REFLECTION FOR THE FOURTEENTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR (YEAR C), Week beginning 3rd JULY 2022
We are now in July and in the 2nd half of 2022. July is the month dedicated to THE PRECIOUS BLOOD of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. This is a theme which follows quite naturally upon June having been the month of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. (When His Heart was pierced on Mt. Calvary, blood and water flowed out, for around the heart there is a water sac known in Latin as the pericardium). July, unlike June, is a month without major feasts. So, this gives us a real opportunity to keep uppermost in our hearts and minds the most absolute centrality of the Precious Blood of Jesus in our daily lives, both individually and as community. (Even with animal sacrifices of the Old Testament, the blood had to be allowed to drain away. The blood was the life force and so had to be allotted a fitting respect). Infinitely higher and greater than that is the Saving Blood of Jesus. It, and it alone, is the source of our eternal salvation. When we receive Holy Communion, we are receiving Jesus in His totality – Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. (There can never be a body without blood). Holy Communion is all about Love. We must approach with a sincere and humble love of Jesus, having made a good preparation and then a fitting thanksgiving after receiving – let us never take for granted the Presence of Jesus within us. He willingly gave the last drop of His Precious Blood for our eternal salvation.
July 1st (a Friday this year) is significant for us as a parish church. It is the “feast” of St. Oliver Plunkett whose relics lie in our altar. Here is a brief date summary of his life:
• 1629: born. County Meath. Ireland
• 1654: ordained priest in Rome
• 1669: Archbishop of Armagh
• 1673: Catholics widely persecuted
• 1679: his arrest & imprisonment
• 1681: his martyrdom (July).
May he intercede for us, that we may have always a deep love of Jesus’ Precious Blood.
Good Shepherd Catholic Church 