This week in St. Ninian's

Please see the THE LATEST UPDATE from Father Johney ON MEASURES RELATING TO CORONA VIRUS, CLICK HERE

FOR LIVE COVERAGE OF MASSES CELEBRATED BY BISHOP STEPHEN and others, SEE https://www.dunkelddiocese.co.uk/livestream-mass/

Sunday 13th September: TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A

First Reading: Ecclesiasticus 27:30-28:7
“He who exacts vengeance will experience the vengeance of the Lord,
who keeps strict account of sin.
Forgive your neighbour the hurt he does you,
and when you pray, your sins will be forgiven…
Showing no pity for a man like himself,
Can (a man) then plead for his own sins?"

Second Reading: Letter of St. Paul to the Romans 14:7-9
"The life and death of each of us has its influence on others; if we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord, so that alive or dead we belong to the Lord.”
Here Saint Paul calls on us to realise that we are ‘servants’ of the Lord, like the servant in today’s gospel; and as servants, we should act as our Master tells us, as he Himself acts.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 18: 21-35
Today’s gospel begins with Peter asking Our Lord about forgiveness. He’s looking for a ‘rule’, so that it will be a straightforward business whether to forgive somebody or not: “how often must I forgive my brother? – as often as seven times?” But Jesus answers, ‘not seven times, I tell you, but seventy times seven’ (traditional translation). In other words, a number so great you couldn’t possibly keep track of it, even if you kept a meticulous record of every single sin your brother committed!*
And then, to help the disciples understand this shocking directive about forgiveness, Jesus tells a parable about a Master and his servant.
A servant who’s run up a massive debt – say, in modern terms, a hundred thousand pounds – is facing the prospect of a debtors’ gaol, the confiscation of his goods, the selling of even his wife and children, to meet the debt. In great distress, he goes to his Master and begs for mercy: “‘Give me time,’ he said, ‘and I will pay the whole sum’”. The master shows incredible generosity. Not only does he “let him go”, he even “cancels the debt”.
But this same servant, “as he went out” – i.e. right after receiving this amazing kindness from his Master, spots a fellow who owes him ten pounds. The man is so poor he can’t even meet this small debt. He begs for time, but the other one refuses: “on the contrary, he had him thrown into prison till he should pay the debt.”
When the other servants hear about this they go to the Master and tell him what’s happened. The Master, clearly astonished and very angry, sends for the first servant and says to him, “You wicked servant. I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me. Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow servant?” He orders him to be ‘handed over to the torturers’ – i.e. to let justice take its course – until the debt is paid in full.
“And that,” says Our Lord, “is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart”.
*The modern translation says “seventy-seven times”, which is clearly absurd and defeats the whole point… because you could, if you had a mind to, keep a track of that number, and when “78” came, you would be justified in refusing to forgive!

Parish Notices

Please see the latest update from Father Johney on measures relating to Corona Virus, CLICK HERE

CONFESSIONS: Saturday: 5.15 to 5.40 pm

Click here, for latest Bulletin from St.Ninian's

SICK & HOUSEBOUND: If you know of any parishioner who is sick or housebound and may want a visit from Father Raphael, or would like to have Holy Communion brought to them at home, please let Father know.

HOSPITAL chaplaincy Please note the change in contacts for requesting a priest to visit a person in hospital. Fr Ninian Doohan has advised of new telephone numbers to contact the Hospital Chaplain: 07821 624124, or 01382 660111 to page him. Please alert him when someone requires Pastoral Care while in any of the hospitals.

WANTED! READERS & EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS - Please consider taking a more active part in the Liturgy as a reader. Readers are currently in short supply, especially for our Saturday Vigil Mass. If you would like to participate as a reader please add your name to the sheets at the back of the church or speak to Canon, Theresa or May. Thank you. New rotas are now available in the porch.

SERRA MASSES FOR VOCATIONS
Serra Masses will be held at 7pm in Lawside Convent on the last Tuesday of each month – See poster in porch. Our need for vocations to the priesthood and to consecrated life has never been so critical and we should all pray fervently that the Lord will send us the Priests and Religious who are so necessary to preserve our Church in these difficult times.

Are you interested in the Priesthood? - If you would like more information about the priesthood, please contact the Director of Vocations, Father Jim Walls at St. Stephen's, 8 Bank Street Blairgowrie: tel:01250 872171, or email: jimwalls@btinternet.com

THE PERMANENT DIACONATE
The Church is in great need of vocations to the permanent diaconate. If you are a man over 30yrs old - married or single, please consider whether you may be being called to offer yourself in service to the Church as a Deacon. To read more about the permanent Diaconate, click on the link DEACONS

DUNDEE LATIN MASS
"The Extraordinary Form of the Mass, the Traditional Latin Mass, began to be offered once more in St Joseph’s Lawside Convent Dundee on the fourth Sunday of Lent, March 15th 2015. The Lord Bishop of Dunkeld invited Father John Emerson (of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter) to re-establish this liturgical apostolate at the request of the lay faithful of the diocese." For further information about Masses, which now take place in Saint Pius X, Balerno Street, Dundee, please visit the website, at https://dundeelatinmass.com/

CHILDREN'S LITURGY
There is a 'Little Church' for children every Sunday Morning. Children rejoin the people at the Offertory procession, having been out for a while learning about the readings of the day in their own way.
We are still looking for at least one volunteer to help with supervising, assisting the liturgists in the activities. This would mean taking a turn about once a month. Please see Mgr. if you can help. Thanks a lot!

ST. NINIAN'S PRIMARY SCHOOL
St. Ninian's Primary School Parent Council
If you would like to get in touch with the School's Parent Council for any reason, their email address is stninians@dundeeparentcouncil.org

CAKE & CANDY:
The Cake & Candy table at our Sunday Mass is in great need of helpers to sell our cakes. If you feel you are able to give a few minutes once a month, please contact Helen Scroggie. Your help will be greatly appreciated.

DUNDEE FOOD BANK:
Many thanks for your donations. This is an ongoing project in the parish and there are boxes at theback of the Church, and lists of foods this charity needs posted on the notice board. Your donations also would be most gratefully received.

EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network)
Have you discovered EWTN yet?! - the TV network for Catholics. Traditional Catholic programmes for all ages. Fascinating interviews, wonderful children's programmes, live Mass, Rosary, Papal audiences, etc. etc. Visit the EWTN website by clicking HERE.
You can get EWTN If you have Sky t.v., or a Freesat box for either Sky or BBC on the 'Religion' tab, number 588; and you can watch it live on your computer as it goes out on the TV channel.