Parish of the Assumption Area Code: 057 Tel: 93 21587 - 93 22415 Fax: 93 51510 EPIPHANY OF THE LORD ~ 3rd JANUARY 2016 Fr. Joseph Gallaghar P.P
Weekend Masses Church of the Assumption: Saturday (Vigil) 6.30pm, Sunday 8.30am, 10.00am, 11.30am & 1.00pm St Colmcille’s Church Durrow: Sunday 11.30am Holy Days Church of the Assumption: Vigil 6.30pm; 7.45am, 10.00am, 1.10pm, 6.30pm. St Colmcille’s Church Durrow: 8.00pm Weekday Masses Monday-Friday 7.45am & 10.00am Saturday 10.00am First Friday 7.45am & 10.00am CONFESSIONS Saturday: 12 noon-1.00pm, 3.00-4.00pm
GET IN TOUCH St Mary’s Parish Centre, Benburb St, Tullamore Phone: 0579321587 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Web: www.tullamoreparish.ie Office Hours: Mon-Fri, 9.30am-1pm; 1.30-5pm to book weddings, baptisms, certs, etc; Reception service 5-9pm. Priest available for emergencies 24 hours daily. Parish Shop selling a selection of religious items. Teas after 10am Mass Mon, Wed & Fri. Meeting Rooms available: Contact Administrator for details of rates, availability etc. Parish Support Services: Bereavement Listening, etc. For appointment, ph 0579326604, Monday-Thursday 9.30am- 1.00pm; Wednesday & Thursday 6.00-8.00pm. HOLYDAY – THE FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY Wednesday 6th, is the Feast of the Epiphany. Masses are as follows: Tullamore 7.45am, 10.00am, 1.10pm &6.30pm. (Note there is no Vigil Mass on the 5th in Tullamore). Durrow(Vigil 5th) 8.00pm. JUBILEE YEAR OF MERCY 2016 Pope Francis has designated this year as a Jubilee Year of Mercy. It is his fervent desire that this Jubilee Year is a fresh opportunity for everyone to experience the great mercy of God. The mercy of God is so central to the faith and life of Pope Francis. It is his experience of God’s mercy and the way he shows to others the mercy he has received that makes him such a remarkable figure in our world today. He knows that every person, whether they think of themselves as religious or not, longs for the embrace of mercy, the love that accepts us as we are and, at the same time, calls us to become what we are made to be. Mercy, especially the mercy of God, says to us “It is never too late!” precisely when we think that we are stuck forever in our mediocre and destructive ways. This Year of Mercy is an invitation to start again. It is the open door we are invited to enter and discover the wonder of the love and mercy of God that calls out to the deepest recesses of our hearts and of our world. To go through this door and experience the mercy of God everyone has to make a journey, a pilgrimage. This may be a physical journey to one of the Doors of Mercy established in every Diocese. It most certainly must be a spiritual journey, a spiritual pilgrimage in which we look again into our hearts, feel again our longing for forgiveness, for encouragement, for a renewed and joyful faith, for a resilient hope amidst all our difficulties. On this spiritual journey, by going through the Door of Mercy, we come face to face with our Maker and come again to see the face of Jesus. Then we are drawn into their embrace and find the unique comfort and consolation of true faith, living in presence of the Holy Spirit. AN EXTRACT FROM THE POPE’S MESSAGE FOR THE 49TH WORLD DAY OF PEACE “Maintaining our reasons for hope” Sadly, war and terrorism, accompanied by kidnapping, ethnic or religious persecution and the misuse of power, marked the past year from start to finish. In many parts of the world, these have become so common as to constitute a real “third world war fought piecemeal”. Yet some events of the year now ending inspire me, in looking ahead to the new year, to encourage everyone not to lose hope in our human ability to conquer evil and to combat resignation and indifference. They demonstrate our capacity to show solidarity and to rise above self-interest, apathy and indifference in the face of critical situations. Here I would mention the efforts to bring world leaders together at COP21 in the search for new ways to confront climate change and to protect the earth, our common home. We can also think of two earlier global events: the Addis Ababa Summit for funding sustainable development worldwide and the adoption of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, aimed at ensuring a more dignified standard of living for all the world’s peoples, especially the poor, by that year. For the Church, 2015 was a special year, since it marked the fiftieth anniversary of two documents of the Second Vatican Council which eloquently expressed her sense of solidarity with the world. Pope