Bank Holiday Arrangements
We welcome all who have come to join us for this bank holiday weekend. Please God we will enjoy a safe and restful holiday. Mass will be celebrated at St. Patrick’s Church at 11.00am on Bank Holiday Monday. Please note: there will be no 9.30am Mass at St. Patrick’s Church and no 10.30am Mass at St. Fiacre’s Church.
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament will begin at St. Fiacre’s Church at 12 noon.
Questions People Ask
Q. Where are the original manuscripts of the Gospels and letters of St Paul?
A. There are no surviving original manuscripts of any part of the Bible, just as there are no original fragments of any of the famous Greek or Roman writers of that period such as Virgil or Cicero. We depend on copies of all these writings and copies of copies. Copyists were far from perfect and there are thousands of variations among the documents. The oldest surviving fragments of New Testament texts date from about 150 AD. The oldest complete New Testament dates from the fourth century. Some of the oldest fragments, dating from 250 AD are lodged in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin.
Fr Silvester O’Flynn OFM Cap
Pray for Our Deceased Friends
Recently Deceased: Baby Rokas Sinkevicius, College Avenue. Mass of the Angels at St. Patrick’s Church at 11.00am on Tuesday.
Months Mind: May Egan (Fri 10.30).
Anniversaries: Eileen Grace (Sat 6.15), Larry & Margaret Langton (Sat 7.00), Denis Treacy (Sun 10.00), Peter Keenan (Sun 12.00), Peggy Marnell (Tues 9.30), Martin Doheny, Joseph Browne, Michael Browne, Mary Holland, Mary Tynan, Chrissie Drennan, Jim Devlin, Edward Kirwan, Breda O’Hara, David, Jim and Peggy Gaffney.
Intentions for next weekend: Sr. Patrick Norman (Sat 7.00), Phil O’Neill (Sun 10.00), Martin Mulhall (Sun 11.00).
May they rest in peace. Amen.
Community’s Heartbreak
All in our parish are heartbroken at the news of the tragic death of nineteen month old Rokas Sinkevicius. The Sinkevicius Family is part of our small Lithuanian Community and has opted to hold the funeral at St. Patrick’s Church at 11.00am on Tuesday. Please pray for Rokas’ parents, twin brother and sister at this painful time in their lives.
Mrs. Nichola Lynas
An ecumenical service in thanksgiving for the life of Mrs. Nichola Lynas will be held at St. Canice’s Cathedral at 3.00pm on this Sunday. The late Mrs. Lynas taught in the St. John of God Girls’ School for 17 years until she resigned to go live in Bermuda last year. May she rest in peace.
Foulkstown Cemetery Mass
Thanks and well done to all involved in the preparation and celebration of the annual Cemetery Mass at Foulkstown. Blessed with ideal weather conditions we enjoyed a wonderful celebration on Thursday evening. Thanks to all who attended and thanks too for the generous donations to the cemetery fund.
RTE Masses
St. Patrick’s Parish continues to broadcast on the national airwaves. Today Fr. Roderick and the Kilkenny Gospel Choir will celebrate televised Mass from the RTE Studios in Dublin while Fr. Dan and the St. Patrick’s Adult Folk Choir will broadcast radio Mass from Foulkstown at 10.00am. The Masses will be on RTE 1 Television at 11.15am and RTE Radio Longwave 252 at 10.00am. Good luck to all.
Medjugorge
A group of about thirty Kilkenny people in their late teens and early twenties travelled on pilgrimage to the International Youth Festival in Medjugorge on last Friday. Included were six members of St Patrick’s Parish. They have promised to pray for us while in Medjugorge. We wish them well and hope they returned renewed.
Rosary
The monthly rosary on the first Sunday in James Green at the statue of our Lady of Kilkenny continues this Sunday, 1st August at 3pm. All are welcome.
First Friday
Next Friday is the first Friday of the month and the priests of the parish will visit the sick and housebound at the usual times.
St. Rioch’s Cemetery Mass
Annual cemetery Mass in St. Rioch’s Cemetery, Walkin Street will take place at 7.30pm on Thursday, 5th August. All welcome.
Cleaners and Collectors
We currently need the talents of cleaners and collectors, particularly in St. Patrick’s Church. Please contact the Parish Office if you think you can help.
Trócaire
Trócaire representatives will visit houses within Kilkenny City during the first week of August looking for support from the public as part of their door-to-door fundraising campaign. This support consists of asking the public if they would consider signing up to a direct debit and making ongoing regular monthly contribution to this work. The decision to continue with door-to-door fundraising has not been taken lightly and has been greatly influenced by a reduction in income to Trócaire of €7 million institutional funding from Irish Aid and a recent downturn in Lenten returns. Since November 2008 this campaign has been very successful with 22,000 people nationwide committing to make a regular donation securing a new income of €2.7 million to Trócaire.
Bus to All-Ireland Semi Final
James Stephens GAA Club will be running a bus to the Kilkenny v Cork All-Ireland Senior Hurling Semi-Final in Croke Park on Sunday, 8th August. Anybody interested in booking a place must contact club bar manager Martin Murray at 086 161 0146.
