peace and joy. We want the same to happen now.' Pastoral
Letter of the Scottish Bishops, 18 March 2020
A
message from Father Duncan on Tuesday 24 March 2020
Dear
Parishioners
Today, I celebrate Holy Mass privately for the Parish, Isabella
Connor for her anniversary and Annmarie Dickie who died recently.
'In this time of trial, we, the Bishops of Scotland, wish to send
you a word of reassurance and encouragement. We are all facing much
uncertainty, anxiety and an unpredictable future. This situation
touches on every aspect of our lives, individually and collectively.
Sacred Scripture calls us repeatedly not to fear and to look to
the help that comes to us from above. We are called to support one
another in every way we can, especially those who are most vulnerable,
through age or underlying conditions. Even in the midst of any necessary
distancing we must stand by each other. We ask you to pray for the
sick, those caring for them, for those in positions of responsibility
with difficult decisions to make, indeed for our whole country and
the entire human family. Most of all, we are being asked to put
our trust in the living God who has created everything to be and
to flourish and whose providence guides the course of world events.
We put our trust in our Lord Jesus Christ, risen from the dead,
and the true physician of our souls and bodies.' Pastoral
Letter of the Scottish Bishops, 18 March 2020
A
message from Father Duncan on Monday 23 March 2020