23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

A weekend to remember.

The Harvest Festival in Sheelin Park comprising of Country Market, tea and refreshments, demonstrations, competitions, auction of items handed in, Family Fun on the pitch etc.etc. Harvest Mass of Thanksgiving. Barn Dance, BBQ, spot prizes in Buddy’s. Four County Vintage Tractor Run supported by Honda Run, food and refreshments for participants, spot prizes, BBQ, Live Music etc., at Fitzsimons.

It was a weekend of friendship and togetherness, gentleness and goodness.

We were put in touch with that great spirit of warmth and cooperation and generosity which is so much part of our parish and wider community. It is good to see it preserved and nurtured and, please God, it will continue to flourish for generations to come. It was good too to see the children enjoying themselves. We mutually enrich each other.

The returns for all the events of Saturday and Sunday amounted to € 10,160. It is a very substantial contribution towards paying off what is owed for the renovation of Carrick and Ballynarry Churches. It is the collective achievement of many many people who tirelessly gave of their time, expertise and generosity. We are grateful to the G.A.A. for making Sheelin Park available and to all who worked so hard to make the weekend so memorable and so successful. The members of the Parish Pastoral Council and Fr Frank would like to say a sincere ‘THANK YOU’ to everyone.

Go mbeirimid beo ag an am seo arís

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Our Lady of Sorrows (Sept 15)

As Mary stood at the foot of the Cross on which Jesus hung, the sword of sorrow Simeon had foretold pierced her soul. Below are the seven sorrows of Mary:

1. The prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:25-35)

2. The flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15)

3. Loss of the Child Jesus for three days (Luke 2:41-50)

4. Mary meets Jesus on his way to Calvary (Luke 23:27-31; John 19:17)

5. Crucifixion and Death of Jesus (John 19:25-30)

6. The body of Jesus being taken from the Cross (Psalm 130; Luke 23:50-54; John 19:31-37) 

7. The burial of Jesus (Isaiah 53:8; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42; Mark 15:40-47)

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Ember Days

The September Ember Days were particularly focused on the end of the harvest season and thanksgiving to God for the season. Ember Days were three days (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday) set aside by the Church for prayer, fasting and almsgiving at the beginning of each of the four seasons of the year. The ember days fell after December 13, the feast of St. Lucy (winter), after the First Sunday of Lent (spring), after Pentecost Sunday (summer), and after September 14 , the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (fall). These weeks were known as the quattor tempora, the "four seasons."

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God is CALLING! Are you LISTENING?

Remember that God is never “too busy” to hear from you. Don’t be “too busy” for him! There are some daily prayers such as the Our Father and the Rosary that take only minutes to say, yet their benefits can last a lifetime!

Prayers can do wonders for your soul. God gives us joy and strength though prayer. You can get a great sense of peace in good times and consolation in bad from them. Our Lord wants to give us the good things we ask for in accordance with His will. The more we pray the more we can grow in His grace.

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All we need to know

My heart leaps up when I behold

A rainbow in the sky:

So was it when my life began;

So be it when I shall grow old,

Or let me die!

The child is father of the man.

(William Wordsworth)

It is in the world of childhood that the secret of life lies. We recall what we were told:

Share everything.

Play fair.

Don’t hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don’t take things that aren’t yours.

Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.

Say your prayers.

Its about simple truth and everyday living. Everything we need to know is in there somewhere.

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In times of doubt and uncertainty

Be patient to all that is unsolved in your heart...

Try to love the questions themselves...

Do not now seek the answers,

Which cannot be given because you would not be able to live them.

And the point is to live everything.

Live the question now.

Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it,

Live along some distant day into the answers.

(Rainer Maria Rilke)

22 nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

September

The month of September is dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows whose memorial the Church celebrates on September 15.

CHAPLET OF THE SEVEN SORROWS OF MARY

This devotion, instituted in the course of the thirteenth century, honours the Sorrows endured by the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is recited on a Rosary

comprised of seven decades containing seven beads in each decade. Each decade of seven is divided from the rest by medals representing the seven principal sorrows of Her life.

The chaplet is said by offering a Hail Mary on each of the beads, with an Our Father each seven Hail Mary's. Completion of the chaplet requires three Hail Mary's at the end in honour of the sorrowful tears of Our Lady.

First Sorrow: Reflect on the sorrow of Our Blessed Lady, when She presented Her Divine Child in the Temple and heard from the aged Simeon that a sword of grief would pierce Her soul.