John XXIII, at the beginning of the Council, wanted to open wide the windows of the Church and to improve her communication with the world. The two documents, Nostra Aetate and GaudiumetSpes, are emblematic of the new relationship of dialogue, solidarity and accompaniment which the Church sought to awaken within the human family. In the Declaration Nostra Aetate, the Church expressed her openness to dialogue with non-Christian religions. In the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, based on a recognition that “the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted, are the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well”, the Church proposed to enter into dialogue with the entire human family about the problems of our world, as a sign of solidarity, respect and affection. Along these same lines, with the present Jubilee of Mercy I want to invite the Church to pray and work so that every Christian will have a humble and compassionate heart, one capable of proclaiming and witnessing to mercy. It is my hope that all of us will learn to “forgive and give”, to become more open “to those living on the outermost fringes of society – fringes which modern society itself creates”, and to refuse to fall into “a humiliating indifference or a monotonous routine which prevents us from discovering what is new! Let us ward off destructive cynicism!” MUSINGS Today’s Entrance Antiphon recalls: ‘when peaceful silence lay over all ... the all-powerful Word leaped down from heaven’. This image of the Word of God enthusiastically ‘leaping’ into the human condition was a favourite among early Christian writers. Ambrose of Milan once wrote: ‘He came into this world in a kind of leap. He was with the Father, he came into a virgin, and from a virgin he bounded into a manger. He was in a manger ... he went down into the Jordan and up onto the cross, he went down to the tomb, rose up from the tomb, and sits at the right hand of the Father’. Salvador Ryan St Patrick’s College, Maynooth PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR FIONA PENDER, OUR PARISHIONER WHO HAS BEEN MISSING SINCE 22ND AUGUST, 1996. SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM The next available Baptism dates are on: Saturday 23rd Jan & Sunday 7th Feb in Tullamore Church; Sunday 14th Feb in Durrow Church. The pre-baptism meeting for these is on Wednesday 20th Jan. To book in for the meeting and baptisms, contact the Parish Secretary, at the Parish Office, Mon-Fri, 9.30am-5pm. SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE It is advisable to give six months’ notice of your intention to marry to both the Church and the Registrar. To book the Church for weddings, contact the Parish Secretary, Monday-Friday, 9.30am-5.00pm. All couples getting married must attend a pre-marriage course. Contact ACCORD, 9341831 or www.accord.ie. ACCORD also available for marriage and relationship counselling. NB: NOTICES FOR THE BULLETIN MUST BE IN THE PARISH CENTRE BY 9.30AM WEDNESDAY Only notices from parish groups, non-profit making organisations& clubs included. SEEING YOUR LIFE THROUGH THE LENS OF THE GOSPELS John 1:1-18 This prologue to the Gospel of John is a piece of poetry. Like all poetry one of the ways to enter into it is to read it a few times slowly and let the words and images speak to you. The prologue proclaims Jesus as the true light come into the world. How has Jesus, and the message of Jesus, been a light for you in your life? The prologue also affirms the transforming power of faith: ‘to all who received him … he gave power to become children of God’. How would you describe the difference it makes to you to have faith as part of your life? In Jesus we get a glimpse of God and of the love of God. But as ‘Jesus people’ in the world today we also are called to be witnesses to the light. Who has been a witness to you? To whom have you been a witness? John Byrne OSA, Intercom January 2016 MASS INTENTIONS Mon 4: 7.45 Thomas & Elizabeth Ruane 10.00 Paddy Egan Tues 5: 7.45 Margaret& Joe White & Family; Kathleen && Joe Doyle & Pickett Family 10.00 Stephen McDermott Wed 6: 10.00 James Galvin, Ballinasragh Thurs 7: 10.00 Chris Daly, Clara Fri 8: 10.00 DanielDunnek, Church Rd Sat 9: 10.00 Margaret ‘Peggy’ McDonagh 6.30 Alan Kelly, 1st Ann Sun 10: 8.30 Emer Champ Bracken 10.00 Marcella Egan, 21a Marian Place Durrow Tuesday 5th, 8.00pm Ger Roe; Ciss & Bernard Clavin Sun 10th Johanna Keeney, 1st Ann. Shared Masses: The next available Shared Masses are on Sunday 7thFebruary, 11.30am in Durrow and Saturday 20th February, 10.00am, in Tullamore. |