Dear friends in Christ

The Second Reading of the Mass this weekend contains the famous passage of St Paul in which he boasts about his weakness. After he speaks about his achievements for Christ, he then declares that to prevent him from becoming proud he was given a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan to beat me and stop me from getting too proud! Saint Paul asked God several times to relieve him of this suffering (we do not know if it was a mental, physical or moral suffering) and he received this sublime response: My grace is enough for you: my power is at its best in weakness. At times, or perhaps all of the time, we experience weakness and suffering in our lives. Even our frailty and weaknesses can be turned into something good. In his commentary on this passage, Saint Thomas Aquinas explains that God can sometimes allow certain evils of a physical or moral kind precisely so as to draw from them a greater or more necessary good. God will never abandon us in the midst of temptation. Our very weakness helps us to have greater trust, to seek refuge in God urgently, to ask Him for greater strength and to be more humble. Any trial or temptation in this life can be the source of so much good, because in undergoing them we will show our Lord that we need Him and that we love Him. We can confidently apply to ourselves the words of Psalm 91: He will give his angels charge over you, to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. Because He clings to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my Name.

We are grateful to all those who arranged and made possible the Flower Festival this weekend. The theme of Prayer was an inspiration to all who came to enjoy some colour on an otherwise grey weekend!

May God bless you all and keep you in His care!

Msgr Kevin Hale