Second Sorrow: Reflect on Her sorrow when, to escape the cruelty of King Herod, She was forced to fly into Egypt with St. Joseph and Her Beloved Child. Pray for those who kill children today by abortion.

Third Sorrow: Reflect on Her grief when, in returning from Jerusalem, She found that She had lost Her dear Jesus, Whom She sought for three days.

Fourth Sorrow: Reflect on Her meeting Her divine Son, all bruised and bleeding, carrying His Cross to Calvary, and seeing Him fall under its heavy weight.

Fifth Sorrow: Reflect on Her standing by, when Her Divine Son was lifted up on the Cross and the blood flowed in streams from His Sacred Wounds.

Six Sorrow: Reflect on Her sorrow, when Her Divine son was taken down from the Cross, and placed in Her arms.

Seven Sorrow: Reflect on Her following His Sacred Body as it was borne by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus to the sepulchre.

 

Back to School

The holidays are almost over and it’s back again to school.

At the beginning of this school year we wish parents, teachers and pupils a happy and a successful year. We ask God to bless them and all those who work at keeping our schools running smoothly and looking well. As well as those going to national school, we Prayerfully remember all those who are beginning secondary school or going to third level institutions, an apprenticeship etc. So, as we all begin a new, may our undertakings be guided by God’s inspiration and grow with his help.

Vocations

For twenty centuries now, people have been called to devote their lives to Jesus, and to serving his people with undivided hearts. Christian communities have always needed leaders who would speak God’s Word to them, who would celebrate His presence with them in the Eucharist and the other sacraments, and who would be living signs of his love, especially for the poor or those in difficulty of any kind.

“If Jesus calls you, do not be afraid to respond to him with generosity. Trust in Him and you will not be disappointed.”

Pope Benedict XVI

 

Reflection of a Parent

I gave you life,

But cannot live it for you.

I gave you direction

But I cannot be there to lead you.

I can take you to Church,

But I cannot make you believe.

I can teach you right from wrong,

But I cannot always decide for you.

I can buy you beautiful clothes,

But I cannot make you beautiful inside.

I can offer you advice,

But cannot accept it for you.

I can give you love,

But I cannot force it upon you.

I can teach you to share,

But I cannot make you unselfish.

I can teach you respect,

But I cannot force you to show honour.

I can advice you about friends,

But I cannot choose them for you.

I can advise you about sex,

But I cannot keep you pure.

I can tell you about alcohol and drugs,

But I can’t say “No” for you.

I can tell you about lofty goals,

But I can’t achieve them for you.

I can teach you about kindness,

But I can’t force you to be gracious.

I can pray for you,

But I cannot make you walk with God.

I can tell you to live,

But I cannot give you eternal life.

I can love you with unconditional love all of my life

.................................. And I will.

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Harvest Festival and Four County Vintage Tractor and Car Run.

In Aid of Carrick and Ballynarry Church Renovation Fund.

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Saturday 1st September.

Harvest Festival in Sheelin Park.

3:00 pm to 6:00pm.

Country Market in Clubrooms.

Fresh Home Produced Breads, Cakes, Jams, Fruit and Vegetables on sale.

Demonstrations: - Butter Making, Patchwork, Crocheting and Oil Painting.

Competitions: - Name the Doll, Guess cake weight, etc.

Tea and Refreshments Served.

Family Fun on Pitch.

Children: - Bouncing Castles,  Fun and Games.

Adults & Teenagers: - Shot-putt, Golf, Basket Ball shooting, Skittles,

Digger Duck Dip.

Dog Demonstration at 4:00pm.

Harvest Mass.

Mass of thanksgiving in Ballynary at 8:00 pm.

Fruits of the Harvest will be placed in front of the Alter giving all of us a opportunity to thank God for them.

Barn Dance.

Barn Dance and BBQ in Buddy’s at 9:30 pm.

Music by Chuck and June.

Spot Prizes Galore.

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Sunday 2nd September.

Four County Vintage Tractor and Car Run.

Assembly and Breakfast for participants at 10:30am at Fitzsimons’ Finea.

Run Commences at 12:00 Noon.

Returning to Fitzsimons’ for Refreshments and BBQ.

Live Music and Spot Prizes.

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Fr Frank and Parish Council

invite you all to come and enjoy this Family Fulfilled Weekend.

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Perpetual Novena to Our Lady of Knock.

