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  – Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade
1
WHAT ARE WE CHRISTIANS «SELLING»?
One day a man called a Church by mistake. The Church receptionist happened to be distracted at the time, and did not answer the phone in the usual fashion. She just said “Hello.” The man said, “I want to order one pound of Barbecue, two pints of Cole slaw, and a dozen hush puppies.” The receptionist said, “Wait a minute, sir. We are not a food service operation. You must have the wrong number.” The man hesitated a moment and then asked, «What business are you in?”
That’s a fair question to ask. What is our mission? What is our principal message or service or goal? While all our tasks are important, none of them is our central mission. We are here, first and foremost, to declare this Good News: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came down from Heaven as the “Lamb of God” to save us from our sins by His sacrificial death on the cross. And his favorites are the unloved, the week, the hungry, the wounded, the sinners…
2
THIS IS THE KIND OF BUSINESS
A young soldier was utterly humiliated by his senior officer. The officer had gone beyond the bounds of acceptable behavior in disciplining the young soldier and knew it, so he said nothing as the younger man said through clenched teeth, “I’ll make you regret this if it is the last thing I ever do.” A few days later their company was under heavy fire and the officer was wounded and cut off from his troops. Through the haze of the battlefield he saw a figure coming to his rescue. It was the young soldier. At the risk of his own life, the young soldier dragged the officer to safety. The officer said, apologetically, “Son, I owe you my life.” The young man laughed and said, “I told you that I would make you regret humiliating me if it was the last thing I ever did.”
That is God’s kind of revenge. “Behold the Lamb that takes away the sins of the world…” Something happened on Calvary that bridged the gap between a Holy God and unholy humanity. We see Christ in His majesty but especially in His mercy.

Fr. Bernardino Andrade (bernardinodandrade@gmail.com)

The Masses over the Christmas period at the Capela de Penha de França are as follows:

Sat 24 Dec (Christmas Eve) – no Mass in Portuguese or English

Sun 25 Dec. (Christmas Day) – 10h00 Mass in English; 11h30 Mass in Portuguese

Sat 31 Dec. (New year’s Eve) – 18h30 Mass in Portuguese

Sun 1st Jan (New year’s day) – 10h00 Mass in English; 11H30 Mass in Portuguese

– Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade

It´s the name of a book: « Death teaches us how to live ».
As Vice-President, George Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral (November 15, 1982) of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev who had been the president of the USSR for 18 years. Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev’s widow, Mrs. Viktoria Brezhnev.

She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev’s wife performed an act of great courage and hope, a gesture that must surely rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed: she reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband’s chest.

There in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her husband was wrong. She hoped that there was another life, that that life was best represented by Jesus who died on the cross, and that the same Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband.

Death teaches us how to live.
God loves you and so do I,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade (bernardinodandrade@gmail.com)

Ex 17:8-13 Ps 120 2 Tim 3:14-4:2 Lk 18:1-8

In the Book of Exodus, soon after escaping from the Egyptians across the Red Sea, the Israelites’ frequently grumbled about God, who responded by giving them sweet water, quail and manna. Then they were challenged by the Amelekites living between Palestine and Sinai. Although they continued to quarrel and test the Lord, he showed yet again that he will always look after them. Moses needs a lot of human help to keep his arms up! But his persistence showed complete faith in God. The Psalm also reminds us that we can rely totally on God.
Paul also emphasises that Timothy must “be persistent” in proclaiming the word “whether it is convenient or inconvenient”. He describes the uses of inspired scripture: “for teaching, for refuting error, for guidance and for teaching people to be holy”. For Paul, writing before the Gospels were written, “scripture” meant what we now call the Old Testament. So we need to persist in trying to understand the Jewish Scriptures.
Just before Jesus enters Jerusalem Luke gives us two parables about prayer. Today we hear how the persistent widow eventually gets justice. Jesus assures us that God will “see justice done to his chosen who cry out to him day and night even when he delays to help them”.

Psalm Response: Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

(Ex 17:8-13 Ps 120 2 Tim 3:14-4:2 Lk 18:1-8)

The People helping people project has an urgent need for a single bed to help a needy family. Please contact Father Bernadino (email: bernardinodandrade@gmail.com).