CATHEDRAL PRIEST: “I MIGHT BE A CLERGYMAN BUT I AM NOT A DOORMAT”

HE THREATENED TO BEAT THE PRIEST ‘TO A PULP’

“A Wrexham priest has said that he forgives the intruder who attacked him in his home.

Fr Simon Treloar, the dean of St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral in Wrexham, spoke of forgiveness after his attacker was sentenced to a year in jail.

HE TURNED UP AT THE PRIEST’S HOME

Jason Haynes, a 32-year-old man had turned up at the priest’s, having just been released from prison that day, and demanded money. Fr Treloar refused and so Hayes threatened to beat the priest ‘to a pulp’ before there was a struggle as he attempted to assault him.

Fr Treloar managed to grab Haynes by the throat and push him out of the door before calling the emergency services.

This week Fr Treloar said: ‘He forced his way into the doorway but I was not having any of it.

‘I might be a clergyman but I am not a doormat. Of course I forgive him.'”

WHEN HE OPENED HIS CATHEDRAL DOOR, A MAN TRIED TO HIT HIM WITH A SMASHED VODKA BOTTLE

“The 53-year-old priest was confronted by another attacker on the cathedral premises last year.

When he opened his cathedral door there was a man holding a smashed vodka bottle who immediately tried to hit the priest with the broken glass.

NARROW ESCAPE

Again the priest had a narrow escape as he grabbed his attacker’s wrist and pushed him away.

Steven Barry Ellis, 45, of Bodlyn, Acrefair, was jailed last September after he admitted attempting to wound Fr Treloar with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm and possessing an offensive weapon.

‘YOU JUST HAVE TO DEAL WITH WHAT YOU ARE CONFRONTED WITH’

Fr Treloar told the ‘Daily Mail’: ‘You just have to deal with what you are confronted with. Yes, there was a slight sense of deja vu but it is important to be calm.

‘My biggest concern was thinking what if this had happened to someone else.’

‘WHAT IF THIS HAPPENED TO SOMEONE ELSE?’

Fr Treloar said: ‘I am happy to keep serving the community in Wrexham as long as my bishop wants me to.

‘SERVING … AS LONG AS MY BISHOP WANTS ME TO’

‘The vast majority of people here are very welcoming,’ the priest said. ‘I can’t stop living just because of a couple of idiots.'”
– This article was published in “The Catholic Herald” issue July 11 2014. For subscriptions please visit http://www.catholicherald.co.uk (external link).

 

TODAY’S GOSPEL READING (MATTHEW 13:47-53)

THEY COLLECT THE GOOD ONES IN A BASKET AND THROW AWAY THOSE THAT ARE NO USE.

Jesus said to his disciples: “The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea that brings in a haul of all kinds. When it is full, the fishermen haul it ashore; then, sitting down, they collect the good ones in a basket and throw away those that are no use. This is how it will be at the end of time; the angels will appear and separate the wicked from the just to throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.

“Have you understood all this?” They said, “Yes.” And he said to them, “Well then, every scribe who becomes a disciple of this kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom things both new and old.”
When Jesus had finished these parables he left the district.

V. The Gospel of the Lord.
R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

 

TODAY’S PSALM (PSALM 145)

R. He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God.

1. My soul, give praise to the Lord;
I will praise the Lord all my days,
make music to my God while I live. (R.)

2. Put no trust in princes,
in mortal men in whom there is no help.
Take their breath, they return to clay
and their plans that day come to nothing. (R.)

3. He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
who alone made heaven and earth,
the seas and all they contain. (R.)

ALLELUIA

Alleluia, alleluia!
I call you friends, says the Lord,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.
Alleluia!

 

TODAY’S BIBLE READING (JEREMIAH 18:1-6)

AS THE CLAY IS IN THE POTTER’S HAND, SO ARE YOU IN MINE.

The word that was addressed to Jeremiah by the Lord, “Get up and make your way down to the potter’s house; there I shall let you hear what I have to say.” So I went down to the potter’s house; and there he was, working at the wheel. And whenever the vessel he was making came out wrong, as happens with the clay handled by potters, he would start afresh and work it into another vessel, as potters do. Then this word of the Lord was addressed to me, “House of Israel, can not I do to you what this potter does? – it is the Lord who speaks. Yes, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so you are in mine, House of Israel.”

V. The word of the Lord.
R. Thanks be to God.

 

GOD, THAT MADEST EARTH AND HEAVEN (HYMN)

God, that madest earth and heaven,
Darkness and light;
Who the day for toil hast given,
For rest the night;
May thine Angel-guards defend us,
Slumber sweet thy mercy send us,
Holy dreams and hopes attend us,
This lifelong night.