The National Public Novena takes place each year at Knock Shrine from the 14th to the 22nd of August. Prayer leaflets may be had from the Shrine Office. Two sessions are held daily, namely at 3:00 pm and 8:30 pm except on Wednesday 15th and Sunday 19th, when ceremonies commence with anointing of the sick at 2:30 pm. After Concelebrated Mass in the Basilica there is a Procession to the Apparition Gable. A procession of the Blessed Sacrament is held in the afternoon and the beautiful candlelight procession takes place at night. For those who cannot be present the Novena may be made at home or in the local Church. This gives them a share in the Masses and prayers being offered each day at the Shrine.

Prayer to Our Lady of Knock

Our Lady of Knock, Queen of Ireland, you gave hope to your people in a time of distress, and comfort them in sorrow. You have inspired countless pilgrims to pray with confidence to your divine Son, remembering His promise, “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find”. Help me to remember that we are all pilgrims on the road to heaven. Fill me with love and concern for my brothers and sisters in Christ, especially those who live with me. Comfort me when I am sick, lonely or depressed. Teach me how to take part ever more reverently in the Holy Mass. Give me a greater love of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Pray for me now, and at the hour of my death. Amen.

Olympic Gold Medalist

When Katie Taylor’s hand was held aloft as Olympic champion in the Excel Arena in London on Thursday evening, it was one of those sublime moments in sport that won’t be forgotten.

The jubilant scenes around the country and the huge TV audience which watched her fights in London illustrate how her achievement has touched even those with only a casual interest in sport. It has been the fulfilment of a sporting dream for Taylor as well as the Irish sporting public.

All the years of anonymous practice, of lonely fights in obscure places, of struggling for recognition in a sport that barely existed, all the prayers that they shared: it had all led to her historic victory.

“My dad said if I did go a couple of points down just stay calm. I just had to stick to the game plan. It was great to pick up the two points but at the end I didn’t know what way the score line went. It was a great last round.”

“Because I trained so hard since I was 10 or 11 years of age,” was how Taylor accounted for this performance. “And I serve an amazing God and without Him I wouldn’t be sitting with this medal around my neck. I am there but for the grace of God. I serve Him. I am nothing without Him.”

Following her victory , a whole generation of Irish youngsters will be inspired to take up sport. Katie’s shinning example is already laying the foundation for the next generation of Irish Olympians.

One of the mottoes of London 2012 has been “Inspire a Generation”.

Katie Taylor has done that and more.

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Croagh Patrick

The annual pilgrimage to Croagh Patrick took place on Sunday last. After making the pilgrimage, the popes representative in Ireland, Archbishop Charles Brown said that making the pilgrimage up Ireland’s holiest mountain had been a “beautiful and unforgettable experience” and that it was personally gratifying to see a crowd of thousands making a journey of faith.

“I think that it is a great expression of the continuity of the Faith in Ireland,” he said. “On the first level I would say that it is a great confirmation for me that the Faith is very deep and in spite of everything it continues. “ And the second thing is that every pilgrimage is an image of the life of faith, and this pilgrimage, which is quite difficult, is a great image of what it means to be a Catholic. “It means in a sense to struggle for the life of faith, to fight for one’s faith, to put one foot in front of the other, to always go forward, to help one another on the path.”

 

The Shoeshine Boy

Shoeshine boys are on the lowest rung of the ladder in the Third World—almost always homeless, and often as young as five or six years old, they eke out a miserable living on the streets of every African capital. By day, they aim to make enough to keep hunger at bay; at night, they sleep together in small groups in doorways or disused buildings.

The young boy who shone my shoes in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, that day was no different. Barefooted and clothed in rags, he couldn’t have been more than nine of ten years old. Without the chance of education, he was doomed to spend the rest of his life on these streets and, most probably, to die on them.

My shoes shined, I stood up and paid the young lad before walking on into the city. Fifteen minutes later, arriving at the door of my hotel, I heard a shout and looked around to see the shoeshine boy running after me. Perspiration dripping from his forehead, he held out his hand with a smile. He was holding my wallet, which I must have dropped by his stall earlier.

One of the most extraordinary things about this story is that I was due to fly the following day to Guinea to buy supplies for a project we had just opened, and as a result I was carrying at lease $5,000 in my wallet. The notes were bulging out of the sides. This boy had found more money than he could ever dream of making in his entire working life and he was offering to give it back to me. He didn’t have enough money to buy shoes, but he hadn’t touched a note in the wallet.

The Third World is full of contradictions, but none more striking than this: in the midst of some of the worst poverty, you can discover the greatest human qualities.

John O’Shea. Founder of Goal.

Princes and lords are but the breath of kings,

An honest man’s the noblest work of God.

Robert Burns (1759—1796)