Parish Contacts –
Fr Peter Finnerty, PP, Ph: 01-832-3150.
Fr Séamus Connell, Ph: 087-702-5120.
Fr Godfrey Sunday Ph 0892064610
Janice Dornan, Parish Sec, Parish Office, Ph 01-839-0433.
Email info@kilbarrackfoxfieldparish.ie
www.kilbarrackfoxfieldparish.ie
Mass times – Mon-Wed 10am; Thurs, 7.30pm; Fri 10am. Sat 6pm. Sun 9.30am and 12 noon. Bayside– Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri &-Sat 10am; Sat 7pm. Sun 8am and 11.00am
Our parish is part of the partnership in the Howth Deanery as follows – Baldoyle, Bayside, Howth, Kilbarrack/Foxfield, Sutton. Registered Charity Number 20016166.
Masses for the coming week
| Name | Date | Time |
| Billy Ridgeway, RD | Tues. 19th | 10am |
| Cissie Nolan (A) | Tues. 19th | 10am |
| Mary Keogh (A) | Sat. 22nd | 6pm |
| Garrath Clarke (A) | Sat. 22nd | 6pm |
| Mairéad O’Dea (A) | Sun. 23rd | 9.30am |
Recently Deceased
We remember in our prayers
Esther Theresa Ryan RIP late of Thornville Ave
Rita Smullen RIP late of Foxfield Park
Our thoughts and prayers are with their families, friends and neighbours. May they rest in Peace.
Altar List of the Dead
The envelopes for our November Altar List of the Dead are on the back table. As we will not be delivering them this year, we ask that everyone takes one and one for a housebound neighbour. Envelopes can be returned to the Parish Office or in the box outside the sacristy door.
The run-up to Christmas can be hectic for everyone. Blood pressure can rise!
Prescription? spend time with the Lord in the wonderful ministry of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in our Church from 11am – 3pm Tuesdays to Fridays each week. Please leave your name and time/day available on a card from back table, and put in envelope on Adoration table
Parish Christmas ~Cards – Pack of 5 for €5 are now on sale in the Repository
Invitation for ‘Cuppa’ and chat in the Parish Centre following the 12 noon Mass this Sunday. All welcome
A Reflection on Today’s Gospel
Sing Psalms to the Lord!
As we come to the end of the liturgical year, the Church encourages us to look at our world, at the passage of time, and to ponder how we respond in trust to God’s faithfulness.
In the First Reading, the prophet Malachi speaks of the end of time, the great day of the Lord. There will be punishment for the arrogant and evil-doers, but those who respect the Lord will experience healing like the warming rays of the sun.
The Psalm celebrates the coming of the Lord to judge, not in fear but with joy and praise.
St Paul (Second Reading), advises on how to live as we wait for the coming of the Lord. We are to work quietly and conscientiously in and for the community and avoid giving up or getting lazy.
Jesus, in the Gospel, predicts the destruction of the Temple and other catastrophic events, as well as persecution and betrayal. He tells his disciples not to be afraid: this is not the end of the world, and he also promises to care for them. Their endurance will win them their lives.
As Pilgrims of Hope, today’s readings give us hope as we consider the tragedies in our world. God will not abandon us.
Want to make your Sunday Mass more meaningful?
7.15 – 8.30pm each Tuesday in the Parish Centre. Praying, sharing and staying with the Sunday readings, to make them more meaningful, alive and life-giving in a relaxed prayerful atmosphere. Fr Séamus and prayer group. All welcome.
St. Mary’s Pro-Cathedral Bicentenary Weekend Marking the 800th Anniversary of
St Laurence O’Toole’s Canonisation
Sunday 16th November: 11am Sunday Mass marking the anniversaries, and
3.30pm Concert: GLORIA Vivaldi, works by Handel, Bach and Mozart. Palestrina Choir, Pro-Cathedral Girls’ Choir. Baroque Orchestra, conductor Blánaid Murphy.
The Irish Cancer Society is seeking volunteer drivers to provide transport for patients attending cancer treatment appointments.
If you have a few hours to spare, a valid licence, and a safe, reliable vehicle, you’re the perfect candidate.
For information and to become a volunteer driver, please contact Monica t volunteer@irishcancer.ie.
