Beyond the Senses
There are only two possibilities: human life has meaning or it hasn’t. It has direction powered by purpose, or else it’s like a fungus, free-floating on a speck of cosmic dust going nowhere fast. But if there is nothing beyond what we see, touch, taste, hear and smell from where comes the heart’s deep yearning for things beyond the senses? Francis Thompson expresses that yearning in his poem, In No Strange Land:
O world invisible, we view thee
O world intangible, we touch thee
O world unknowable, we know thee
Inapprehensible, we clutch thee!
That clutching is for that which gives life its mystery, for that which shatters the daily deceit of seemingly ordinary things to grace us with a glimpse of their grandeur. It’s palpable in music that captives the soul, in poetry that punctuates the mundane with rhythm from another zone. It’s in art that sates the eye with beauty transcending time. It’s in people when they love, and even when they don’t.
When we’re in touch with mystery today’s First Reading will not seem as bizarre as it might otherwise appear. Its style won’t take from its substance. Resurrection of the dead is clearly central to God’s plan for his creation. We need to focus on resurrection else death will have the final say. And the spot for that focus is life’s ordinary things. Again Francis Thompson:
Not where the wheeling systems darken
And our benumbed conceiving soars!
The drift of pinions, would we hearken
Beats at our own clay-shuttered doors.
Fr. Tom Cahill SVD
Bible Study Course
In preparation for Christmas a bible study course on St. John’s Gospel, given by Sr. De Lourdes (formally of Creidim), will take place on Tuesday, 24th November and Tuesdays 1st, 15th & 22nd December in the Parish Centre from 10am - 12.30pm approx. Cup of tea included. Cost €25. Booking necessary - contact Kathleen @ 087 246 8443. Come and participate in a very worthwhile course in preparation for Christmas.
There are only two possibilities: human life has meaning or it hasn’t. It has direction powered by purpose, or else it’s like a fungus, free-floating on a speck of cosmic dust going nowhere fast. But if there is nothing beyond what we see, touch, taste, hear and smell from where comes the heart’s deep yearning for things beyond the senses? Francis Thompson expresses that yearning in his poem, In No Strange Land:
O world invisible, we view thee
O world intangible, we touch thee
O world unknowable, we know thee
Inapprehensible, we clutch thee!
That clutching is for that which gives life its mystery, for that which shatters the daily deceit of seemingly ordinary things to grace us with a glimpse of their grandeur. It’s palpable in music that captives the soul, in poetry that punctuates the mundane with rhythm from another zone. It’s in art that sates the eye with beauty transcending time. It’s in people when they love, and even when they don’t.
When we’re in touch with mystery today’s First Reading will not seem as bizarre as it might otherwise appear. Its style won’t take from its substance. Resurrection of the dead is clearly central to God’s plan for his creation. We need to focus on resurrection else death will have the final say. And the spot for that focus is life’s ordinary things. Again Francis Thompson:
Not where the wheeling systems darken
And our benumbed conceiving soars!
The drift of pinions, would we hearken
Beats at our own clay-shuttered doors.
Fr. Tom Cahill SVD
Bible Study Course
In preparation for Christmas a bible study course on St. John’s Gospel, given by Sr. De Lourdes (formally of Creidim), will take place on Tuesday, 24th November and Tuesdays 1st, 15th & 22nd December in the Parish Centre from 10am - 12.30pm approx. Cup of tea included. Cost €25. Booking necessary - contact Kathleen @ 087 246 8443. Come and participate in a very worthwhile course in preparation for Christmas.
Questions People Ask
Q. Jesus spoke of a time when the sun would be darkened and the moon would lost its light. Does this refer to three days darkness when the only source of light will be blessed candles?
The words of Jesus are in the context of the end of this material universe before the final triumph of God’s reign. It is not meant as a message of terror but of hope in anticipation of God’s glory. This message of three days darkness is something that is predicted regularly be self-appointed prophets. Invariably the predicted date comes and goes without the darkness. Pay no attention to this nonsense but celebrate Christian hope every time you pray ‘Thy Kingdom come’.
Fr. Silvester O’Flynn OFM Cap
Pray for the Deceased
Recently Deceased: Joan O’Brien, Kilree: Requiem Mass at St. Bennett’s Church, Bennettsbridge at 12.00 noon on this Sunday. Mary O’Gorman, Sevenhouses, Diana McCague.
