Religious Sisters of Charity

The text on the slides above come from a book of sayings from the foundress of the Religious Sisters of Charity, Mary Aikenhead. The book is available from Veritas Publications, 7/8 Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1, Ireland, or click on the photograph of the book to order online.

Prayer Requests

If you would like our sisters to pray for a special intention then please send the details to us by email, or write to the address on our Contact Us Page. We will not print your request or details on this page but instead will send them to our communities who will pray for you.

Scripture Readings

You may like to take time to reflect on the current Sunday readings from Scripture. The following notes are intended to be used in any way which will be of help to readers in their task of proclaiming the Word of God or perhaps of stimulating discussion amongst scripture or liturgy groups in parishes and communities.

Sunday, 5th September 2010 - 23rd SUNDAY OF THE YEAR (Year C) - Gospel, Luke 14:25-33
Today the Gospel hits hard. We have a choice. Each individual one of us is invited to come to Jesus and to follow in his footsteps. Will we follow Jesus or not? He spells out what is involved. He will be the first in our life. Nothing – neither family considerations nor our personal safety - can come before that. To be a Christian requires self sacrifice. We must be ready to be condemned and even killed, as he was. It is all or nothing. But we are not to become his followers on impulse. We are to take stock carefully. We are to consider the cost. We are to check our resources. We must see whether we are prepared to complete the task. We must also take account of the opposition and marshal our defences. Above all we must choose to accept the invitation to come to Jesus who chooses to call us to be with him and to risk everything for love. This sounds like utter folly to the unbeliever. To those who believe and trust and love him in return for love it makes sense.
First Reading, Wisdom 9:13-18
How will our First Reading today enlighten us and make it possible for us to take the gospel to heart? What will we proclaim? The passage chosen is full of questions. Who knows God’s intentions? How can we find out? We find it hard enough to try to figure out earthly things. Certainly in our day when “experts” give us contradictory messages about so many important issues (climate change, world poverty, war and peace, questions of life and death) how are we to judge for ourselves? And when it comes to discerning the will of God, how can we find the understanding we need? We couldn’t possibly, says the writer of the Book of Wisdom, unless God in person reveals it to us. God has sent his Holy Spirit from above. This is how people have learned what is good and pleasing to God. Decades after this was written, Jesus promised that the Spirit would lead us into all the truth. This is how we continue to learn. We can depend on this, individually and as a Church. If we want to know and are prepared to do –at whatever cost- what is right, the Spirit will lead us to the Wisdom of God.
Response: Psalm 89
Our Psalm celebrates the eternity of God and our own brief life on earth. To reflect on this brings wisdom. We look to God each morning to fill us with love and help us to do what we need to do each day.
Second Reading, Philemon 9-10; 12-17
Paul’s letter to Philemon is brief and to the point. Once, Onesimus, (whose name means “Useful One”) was Philemon’s slave. He robbed his “master” and ran. Then he met Paul, learned to know Jesus, became a Christian and a changed man - and a truly useful one as well. Paul is sending him back to Philemon, no longer as a slave but as a brother. The relationship between them is changed forever. The slave now offers his service. The master accepts him as an equal in the Christian community. This is what Paul is saying to his friend Philemon. Paul does not demand anything. His words are gently persuasive. This is all the more impressive as he himself is in prison, awaiting sentence, while he smooths the path for both Onesimus and Philemon who now have the opportunity to advance in the Christian life together.

