Gerard O'Driscoll - Thomastown Parish

Thomastown & Drimoleague, Co. Cork. Died Friday 22nd February. Removal to All Saints Church, Drimoleague on Sunday. Funeral Mass on Monday at 2.30pm followed by burial in adjoining cemetery. May he rest in peace.

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Reflection

“Blessed are you poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20). Jesus says two things of his people: that they are blessed and that they are poor; indeed, that they are blessed because they are poor.
In what sense? In the sense that Jesus’ disciples do not find their joy in money, power, or other material goods; but in the gifts they receive every day from God: life, creation, brothers and sisters, and so on. These are gifts of life. They are content to share even the goods they possess, because they live according to the logic of God. And what is the logic of God? Gratuitousness. The disciple has learned to live in gratuitousness.
This poverty is also an attitude towards the meaning of life, because Jesus’ disciples do not think they possess it, that they already know everything, but rather they know they must learn every day. And this is poverty: the awareness of having to learn every day. Because they have this attitude, Jesus’ disciples are humble, open people, far from prejudice and inflexibility.
Pope Francis