Parish Newsletter January 17, 2020

Anniversary Masses for the coming week:

Masses Online

Masses in our Church all on Webcam only – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 10am; Thursday 7.30pm (and Divine Mercy Hour). Sunday 12noon. See www.kilbarrackfoxfieldparish.ie. Details of other Churches also on our website. Every second Sunday RTE1 has Mass at 11am and on the alternate weeks, Mass is celebrated on RTE Now at 2.15pm. Weekday Masses from RTE News Now at 10.30am. Those without internet can hear 10am Mass Monday-Friday on Radio Maria by phoning 01-437-3277 from a landline, then press the speaker symbol on your phone. We encourage all to pray as set out below.

Recently Deceased

We remember in our prayers:
Seamus Lydon, RIP, late of St. Margaret’s Avenue
Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and neighbours. May he rest in peace. Amen.

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.

Webcam in the Church

We ask that people in the Church be aware that the webcam is on at all times and also the sound during and for a while after all Masses.

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament takes place from 11am-3pm, Tuesday to Friday each week.

Fáilte Bayside

See http://failtebayside.ie for information on the exciting Failte Bayside project of housing a Syrian refugee family. Call Eileen 085-114-8200 or Sally 087-274-5422 for further details. If you wish to donate see https://gf.me/u/y96t8n
Tap to Donate
‘Tap to donate’ machines are in our Church as part of a pilot project in the Diocese. One tap covers both the first and second collection. At the moment we cannot attend Mass in person. If you wish to donate, you may like to ‘tap’ any time you come to the church.

Weekly Reflection on the Scriptures

Idea for the New Year: Contact Sr Phyllis at 086-890-9488 with your email address and join us on Zoom any Monday night 7.30-8.30pm to reflect on the liturgy for the following Sunday. It is so rewarding and enhances participation at Mass on the day.

Reflection on Today’s Gospel

John the Evangelist describes the call of the first disciples, where Jesus asks the searching question addressed to every reader of the Gospel: ‘What do you want?’ Here begins the journey of getting to know Jesus, as the disciples (and we ourselves) follow on the path of an understanding of who Jesus Christ is.
This week, we, too, may ask for the grace of an open ear and an open-hearted response to Jesus’ invitation to ‘Come and see’. We also remember those who, as yet have ‘no knowledge of the Lord’, and ask that they may come to know the safety and peace such knowledge can bring in an uncertain world.

Pope Francis on New Year’s Day

This year, while we hope for new beginnings and new cures, let us not neglect care. Together with a vaccine for our bodies, we need a vaccine for our hearts. That vaccine is care. Let us ask for the grace to find time for God and for our neighbour – for those who are alone or suffering, for those who need someone to listen and show concern for them. If we can find time to give, we will be amazed and filled with joy, like the shepherds. We too are called to bless, to “speak well” in God’s name. Our world is gravely polluted by the way we “speak” and think “badly” of others, of society, of ourselves. Speaking badly corrupts and decays, whereas blessing restores life and gives the strength needed to begin anew each day. Let us ask the Mother of God for the grace to be joyful bearers of God’s blessing to others, as she is to us.

Priory Institute Online Open Day 23rd January

Invitation to visit the Priory online Saturday next. 23rd January 11.30am-1.30pm to meet teaching staff and students and a lecture on theology. Call 01 4048124 or email enquiries@prioryinstitute.com

Manresa

Check out www.manresa.ie for a number of interesting events online including ‘Being at Home with Mary’ on Thursday 31st January; Dóchas – finding hope, etc. Call 01 8331352 or see website.

New Pilgrim Path Website of the Week

For nearly three thousand years, men and women from diverse lands and cultures have been lifting their hearts to God by praying and singing the psalms. “The Psalms: 150 Ways of Praying” is a short introductory online course from the ‘Pathways to God’ website. It explores why these beautiful songs have such universal appeal and shows how the psalms can set us on a pathway to deeper prayer. For these spiritual resources especially useful in times of pandemic, www.newpilgrimpath.ie.