Anniversaries: Mary & Ann O’Shea (Sat 6.15), John Glynn (Sat 7.00), Gerald & Patricia Moore (Sun 9.30), John Brennan (Sun 10.00), May Muldowney (Sun 10.30), Rena Brett (Sun 11.00), John Byrne (Sun 12.00), Henrietta Hyland (Sun 12.30), Barbara Rhatigan (Mon 9.30), May O’Connell (Tues 9.30), Patrick Morris (Wed 9.30), Retired Nurses & Deceased Nurses (Wed 10.30), Dymphna Condon (Fri 10.30), May O’Connell, Dick & Annie Burke, , Michael Kennedy, James Leahy, Dick Phelan, Peter Blanchfield.
Intentions for next weekend: Maura Leahy (Sat 6.15), James Fox (Sat 7.00), Paddy Cullen (Sun 9.30 Month’s Mind), Bill Keogh (Sun 10.00), John Hand (Sun 10.30), Nicola Conway (Sun 11.00 Month’s Mind), Joan Taggart (Sun 12.00), Margaret (Madge) O’Brien (Sun 12.30).
College Green
A house has become vacant at College Green. Parishioners are invited to apply. Application forms available at the Parish Office, St. Patrick’s Parish Centre. Applicants must be over 55 years.
40 Hours of Adoration
In honour of the Feast of Christ the King and to pray for Priests in the Year for Priesthood there will be 40 Hours of Adoration in St. Mary’s Cathedral from Friday, 20th Nov to Sunday, 22nd November. Adoration will commence with Mass at 7.30pm in St. Mary’s Cathedral on Friday and end with Mass at 11.00am on Sunday. All are invited to come and pray at any time during these 40 hours, during the day on Saturday or during Friday or Saturday nights. If you are willing to commit to one hour’s Adoration please leave your name in the Sacristy after Mass. Thank you.
Peace in Christ
The Retreat House Team would like to thank most sincerely all those who contributed so generously to the recent church gate collection in aid of Peace in Christ Retreat House. In particular we would like to thank those who organised the collection and carried it out on our behalf. The amount collected in St. Patrick’s Parish was €964.58. Thank you.
Parents’ Council AGM
St. John of God School Parents’ Council AGM will take place on Thursday, 19th November at 8pm in the School Hall. Guest speaker: Anne Neary of Ryeland House who will present ‘Lunchbox Ideas’. Admission free. All welcome.
St. Vincent De Paul
The monthly collection for the St. Patrick’s Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul will be taken up at Masses this weekend
CD Launch
St. Fiacre’s Folk Choir presents a night of joy and inspiration to launch their new CD on Thursday, 3rd December at 8pm in St. Fiacre’s Church. All are welcome.
I.N.T.O
Mass for deceased I.N.T.O. members will take place on Tuesday, 17th November at 7.30pm in the Capuchin Friary. Refreshments afterwards in the Ormonde Hotel. All welcome to attend.
Our November Remembering
Our annual Remembrance Service will be held at St. Fiacre’s Church on Thursday, 26th November at 7.30pm. The service will be followed by refreshments at the Parish Centre. All are welcome.
Don’t forget, you can place the names of deceased loved ones before the altar at any time during November. Masses for all our deceased are offered during this month.
Retired Nurses’ Association
On Wednesday morning, 18th November Mass for retired nurses and relatives of deceased nurses will be celebrated in St. Fiacre’s Church at 10.30am. Afterwards, in the adjoining Parish Centre, a coffee/tea morning will be held and the proceeds of this will go to the Carlow/Kilkenny Home Care Team.
Hope and Healing
St. Canice’s Parish is hosting a series of weekly talks under the title “Hope and Healing - a November Journey”. On Thursday, 19th November Marc Coleman will speak during the Mass which begins at 7.30pm. Mr. Coleman is a native of Dublin and is currently the economics editor of Newstalk 106 - 108FM. A man with strong Catholic convictions he believes that we cannot recover from the present economic crisis without a strong spiritual dimension and a return to religious values. This will be the main theme of his talk.
