Parish Contacts:
Fr Peter Finnerty, Parish Priest, Ph: 01-832-3150.
Fr Séamus Connell, Ph: 087-702-5120.
Fr Cathal Price, Ph: 01-832-3683.
Janice Dornan, Parish Sec, Parish Office, Ph 01-839-0433.
Email info@kilbarrackfoxfieldparish.ie
www.kilbarrackfoxfieldparish.ie
Weekday Mass times – Mon-Wed 10am; Thurs, 7.30pm.
Fri 10am. Bayside– Mon-Sat 10am.
Weekends: Saturday Vigil 6pm, Sunday 9.30am and 12pm. Bayside – Saturday Vigil 7pm. Sunday 8am, 10am,11.30am. Parish Office: Mon, Tues, Thurs & Fri 9.30am to 12.30pm. Closed Wednesday.
All Masses only are also available on our Webcam.
| Masses for the coming week | ||
| Name | Date | Time |
| Joseph Martin (1st A) | Wed. 11th | 10am |
| Seán Murphy (A) | Thurs. 12th | 7.30pm |
| Martin Lawrence (A) | Thurs. 12th | 7.30pm |
| John Reilly, Health Intentions | Thurs. 12th | 7.30pm |
| Tony Lyons (A) and remember his wife Carmel Lyons | Fri. 13th | 10am |
| Liam Dooley (A) | Sat. 14th | 6pm |
| Damien Browne 1st A) | Sat. 14th | 6pm |
| Anna Thornbury (1st A) | Sun. 15th | 9.30am |
| Edward Lawlor and his son Eddie and daughter in law Anna and Mary Lawlor (1st A) | Sun. 15th | 12pm |
Thank You
From all the priests of the parish we wish to sincerely thank you all for the generous gifts we received over the Christmas. We are very grateful for your kindness shown. Blessings to all of you for 2023.
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament takes place from Tuesday to Friday, 11am-3pm each week.
Recently Deceased
We remember in our prayers Martina Lynch RIP late of Edenmore and Briarfield Road. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends, and neighbours. May she rest in peace.
Act of Spiritual Communion
My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You.
Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
Message from Pope Francis for New Year
Let Mary, the Mother of God, be your guide in the new year, Pope Francis said on Sunday, the first day of 2023.
“As we contemplate Mary in the stable where Jesus was born, let us ask ourselves: What languages does the Holy Virgin use to speak to us? How does Mary speak?”
“What can we learn from her for this year that is dawning?” he added. “We can say: Virgin Mary, teach us what we should do this year.”
Reflection on Sunday’s Readings
‘This is my Son, the Beloved’
As Christmastide draws to a close, we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which marks the start of Jesus’s adult ministry. The First Reading from Isaiah tells of the qualities of justice and compassion that God’s chosen one will bring to the earth. He will come to us as a servant leader endowed with the spirit of God. In the Second reading, Peter teaches that the Good News proclaimed by Jesus is not just for the chosen few, but for everyone who loves God. The Psalm proclaims the glory of God in creation and tells us the Lord will bless his people with peace. The Gospel shows Jesus baptised by his cousin John in the Jordan. With humility, Jesus shows us the path to truth by entering into the waters of baptism. The Holy Spirit descends on Jesus as God the Father proclaims that Jesus is his beloved Son. Theirs is a dynamic relationship of eternal, creative, self-giving love. As Christians baptised in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we are called to follow Jesus by spreading the Good News to all people. As we pray this week, let us joyfully remember our baptismal promises so that we may follow Jesus more closely.
FLIGHT 2023 Instructions
Good morning and welcome to Flight 2023. We are prepared to take off into the New Year. Please make sure your Positive Attitude and Gratitude are secured and locked in the upright position. Self-destructive devices: pity, anger, selfishness, pride, and resentment should be turned off at this time. All negativity, hurt, and discouragement should be put away. Should you lose your Positive Attitude under pressure during this flight, reach up and pull down a prayer. Prayers will automatically be activated by Faith. Once your Faith is activated, you can assist other passengers who are of little faith. There will be No Baggage allowed on this flight. God, our Captain, has cleared us for take-off. Destination – Greatness
Wishing you a New Year filled with new Hope, new Joy, and new Beginnings. Stay blessed! And, Welcome in 2023.