Guard us waking, guard us sleeping;
And, when we die,
May we in thy mighty keeping
All peaceful lie:
When the last dread call shall wake us,
Do not thou our God forsake us,
But to reign in glory take us
With thee on high.
– Bishop R. Heber, 1783-1826
Archbishop R. Whately, 1787-1863

 

TODAY’S GOSPEL READING (MATTHEW 13:44-46)

HE SELLS EVERYTHING HE OWNS AND BUYS THE FIELD.

Jesus said to his disciples: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.”

V. The Gospel of the Lord.
R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

 

TODAY’S PSALM (PSALM 58)

R. O God, you have been a refuge in the day of my distress.

1. Rescue me, God, from my foes;
protect me from those who attack me.
O rescue me from those who do evil
and save me from blood-thirsty men. (R.)

2. See, they lie in wait for my life;
powerful men band together against me.
For no offence, no sin of mine, Lord,
for no guilt of mine they rush to take their stand. (R.)

3. O my strength, it is you to whom I turn,
for you, O God, are my stronghold,
the God who shows me love. (R.)

4. As for me, I will sing of your strength
and each morning acclaim your love
for you have been my stronghold,
a refuge in the day of my distress. (R.)

5. O my Strength, it is you to whom I turn,
for you, O God, are my stronghold,
the God who shows me love. (R.)

ALLELUIA

Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is a lamp for my steps
and a light for my path.
Alleluia!

 

TODAY’S BIBLE READING (JEREMIAH 15:10, 16-21)

WHY IS MY SUFFERING CONTINUAL?
IF YOU COME BACK, I WILL TAKE YOU BACK INTO MY SERVICE.

Woe is me, my mother, for you have borne me
to be a man of stife and of dissension for all the land.
I neither lend nor borrow,
yet all of them curse me
and avenge me on my persecutors.
Your anger is very slow: do not let me be snatched away.
Realise that I suffer insult for your sake.
When your words came, I devoured them:
your word was my delight
and the joy of my heart;
for I was called by your name,
Lord, God of hosts.
I never took pleasure in sitting in scoffers’ company;
with your hand I held myself aloof,
since you had filled me with indignation.
Why is my suffering continual,
my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
Do you mean to be for me a deceptive stream
with inconstant waters?
To which the Lord replied,
“If you come back,
I will take you back in my service;
and if you utter noble, not despicable, thoughts,
you shall be as my own mouth.
They will come back to you,
but you must not go back to them.
I will make you
a bronze wall fortified against this people.
They will fight against you
but they will not overcome you,
because I am with you
to save you and to deliver you
– it is the Lord who speaks.
I mean to deliver you from the hands of the wicked
and redeem you from the clutches of the violent.”

V. The word of the Lord.
R. Thanks be to God.

 

APPROVAL BY MEN: THAT FATAL POISON THAT CAN CORRUPT OUR BEST ACTIONS

ON BEING A FOLLOWER OF JESUS CHRIST BORN IN A STABLE

“Learn from Jesus to humiliate yourself in the sight of the world. He practised this humility by being born in a stable, by appearing to be the son of a carpenter and working for years in a humble village.

He practised humility when the crowds wanted to make Him King and He fled, when He told those He healed to say nothing to anyone, when He entered into festive Jerusalem on a donkey and when He washed the feet of His disciples in the Cenacle.

He put it particularly into practice during His passion, letting Himself be tied up, lashed, mocked and made fun of as a King, and finally by letting Himself be crucified as a malefactor.

Look to the Sacred Heart of Jesus therefore, and be always modest, fleeing any honour, avoiding any vanity, never seeking the approval of men, that fatal poison that can infect and corrupt your best actions.

The saints have always hidden their qualities, would you like to show off qualities you do not have? You will never find Jesus in the things the world applauds or considers important, take the last place and there you will find Him. A little humility is worth more than all the greatness and glory in the universe, and a single humiliation is worth more to His Heart than many prayers and the most splendid initiatives.”
– Mons. Nicola Tafuri

 

TODAY’S GOSPEL READING (MATTHEW 13:36-43)

JUST AS THE DARNEL IS GATHERED UP AND BURNT IN THE FIRE, SO IT WILL BE AT THE END OF TIME.

Leaving the crowds, Jesus went to the house; and his disciples came to him and said, “Explain the parable about the darnel in the field to us.”

He said in reply, “The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed is the subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the evil one; the enemy who sowed them, the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels. Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time.

The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that provoke offences and all who do evil, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Listen, anyone who has ears!”

V. The Gospel of the Lord.
R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.