Love Has No Limits (for all distant loved ones)

Love cannot be defined
Distance is just a state of mind
Love travels faster than the speed of light
It doesn’t need an international flight

Love needs no visa or passport
Not contained by any wall, fence or forth
Best wishes and blessings in our head
Transported by an Angel to your homestead

Where love abides there is no far away
Our love for you can reach you straightaway
The wings of love cross the sky blue or grey
Don’t need a five lane super highway

We would love to be with you
To party or to barbecue
In person we can’t be there
Face to face and greetings share

Love cannot be constrained
Our love for you in our hearts ingrained
With every heartbeat our love to you departs
We will always hold you in our hearts. Pat O’Keeffe

Ordering a Pizza in 2022

CALLER: Is this Pizza Hut?
GOOGLE: No sir, it’s Google Pizza.
CALLER: I must have dialled a wrong number, sorry.
GOOGLE: No sir, Google bought Pizza Hut last month.
CALLER: OK. I would like to order a pizza.
GOOGLE: Do you want your usual, sir?
CALLER: My usual? You know me?
GOOGLE: According to our caller ID data sheet, the last 12 times you called you ordered an extra-large pizza with three cheeses, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms and meatballs on a thick crust.
CALLER: Super! That’s what I’ll have.
GOOGLE: May I suggest that this time you order a pizza with ricotta, arugula, sun-dried tomatoes and olives on a whole wheat gluten-free thin crust?
CALLER: What? I don’t want a vegetarian pizza!
GOOGLE: Your cholesterol is not good, sir.
CALLER: How the hell do you know that?
OOGLE: Well, we cross-referenced your home phone number with your medical records. We have the result of your blood tests for the last seven years.
CALLER: Okay, but I do not want your rotten vegetarian pizza! I already take medication for my cholesterol.
GOOGLE: Excuse me sir, but you have not taken your medication regularly. According to our database, you purchased only a box of 30 cholesterol tablets once at Lloyds Pharmacy, four months ago.
CALLER: I bought more from another pharmacy.
GOOGLE: That doesn’t show on your credit card statement.
CALLER: I paid in cash.
GOOGLE: But you did not withdraw enough cash according to your bank statement.
CALLER: I have other sources of cash.
GOOGLE: That doesn’t show on your latest tax returns, unless you bought them using an undeclared income source, which is against the law!
CALLER: WHAT THE HELL!
GOOGLE: I’m sorry sir, we use such information only with the sole intention of helping you.
CALLER: Enough already! I’m sick to death of Google, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and the others. I’m going to an island without the internet, TV, where there is no phone service and no one to watch me or spy on me.
GOOGLE: I understand sir, but you need to renew your passport first. It expired 6 weeks ago. . .
Welcome to the future. This is the world we live in today!

Breathe Freely

After a 93-year-old man in Italy got better in the hospital, he was told to pay for the ventilator for one day and the old man cried. The doctor advised him not to cry over the bill, but what the old man said made all the doctors cry.
Grandpa said, “I don’t cry because of the money I have to pay. I can pay all the money.”. I cry because I have been breathing God’s air for 93 years, but I never pay for it. It takes €500 to use a ventilator in a hospital for one day. Do you know how much I owe God? I didn’t thank God for that before. ”
The truth of the news can’t be verified but grandpa’s words are worth our reflection. When we breathe the air freely without pain or illness, no one takes the air seriously. Only when we enter the hospital can we know that even breathing oxygen costs money!
Cherish the time when we can breathe freely !

I’m Slowing Learning

I’m slowly learning that I don’t have to hurt those who hurt me. I’m slowly learning that maybe the ultimate sign of maturity is walking away instead of getting even. I’m slowly learning that the energy it takes to react to every bad thing that happens to you drains you and stops you from seeing the other good things in life. I’m slowly learning that I’m not going to be everyone’s cup of tea and I won’t be able to get everyone to treat me the way I want to be treated and that’s okay. I’m slowly learning that trying so hard to ‘win’ anyone is just a waste of time and energy and it fills you with nothing but emptiness. Rania Naim

Thought for the Week

The best revenge is no revenge. Move on. Be happy.