Christmas Dues Envelopes can be left into Number(s) 54/56 Foxfield St. John or to the Sacristy/Parish Office
Family Offering
By now parishioners have received their Family Offering Boxes. If you wish to receive a Family Offering Box, spare boxes are in the Parish Office. Contributions can be yearly, half yearly, or by Standing Order. Whatever your preference, if you need assistance, please contact Janice in the Parish Office. We thank everyone for the continued contributions during these difficult times.
What’s On
- Reflections on the scriptures resume online tomorrow Monday 9th January at 7.30pm. Resolution for 2023?- gain understanding of the liturgy. Contact Phyllis at 086 890 9488 with email address.
- Chairobics resume on Tuesdays from 11.30am-12.30pm
- Local dementia carers’ mutual support group next meeting, 3pm Monday 9th Enquiries ring/text Paul 0872999241 or WhatsApp 0852548244 or email paultwickham@gmail.com
- Pop-up Gaeltacht in Bayside Inn from 8pm 19th
- Maria’s Gospel Hour. Due to huge interest Maria has a show on Youtube at 4pm on Sundays. Search “@mariadoherty” on Youtube .
New Pilgrim Path
“Who am I?” This question has haunted countless generations. By allowing our self-worth to be determined by external factors over which we often have no control, we are often led to a sense of worthlessness and despair. Nouwen reminds us that we are “human beings,” not “human doings.” The true response to the question is “I am a beloved daughter of God. I am a beloved son of God.” “God’s words ‘You are my Beloved’”, writes Nouwen, “reveal the most intimate truth about all human beings, whether they belong to any particular religious tradition or not. The ultimate spiritual temptation is to doubt this fundamental truth about ourselves and trust in alternative identities… I hope that you can hear these words as spoken to you with all the tenderness and force that love can hold. My only desire is to make these words reverberate in every corner of your being, ‘You are the Beloved!’”. In a powerful recorded talk, he urges that the key task of our spiritual journey is to claim that truth and live a life based upon it. Listen at www.newpilgrimpath.ie.
The Beatitudes
The text of St Matthew runs as follows:
- Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Verse 3)
- Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land. (Verse 4)
- Blessed are they who mourn: for they shall be comforted. (Verse 5)
- Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill. (Verse 6)
- Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. (Verse 7)
- Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God. (Verse 8)
- Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the childrenof God. (Verse 9)
- Blessed are they that suffer persecutionfor justice’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Verse 10)
- Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven.
Middle-Age
The child you think you don’t want is the one who will make you laugh. She will break your heart when she loses the sight in one eye and tells the doctor she wants to be an apple tree when she grows up.
It will be this child who forgives you again and again believing you don’t want her to be born, for resisting the rising tide of your body, for wishing for the red flow of her dismissal. She will even forgive you for all the breakfasts you failed to make exceptional.
Someday this child will sit beside you. When you are old and too tired of war to want to watch the evening news, she will tell you stories like the one about her teenaged brother, your son, and his friends taking her out in a canoe when she was five years old. How they left her alone on an island in the river while they jumped off the railroad bridge.
“Middle-Age” by Pat Schneider from Another River: New and Selected Poems.
From “Desiderata”
Do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Let’s Dance . . .
This piece appeared here before. But it’s worth a repeat, especially at this time of year:
Kurt Vonnegut tells his wife he’s going out to buy an envelope:
“Oh, she says, well, you’re not a poor man. You know, why don’t you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet?
And so, I pretend not to hear her. And go out to get an envelope because I’m going to have a hell of a good time in the process of buying one envelope.
I meet a lot of people. And see some great looking babies. And a fire engine goes by. And I give them the thumbs up. And I’ll ask a woman what kind of dog that is. And, and I don’t know. The moral of the story is – we’re here on Earth to fart around.
And, of course, the computers will do us out of that. And what the computer people don’t realise, or they don’t care, is we’re dancing animals. You know, we love to move around. And it’s like we’re not supposed to dance at all anymore.” Let’s all get up and move around a bit right now . . . or at least dance.
Kurt Vonnegut
Thought for the WeekThe more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate – Oprah Winfrey |
