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St. Brendan's Catholic Church
245 Dory Passage Clearwater, FL 33767 (727) 443-5485 | Fax: (727) 442-5896 Upcoming events; (Follow us on Twitter (stbrendanCWB) or Facebook for current information!)
August: Lend a Hand ministry collecting backpacks/bookbags - drop donations in Hall August 22, 6:30 p.m. - Movie Night: God's Not Dead September 6, 9:30 a.m. - Cancer Support Group September 12, 6:30 p.m. - Book Club: The Spiral Staircase by Karen Armstrong. In getting ready for back to school, LEND A HAND MINISTRY is collecting backpacks and schoolbags, in neutral colors, for the children of RCS Grace House. Grace House accepts homeless families and those in financial crisis facing homelessness who have children 17 years of age or younger. Grace House provides 8 weeks of apartment style shelter as well as the basic necessities of life to help the families reach self-sufficiency. Please leave your donations in Msgr. Mulligan Hall. Thank you for your continued support to those in need in our community. |
Mass Times:
Saturday: 4:30 p.m. Sunday: 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. RCIA Are you contemplating entering the Catholic Faith or completing your initiation into the Faith? Are you interested in the reception of any of the Sacraments of Initiation that you might have missed? Please contact the Parish Office at (727) 443-5485
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Welcome to St. Brendan's Catholic Church located in lovely Clearwater, FL.
We hope you find spiritual refreshment and a faith home here in our community. We are a vibrant, active parish focused on growing in our relationship with Jesus Christ and helping others know the love and mercy of our Savior. New to Clearwater or St. Brendan's? Please pick up a new parishioner registration form at the entrances to the church or from our parish office. We look forward to getting to know you. Community is a gift - relationships create a connection and spiritual nourishment through unity in the Body of Christ. We need your contribution of unique gifts and talents to help us grow and live as disciples of Christ. Are you a visitor or seasonal resident? We welcome and strongly encourage your participation in every facet of parish life: faith formation, ministries, and social activities. We can benefit from your prayers, talents, and charisms as well. Explore this website and get to know the thriving community of St. Brendan's. May the peace of Christ be with you, whether this is a visit or relocation to our beaches and parish. |
June 28, 2017
“Jesus was walking ahead of them”. This is the picture that the Gospel we have just read (Mk 10:32-45) presents to us. It serves as a backdrop to the act now taking place: this Consistory for the creation of new Cardinals. Jesus walks resolutely towards Jerusalem. He knows fully what awaits him there; on more than one occasion, he spoke of it to his disciples. But there is a distance between the heart of Jesus and the hearts of the disciples, which only the Holy Spirit can bridge. Jesus knows this, and so he is patient with them. He speaks to them frankly and, above all, he goes before them. He walks ahead of them. Along the way, the disciples themselves are distracted by concerns that have nothing to do with the “direction” taken by Jesus, with his will, which is completely one with that of the Father”. So it is that, as we heard, the two brothers James and John think of how great it would be to take their seats at the right and at the left of the King of Israel (cf. v. 37). They are not facing reality! They think they see, but they don’t. They think they know, but they don’t. They think they understand better than the others, but they don’t… For the reality is completely different. It is what Jesus sees and what directs his steps. The reality is the cross. It is the sin of the world that he came to take upon himself, and to uproot from the world of men and women. It is the innocent who suffer and die as victims of war and terrorism; the forms of enslavement that continue to violate human dignity even in the age of human rights; the refugee camps which at times seem more like a hell than a purgatory; the systematic discarding of all that is no longer useful, people included. This is what Jesus sees as he walks towards Jerusalem. During his public ministry he made known the Father’s tender love by healing all who were oppressed by the evil one (cf. Acts 10:38). Now he realizes that the moment has come to press on to the very end, to eliminate evil at its root. And so, he walks resolutely towards the cross. We too, brothers and sisters, are journeying with Jesus along this path. I speak above all to you, dear new Cardinals. Jesus “is walking ahead of you”, and he asks you to follow him resolutely on his way. He calls you to look at reality, not to let yourselves be distracted by other interests or prospects. He has not called you to become “princes” of the Church, to “sit at his right or at his left”. He calls you to serve like him and with him. To serve the Father and your brothers and sisters. He calls you to face as he did the sin of the world and its effects on today’s humanity. Follow him, and walk ahead of the holy people of God, with your gaze fixed on the Lord’s cross and resurrection. And now, with faith and through the intercession of the Virgin Mother, let us ask the Holy Spirit to bridge every gap between our hearts and the heart of Christ, so that our lives may be completely at the service of God and all our brothers and sisters. |