Celebration Concert
The Mayor’s Kilkenny 400 Celebration Concert in St Canice’s Cathedral Friday, 20th November at 8pm. Appearing will be: St Patrick's Brass & Reed Band (Conductor Norman Cree) Loreto Secondary School Choir (Conductor Jacinta Cantwell, Caladh (Trad), Paddy Hanrahan. MC for the night Gerry Moran. Tickets €10.00 available from Rollercoaster Records, Kieran Street, Eamon Cleere: 087 9582127. Concessions available for groups of 5 or more. Concession price €8. All Proceeds to Enable Ireland, O’Neill Centre, Kilkenny.
Our annual Remembrance Service will be held at St. Fiacre’s Church on Thursday, 26th November at 7.30pm. The service will be followed by refreshments at the Parish Centre. All are welcome.
Don’t forget, you can place the names of deceased loved ones before the altar at any time during November. Masses for all our deceased are offered during this month.
Retired Nurses’ Association
On Wednesday morning, 18th November Mass for retired nurses and relatives of deceased nurses will be celebrated in St. Fiacre’s Church at 10.30am. Afterwards, in the adjoining Parish Centre, a coffee/tea morning will be held and the proceeds of this will go to the Carlow/Kilkenny Home Care Team.
Hope and Healing
St. Canice’s Parish is hosting a series of weekly talks under the title “Hope and Healing - a November Journey”. On Thursday, 19th November Marc Coleman will speak during the Mass which begins at 7.30pm. Mr. Coleman is a native of Dublin and is currently the economics editor of Newstalk 106 - 108FM. A man with strong Catholic convictions he believes that we cannot recover from the present economic crisis without a strong spiritual dimension and a return to religious values. This will be the main theme of his talk.
Celebration Concert
The Mayor’s Kilkenny 400 Celebration Concert in St Canice’s Cathedral Friday, 20th November at 8pm. Appearing will be: St Patrick's Brass & Reed Band (Conductor Norman Cree) Loreto Secondary School Choir (Conductor Jacinta Cantwell, Caladh (Trad), Paddy Hanrahan. MC for the night Gerry Moran. Tickets €10.00 available from Rollercoaster Records, Kieran Street, Eamon Cleere: 087 9582127. Concessions available for groups of 5 or more. Concession price €8. All Proceeds to Enable Ireland, O’Neill Centre, Kilkenny.
The Cry of the Earth
Archbishop Dermot Clifford, Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, this week launched The Cry of the Earth, a pastoral reflection on climate change from the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference. Launching The Cry of the Earth Archbishop Clifford said “We are all stewards of God’s creation. As political leaders from around the globe meet in Copenhagen next month for the UN Framework Conference on Climate Change to decide on a new global climate change deal, the Bishops of Ireland wish to raise awareness of our vital responsibility toward sustaining the environment. We need to protect the environment today and on behalf of future generations. Our response needs to be at an individual, community and governmental level.”
Some hard copies of the pastoral are available at the church doors. Electronic copies are available at www.catholicbishops.ie
Presentation School Choir
The Presentation School Choir has reached the final of the All-Island Schools’ Choir Competition and will compete against some of the most prestigious fee paying schools in Ireland. The live final will be broadcast on RTE One, at 6.30pm on this Sunday, 15th November from the Ulster Hall in Belfast. There are schools from Belfast, Derry, Dublin and Kilkenny in the final. We wish Ms. Veronica McCarron, the choir mistress, and the girls the best of luck.
Church Gate Collection
The annual Church Gate Collection for the ‘Young at Heart’ Club takes place next weekend 14th and 15th November. Please support.
Traditional Latin Mass
The traditional Latin Mass (permitted by Pope Benedict XVI in his Motu Proprio of July 2007) is celebrated at St. Patrick’s Church at 5pm on Sundays.
Kilkenny Archaeological Society
The KAS, in conjunction with the Irish Lebanese Society as part of Irish-Lebanese week, presents ‘Bishop Pococke’s Tour of the Lebanon 1738’ Speaker: Guy Jones at Rothe House, Wednesday, 18th November at 8pm.
Morriston Orpheus Choir
The Welsh Morriston Orpheus Choir will perform in St. Mary's Cathedral on Sunday, 22nd November at 8.00pm. in aid of Building of Hope Project - Fr Martin Keane. Tickets €20 available at Kilkenny Bookshop. Further information from Margaret at 087 908 7659.
Fetac
Level 5 Care Skills Course. Commences November 26th. Limited places remaining. This course opens up a Career in Care. Full details from Vision Training. 086 170 4157.
Attention Altar Servers
Please pick up the new rota in the sacristies of the parish churches.