Singers!!! Join us in Rome
Sutton and Howth Parishes will travel to Rome
6th -12th April 2026 and are seeking singers, particularly men! Cost €880. St Fintan’s choir will sing in Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore; guided tour of Sistine chapel & Vatican; sing at Mass in Irish College; urbi et Orbi blessing from Pope Leo. Interested? ?-
Meeting 7.30pm Wednesday 19th Nov. St Fintan’s Church or phone John 085 769 3339
First Saturday Conference in Knock
To mark the 100th anniversary of the First Saturday Apparition in Pontevedra, Spain, there will be a special conference in Knock on 6th December, first Saturday of December. Adoration and confessions at 10am in the Reconciliation Chapel; Three talks from Bishop John Keenan, Antonia Moffat, and Fr Philip Kemmy in St John’s Centre; Rosary led by the Children’s Rosary group; 15-minute meditation led by Fr. Marius O’Reilly, as Our Lady requested for the First Saturdays. Lunch. At Fatima, Our Lady promised that there would be peace in the world and that many souls would be saved through this devotion. More details please visit first Saturdays.ie.
What’s on:
- Zoom reflections Mondays 7.30-8.30pm. Contact Phyllis 086 890 9488.
- Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from 11am-3pm Tuesdays – Fridays.
- Chairobics in the Parish Centre each Tuesday from 11.30am. All welcome.
- Bereaved Children’s Awareness Week (17th -23rd Free webinars on zoom: Supporting Bereaved Children: Open Evening for Parents & Carers. Tues 18th Nov. 7.30pm; Schools: Supporting Bereaved Children Thurs. 20th Nov. 4.30pm; Introduction to Developing Culturally Sensitive Approaches to Bereavement. Fri. 21 Nov. 12.30pm. Register: www.childhoodbereavement.ie or email icbn@hospicefoundation.ie
- Free bereaved parent support evening from Anam Cara, Wednesday 19th 7.30pm. Hilton Hotel, Malahide Rd, Northern Cross, Dublin, D17 Y924.
- Diocesan Certificate in Young Adult Ministry. Six Saturdays from 24th Contact natalie.doherty@dublindiocese.ie. Information session November. Registration open – access https://forms.office.com/e/Et8sXCxNtC
- Coffee morning in aid of Capuchin Day Centre Church Street. Bayside Community Centre. Monday, 24th November 10am-12pm.
- Christmas Fair. All Saint’s Church, Howth Road. Sat 29th 10am-4pm. Includes church tours.
- Advent Weekend Retreat – Fri-Sun, 5th-7th Dec.
- Advent Triduum Retreat, Mon-Fri 1st-5th Dec or 8th-12th Silent retreat with Jesuit community; Mass; Sacrament of Reconciliation preparing for Christmas.
- New Year Retreat: reflect on 2025. Guidance for 2026 – Mon 29th December- Thurs 1st January. Bookings 01-5529448 or email reception@manresa.ie.
- Carols by Candlelight, Tuesday, 9th December 7:30pm. St. Therese Parish Church, Mount Merrion For Operation Smile for children with cleft conditions
Even Close to Death the Spirit Can Awaken
Fyodor Dostoevsky understood human suffering better than most philosophers ever could, because he lived it.
In 1849, at just 27, he was arrested for belonging to a literary group that discussed banned political ideas. He was thrown into a freezing prison cell in St Petersburg and sentenced to death by firing squad.
On the morning of his execution, he stood before the soldiers, blindfolded, waiting for the final command.
At the last moment, a messenger arrived. His sentence had been commuted by the Tsar. It was a cruel act of mercy, a punishment designed to break his spirit.
He was sent instead to four years hard labour in a Siberian prison camp.
There, he lost everything — his freedom, his health, his status, his illusions. But he found something else. He found compassion.
He saw the divine spark even in the most broken souls. He saw that goodness and evil live side by side in every heart.
When he was finally released, he wrote not like a man who theorised about pain, but like a man who had looked directly into its eyes.
That experience shaped every word he wrote afterward. Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Demons, The Brothers Karamazov — all were born from that same raw truth: that redemption is possible only through suffering, and that even the darkest heart is capable of light.
Dostoevsky once wrote, “Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart.”
He wasn’t glorifying misery. He was saying that to feel deeply, to truly live, is to suffer honestly and still choose love.
He never became rich. He struggled with debt and illness. But his words outlived him. His books are not just novels. They are confessions of the human soul.
And perhaps that is why Dostoevsky still matters — because he reminds us that even in the darkest cell, even moments from death, the human spirit can still awaken, still forgive, still love.
He was condemned to die, but in that moment, he learned to live.
Thought For The Week
Think of all the beauty still around you and be happy. – Anne Frank