Sunday, 12th September 2010 - 24th SUNDAY OF THE YEAR (Year C) - Gospel, Luke 15:1-32
In the Gospel today, Jesus is with a very mixed crowd. Among those present are tax-collectors (collaborators with the Roman army of occupation, an assortment of “sinners”, Pharisees (a body of devout Jews of strict observance) and “scribes” (experts on Scripture and the Law). We can divide them into two separate groups – those who wanted to be with Jesus and to listen to what he had to say, and the others, who thought Jesus should not mix with the first lot! They criticised him for welcoming sinners and even eating with them. This was dreadful behaviour in their eyes. So Jesus tells three parables. This first is the unlikely tale of a shepherd who would abandon ninety-nine sheep to search for one! God is like this, he says – rejoicing more over the lost-and-found sinner than over those who never sinned (as if any such people could be found!) Then there is the story of the woman who loses a small coin and not only takes a great deal of trouble to find it but makes a big deal of celebrating the find. So, God and the angels rejoice over a sinner who returns. Then follows the story of the son who leaves home, wastes his inheritance, returns and is welcomed by his father who has to explain to the dutiful son that it is right to rejoice. His brother was dead and is alive, was lost and is found.
First Reading, Exodus 32:7-11; 13-14
The First Reading is a conversation between God and Moses. Like the first two stories in the Gospel, it has its humorous side – Moses seems more merciful than God! As we proclaim this passage, it is vital to express first the anger of God at the sin of the people. Moses has only turned his back on them and already they are making and reverencing an idol they have made of gold. God threatens to destroy them, all except Moses, of whom he will make a great nation. Moses will not hear of it. He stands between God and the people and pleads for them. Having conveyed the anger we now have to express the pleading of Moses as he recounts all that God has done and the promises made to this people who have so swiftly and thoroughly let him down. The final sentence is the most important of all. The Lord relents. This above all must be proclaimed with conviction today. It points straight to the heart of the gospel.
Response: Psalm 50
In the psalm we express our own repentance, asking for the mercy we all need and trusting that God will not spurn us.
Second Reading, 1 Timothy 1:12-17
The reading from the letter to Timothy tells the familiar story of how Paul had once tried to discredit the faith that he later came to live by. For this he thanks Jesus who called him to his service, filling him with grace and love. This is why he can proclaim without a shadow of doubt that Jesus came to save sinners. Since mercy has been shown to Paul, who had sinned greatly, we can depend on it that we too can trust in Jesus to save us and to bring us to eternal life. Paul himself is the evidence that the patience of Jesus is inexhaustible. The reading concludes with a wonderful prayer: To the eternal King, the undying, invisible and only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Sunday, 19th September 2010 - 25th SUNDAY OF THE YEAR (Year C) - Gospel, Luke 16:1-13
Today we have the story of the dishonest steward. It was his job to take care of the employer’s property and it seems that the boss trusted him. It was others who realised the boss was being cheated and reported him. The employer’s reaction is to tell the steward to give him an account of the state of the business and to get out. The crafty man cooks the books, cheating his employer by doing favours for customers. He reduces their debts so that they will reward him when he loses his job. The boss becomes aware of the deals made and seems to take this kind of conduct for granted since he comments that it was a smart thing for the manager to do. Jesus, telling the story does not say that he agrees with this judgment. He uses it to show just how single-minded people can be where money is concerned. We, his followers, are called to be equally single-minded in our commitment – not to money, but to justice. We are called, not to seek to acquire more and more, but to use what we have to befriend those with less. This theme crops up frequently in Luke’s Gospel. If we do not use money responsibly will God trust us with more important gifts? Greed or God; selfishness or service. Which will it be? God will honour our choice.
First Reading, Amos 8:4-7
The prophet Amos eight centuries before Jesus was born was preaching exactly this kind of social justice, not pulling his punches. Our First Reading today hammers the rich for having their priorities back to front. It makes us feel uncomfortable when we realise that we who are hearing this word today are very much richer than the poor of Amos’ day. Come to think of it, we are very much richer than two thirds of humanity today. We enjoy reading about God’s care for the poor until we realise that. We may not swindle and cheat as do the rich people that Amos berates for buying and selling the poor. But in world terms what our poor sisters and brothers get is “the sweepings of the wheat.” Anything we have left over, we give. True enough, no one of us alone is able to make poverty history. The question is, are we, all together, raising our voices to demand that Governments take effective action?
Response: Psalm 112
In our psalm we praise God for his greatness, shown in his care for the poor.
Second Reading, 1 Timothy 2:1-8
The second Reading, from the letter to Timothy, urges us to prayer. We are to pray “especially for kings and others in authority.” We do this officially in The Prayer of the Faithful or Intercessions during our Sunday liturgy. In the introduction to the Missal we read that the usual order is: for the needs of the Church; for public authorities and the salvation of the world; for those oppressed by any need; for the local community. In praying like this we express our belief that, as we hear in this reading, that God “wants everyone to be saved and to reach full knowledge of the truth” that there is one God and one Mediator, Jesus, our Saviour. This is what we teach. Therefore, in every place we are to lift our hands up reverently in prayer, with no anger or argument.

