Fr Peter Finnerty, Administrator, 01-832-3150
Fr Finbarr Neylon, CC, 086-356-6380
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
Notice: The Parish Office will close from Thursday 23rd December and re-open on Thursday 6th January 2022. The Sacristy will remain open each morning until 11am.
| Masses for the coming week | ||
| Bernie and Cathal Hanley (A) | Mon. 27th | 10am |
| Sally Butler (A) | Tues. 28th | 10am |
| Richard Motherway (A) | Tues. 28th | 10am |
| Arthur Partridge (A) | Wed. 29th | 10am |
| Peter O’Brien (A) | Wed. 29th | 10am |
| Phyllis Poole, Birthday Rem. | Wed. 29th | 10am |
| Mary and James O’Connell (A) | Wed. 29th | 10am |
| Maureen Hardy (1st A) | Fri. 30th | 10am |
| Tony Healy, RD | Fri. 30th | 10am |
| Eddie and Anna Lawlor (A) | Sat. 1st | 6.30pm |
| John Mooney (A) | Sat. 1st | 6.30pm |
| Michael McGrath (1st A) | Sun. 1st | 12pm |
Mass Details
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 10am; Thursday 7.30pm (and Divine Mercy Hour). Saturday 6.30pm; Sunday 9.30am and 12noon. We encourage all to pray as below if joining in on webcam. www.kilbarrackfoxfieldparish.ie.
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.
Recently Deceased
Marie Hogan, RIP, late of Briarfield Grove and
Tony Healy, RIP, late of Foxfield Grove.
Our thoughts and prayers are with their families, friends, and neighbours. May they rest in peace
Christmas Schedule
Christmas Day Masses: 9.30am and 12 noon.
Sunday 26th: 9.30am and 12 noon
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 10am, 27th, 28th, 29th, and 31st 10am. Evening of 31stMass of Thanksgiving 11pm. (No Divine Mercy Hour Thursday 23rd or 30th)
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament will not take place.
Happy Christmas
We extend very best wishes for a happy, healthy and peaceful Christmas to all our parishioners and their families. We keep in mind the family members who are far away and unable to travel this year and will include them in our prayers.
Those who were bereaved during the last year will have a special place in our thoughts and prayers during this Christmas season which is a difficult and sad time for you.
May the peace of Christ spread throughout our Parish in the year ahead.
Fr. Cathal
This year we are thinking especially of Fr. Cathal who is celebrating 25 years with us in our Parish as a much-loved Priest and friend to many.
Maranatha: Come Lord Jesus
Lord Jesus, come into our weakness;
Come into our fears. Come into our anxieties.
Come into our failures. Come into our divisions.
Come into our grieving. Come into our loneliness. Come into our darkness. Come into our despair.
Come into our poverty of heart.
Come into our searching. Come into our joys and hopes.
Come into our dying.
Come, Lord Jesus, Come!
Thanks
We extend special thanks to all who were involved in preparations for Christmas: all who filled and delivered the Christmas envelopes, those who cleaned and decorated the Church and put the crib in place and the beautiful floral arrangements created by Eva.
Collection for St Vincent de Paul
The amount raised by this collection last weekend was a very generous €7270. Huge thanks to all who contributed.
Service of Healing of the Generations
The next Service of Healing of the Generations (Family Tree) will take place next Sunday 2nd January in our Church, commencing at 7pm with Mass and concluding at 8pm. It will be led by Fr Cathal Price and team.
Synod Prayer
Copies of the Synod Prayer are available on the back table for all parishioners.
Reflection on Gospel of Christmas Day
Take a few minutes – light a candle, take a few deep breaths and relish the quiet within and around; read the account of these familiar events and ponder. What was it really like for Joseph, Mary, the new-born baby, the shepherd’s. Try to imagine the countryside, the surroundings, the weather. Perhaps there is litter scattered by the crowds travelling to Bethlehem for the census. You are there – talk to the people meet; what to say? Focus on the shepherds and their flocks – what do they do to protect their environment? When the glory of the Lord shines around them – and you – what is the overwhelming feeling? Joy … gratitude … fear … or …?. Tell the Lord what is in your heart.
New Pilgrim Path
“The website will be updated late on Christmas Eve, to feature Midnight Mass from the Vatican and a joyful narration of the Christmas story in drama and music from the Anglican church of All Souls in London. On New Year’s Day we bring you a short commentary on three Ignatian New Year’s resolutions: ‘Give others the benefit of the doubt’, ‘Resist desolation’ and ‘Follow God’s will without condition, that is, freely’, See www.newpilgrimpath.ie.
Crosscare Online Appeal to End Food Poverty
Crosscare is working with hundreds of families and children who struggle to get basic food supplies. Due to Covid restrictions, the online appeal for donations replaces the food collection in previous years. Your support for Crosscare makes a huge difference to those most in need. Support this appeal to end food poverty -donate online at www.crosscare.ie/donate .
One Solitary Life
He was born in an obscure village The child of a peasant woman He grew up in another obscure village Where he worked in a carpenter shop Until he was thirty He never wrote a book He never held an office He never went to college He never visited a big city He never travelled more than two hundred miles From the place where he was born He did none of the things Usually associated with greatness He had no credentials but himself He was only thirty three His friends ran away One of them denied him He was turned over to his enemies And went through the mockery of a trial He was nailed to a cross between two thieves While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing The only property he had on earth When he was dead He was laid in a borrowed grave Through the pity of a friend Nineteen centuries have come and gone And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race And the leader of mankind’s progress All the armies that have ever marched All the navies that have ever sailed All the parliaments that have ever sat All the kings that ever reigned put together Have not affected the life of mankind on earth as powerfully as that one solitary life.
Dr James Allan (1926).
You Don’t Just Lose Someone Once . . .
You don’t just lose someone once.
You lose them over and over,
sometimes many times a day.
When the loss, momentarily forgotten,
creeps up, and attacks you from behind.
Fresh waves of grief as the realisation hits home,
they are gone. Again.
You don’t just lose someone once,
you lose them every time you open your eyes to a new dawn,
and as you awaken,
so does your memory,
so does the jolting bolt of lightning that rips into your heart,
they are gone. Again.
Losing someone is a journey,
not a one-off.
There is no end to the loss,
there is only a learned skill on how to stay afloat,
when it washes over.
Be kind to those who are sailing this stormy sea,
they have a journey ahead of them,
and a daily shock to the system each time they realise,
they are gone, again.
You don’t just lose someone once,
you lose them every day,
for a lifetime. © Donna Ashworth
The Christmas Tree
It is the season of the tree again,
Fragile, spiky, grey/green.
A spirit fills the house
As it stands naked in its stand
Stretching out its arms
Begging to be clothed.
Decked in shiny baubles
Wrapped in rainbow constellations
Of brilliant fairy lights,
They look like jewels to young eyes
Who glory in its cosmic splendour,
The brightness reflected in their eyes.
Houses sleep in expectation
In the scattered light of stars,
Endless, timeless candle-power.
The young, they dream,
The old remember.
M.C.
A Blessing for Christmas
How beautiful and dazzling bright,
One candle on a winter’s night.
How beautiful these harmonies
That echo through the centuries.
And in this singing, we shall find
The blessing given to mankind
A blessing without price or end,
A blessing on your house, my friend
Garrison Keillor