A Wholesome Soccer Story
The coach of Spain’s world champion soccer team, Vicente del Bosque, is a man of few words and gestures. However, last week he experienced one of the most emotional moments of his life when he fulfilled the dream of his 21 year-old son Alvaro, who suffers from Down’s Syndrome, by allowing him to hold up the World Cup trophy to the applause of the team. “My son changed my life,” Del Bosque has said on more than one occasion. Alvaro is his second son, and Del Bosque learned that he had Down’s syndrome several weeks after his birth. “At first we cried a lot,” he told author Gemma Herrero for her book, “39 Stories of Solidarity Surrounding Sports,” but he added, “Now when I look back I think, we were so foolish.” Del Bosque has been married to his wife Trini for 30 years, and they have three children: Vicente, 23, Alvaro, 21 and Gemma, 17. Having a son with Down’s syndrome was a trial that prepared the soccer coach to face any difficult challenge, including the last minutes of the World Cup final.
Alvaro has inherited the love of soccer from his father. He is a huge fan and has even questioned his dad’s coaching decisions. He welcomed his victorious father home from South Africa with the rest of the team. A few months ago, he made his dad promise that he would let him be in the victory parade in Madrid if the team won. Del Bosque kept his promise.
Clonmacnois Youth Festival
Youth 2000 invites you to join them for their Summer Festival from 12—15 August 2010 in Clonmacnois, Co. Offaly. The dynamic programme for 16 - 35 year olds includes music, drama, prayer, talks, workshops, reconciliation and healing service, games and chill time.
It is a donation only weekend, all you need to bring is a sleeping bag. There will be free transport available, for pick-up points near you and for more information check out www.youth2000.ie or contact the National Office 01 675 3690.
Notices and Bookings
Those wishing to book anniversary/months mind Masses are advised to book well in advance as bookings are on a first come first served basis. Those wishing to book rooms in the Parish Centre should phone Mr Ted Byrne on 776 4400.
Ballykeeffe Amphitheatre
Legendary Tír na nÓg play Ballykeeffe Amphitheatre at the Bank Holiday Mini Fest. A fantastic evening of Irish folk rock music in its purest form mixed with the mystical setting of the Ballykeeffe Amphitheatre is a recipe for one of the best evenings out this summer. Tír na nÓg will play on Saturday 31st July at 8.00pm. Beethoven to Beatles on Sunday, 1st August from 3.00pm. Ballykeeffe Amphitheatre will host a wonderful afternoon of live music and light-hearted fun for all the family and all ages. Bring along a picnic or enjoy some of the refreshments available. To add to the wonders of the afternoon the Alpha Quartet will play their beautiful music. Tickets: Kilkenny Book Centre, High Street; O’Connor’s Shop, Kilmanagh; Ticketmaster.ie and at the venue. For more details visit www.ballykeeffe.com.
Loughboy Library
“Having Fun” is the title of the photographic exhibition from Drakelands Nursing Home which will be on display at Loughboy Library until 14th August. ECDL and other computer courses are free through the library service and FAS.
Meals on Wheels Volunteers
Voluntary drivers are urgently needed for Kilkenny Social Services “Meals on Wheels” service. If you are a car owner and could spare one hour per week - we would like to hear from you. Our meals need wheels for this much needed service for those in our care and the elderly who are house bound. Please contact Kitty or Kay on 772 1685.
Moving On Overcoming Depression
A group for relatives of those experiencing depression meets on the first Wednesday of every month at 8.00pm in St. Mary’s Centre, Haughney Green, Kilkenny. Next meetings: 4th August and 1st September. The meetings are confidential and offer an opportunity for relatives/friends to get information and support.
Vanity of Vanities
Brain scans are revealing. Take the ones done on teenagers listening to music. These show that insecurity and not personal preference dictates what songs they call ‘cool’. In one study they listened to tracks and rated how much they liked them. After a break, they listened to them again some having been shown a popularity rating based on how many times a track had been downloaded. While 12 per cent of those who didn’t know whether others liked a track or not changed their ratings, 22 per cent of those who knew that a tune was a hit changed theirs. Of those, three quarters moved in tune with the song’s popularity rating. Now for the interesting bit: the first time they heard a track their reward and pleasure zones lit up; but on listening again their anxiety and pain centres glowed. This suggested that fear made them change their views. Today’s first reading (Eccles 1:2, 2:21-23) is tailor-made for that sort of thing. ‘Vanity of vanities!’ it proclaims. ‘All is vanity.’ Human toil it sees as an annoyance, and notes that even at night our minds don’t rest. Worry persists. We don’t like truth packaged in pessimism. Yet, truth made one researcher remark that many people who think they’re individuals with free choice actually are slaves to what others think. Those words on vanity from the third century BC, could just as easily be from today so accurately do they hit the spot. If we have to be slaves to what another thinks, then let that other be the Other.
Fr Tom Cahill SVD