Sunday, 26th September 2010 - 26th SUNDAY OF THE YEAR (Year C) - Gospel, Luke 16:19-31
Today we have another great story from Jesus for our Gospel. If we found the readings last week were hard to take – and harder to follow – we will find this week even more demanding. That is, if we truly believe that “This is the word of the Lord” and that we are meant to take it to heart and to act upon it. (Of course, if we don’t really listen it won’t bother us.) Jesus tells of two men, one rich, the other poor. He gives no name to the rich man, but the poor man he calls Lazarus, a name which means Help from God”. Certainly he has no help from the man at whose gate he sat, hungry and covered with sores. We are not told that the rich man was nasty to him nor that Lazarus asked him for help and was refused. The trouble was that the rich man seems not even to have noticed that Lazarus was there. But while he had great food and beautiful clothes Lazarus had neither. However, when they died the situation was very different. Lazarus is embraced by Abraham; the other, no longer rich, is in Hades and suffering. He seeks the help of Lazarus but he is now out of reach. Perhaps his brothers could be helped? Could Lazarus go and warn them? Abraham points out that they have all the help they need from the Law and the Prophets. If they won’t listen they will not hear even if someone were to rise from the dead. This word is for us, today. It does not condemn us, since our story is ongoing and there is always hope, but it does make us consider our attitude. We know we have a choice. With “help from God” we will choose well.
First Reading, Amos 6:1, 4-7
To prepare us for the Gospel we have a reading from Amos, written eight centuries before Jesus. He thunders his disapproval of the lifestyle of the rich who live in luxury and feel secure. If he were not so angry his description of their conduct could seem almost comical. They sprawl on their divans, dine on the best of meat, bawl out their songs, drink wine “by the bowlful” and, in general, behave as though there were no tomorrow. The day of reckoning will come. Those who have most to lose will inevitably lose most.
Response: Psalm 145
The psalm sings of God’s faithful love for the needy. We give praise to Him.
Second Reading, 1 Timothy 6:11-16
The letter to Timothy, as last week, is chosen for the Second Reading. It reads like a job specification for a Christian! It is as relevant to our lives as it was to Timothy. It places high ideals before us, but gently. We are to aim at these. We have made public profession of our faith. We must keep on trying to live it. The example of Jesus, who spoke up for what he believed before Pilate, is there for us to follow. It will lead us to our eternal home where we shall see him in glory. God, the King and Lord of all will be revealed. We have not yet seen him, but we believe. To God be honour and everlasting power.

Sunday, 3rd October 2010 - 27th SUNDAY OF THE YEAR (Year C) - Gospel, Luke 17:5-10
Just before the passage chosen for today’s Gospel Reading Jesus has told the apostles that they must forgive and that their forgiveness must have no limit. Their response is a heartfelt plea, “Increase our faith”. It seems they realise that to find this limitless forgiveness in their hearts they need deep faith. They cry out for it. Jesus replies that even a tiny bit of faith can work wonders. But there is more to faith than wonderworking. He goes on to tell them (and us) that fidelity in ordinary everyday life is needed. The example he gives is that of a master who has a servant (the original Greek word used here actually meant “slave”). The servant has his normal workload on the land and indoors. When he has finished, he has simply done his job. He is not doing anything unusual. The parallel is clear. We are God’s servants. We are called to do what is required of us, steadily and faithfully and to say “we are servants - we have only done our job”. A moment’s reflection on this fact may help us to realise that God owes us nothing but offers us everything.
First Reading, Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4
The First Reading is a small piece from the prophet Habakkuk. His prophecy has come down to us for two reasons. The first is his own personal struggle with the problem of good and evil. God’s people are in dire straits with powerful enemies whose evil ways are overwhelming them. Meanwhile, it seems, God does nothing about it. Habakkuk wants to know why. How many of us have had a similar problem? The struggle between good and evil goes on and we may well feel at times that God does not care. The second reason is that when God replies to his complaint Habakkuk is told to write down what he hears because the answer to his question will come when the time is right and it will be seen. “Wait,” he says, “For come it will, without fail.” Anyone whose soul is “not at rights” will grow weak, but the faith, the fidelity of the upright will keep the good alive. This is the fidelity to the daily grind of the servant in the gospel reading. The careful Reader will convey both the dreadful reality of oppression and the steadfast fidelity of the oppressed who with God’s help will come through.
Response: Psalm 94
The psalm calls us to trust God. We belong to him. We must listen to him.
Second Reading, 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14
“Fan into a flame the gift God gave you”. This word of encouragement was meant for Timothy personally. It is just as personal for the hearers today. For ministers of the word it must be the most personal and the most powerful of readings. As readers we need courage, to speak the word boldly. We need love, for the word itself but also to read with love for the community to whom we proclaim the word. We need self-control, to proclaim it with humility and confidence in a spirit of service. When we received the Holy Spirit in Baptism and Confirmation God gave us these gifts. Gifts need to be accepted. Today let us fan into flame what God has given us, whatever it may cost us to do it. We have been trusted, like Timothy, with something precious, every bit as precious as the Eucharistic Bread and Wine. Pray God that as we read, each one who hears it will also fan into flame the grace of the sacrament of Confirmation. Amen.