Come on the Cats
We join in wishing the Kilkenny hurling teams all the best in this weekend’s All Ireland Hurling Finals. In particular we offer our best wishes to parishioners Brian Cody, Jackie Tyrell and Eoin Larkin with the senior panel and Richie Mulrooney with the minors. We hope they will play their part in bringing the silver ware to Kilkenny on Monday evening.
Whole-Hearted
You hear them in the street, on buses and on trains: mobile phone conversations. They can be annoying; for two reasons at least. First, some users of phones seem to think it necessary to shout into them presumably because of the distance between themselves and those at the other end. Second, you get only a ‘halfalogue’ – one side of the conversation. Scientists at Cornell University, New York, claim that hearing only one half of a conversation is more draining on one’s attention than hearing all of it. They experimented with students who were given concentration exercises while hearing one or two speakers on mobile phones. Their conclusion: people are less able to divert their attention from a half-heard conversation than from a fully hear one. Half of anything rarely satisfies. It can even be irksome. It’s the whole hog or nothing. The same can be said for half-hearted effort. Take today’s Gospel reading for example (Luke 14:25-33). It ends on a note that could be sombre, or joyful, depending on the generosity of one’s response to it: ‘None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.’ What a prospect! You can’t follow Jesus half-heartedly. It’s total commitment, or no commitment. To put flesh on that, it means there can be no Jesus-free zones in my life; that nothing in life is more important than the values he holds out to me. Therefore, I don’t sacrifice these, ever, for anything else. I wonder how many of us get that part of the conversation.
Fr. Tom Cahill SVD
Questions People Ask
Q. Saint Paul told slaves to obey their masters. Why didn’t he speak out against the evils of slavery?
A. In Paul’s day slaves were often better off than free citizens. Because slave-owners wanted healthy servants, their slaves were more assured of food and lodgings than many of the free. Some students of Paul’s life maintain that his parents were slaves who were granted freedom and Roman citizenship when they grew too old to work, a cheap way out for their masters. In today’s Second Reading Paul appeals to the Christian master, Philemon, to take back the runaway slave, Onesimus, no longer as a slave but as a brother in Christ.
Fr. Silvester O’Flynn OFM Cap
Pray for our Deceased Friends
Recently Deceased: Peter Paul Dowling, Johnswell. Liam Brennan, Ballyfoyle. Ellen (Dolly) Reid, Fr. Hayden Road.
Anniversaries: Ann Marie Manogue (sat 6.15), Jim Ryan (Sat 7.00), Jim (Moscow) Larkin (Tue 9.30), Terrence O’Shaughnessy (Tue 10.30), Joe Dunne, Billy Burke, Beezie (Brigid) Slattery, Rex & Constance Nolan.
Intentions Next Week: Mary & Paul Cody & Bill Marnell Sat 6.15), Sean O’Keeffe (Sat 7.00), Ernie Harrington (Sun 10.00), Matt Dwyer (Sun 11.00), Catherine Grace (Sun 12.00). May they rest in peace.
First Saturday Devotion
Adoration and prayer will begin after the 6.15pm Mass in St. Fiacre’s Church on this Saturday, 4th September and end at 9.00pm. All are welcome.
St. Joseph’s Young Priests Society
The Annual General Meeting of the St. Patrick’s Parish branch of the St. Joseph’s Young Priests Society will take place on Friday, 10th September in the St. Patrick’s Parish Centre immediately after the 10.30am Mass in St. Fiacre’s Church. Our Diocesan President Marian Fennelly will address the meeting. It is hoped all members will attend.
Monthly Rosary
The monthly rosary on the first Sunday of the month in James Green at the statue of our Lady of Kilkenny continues on this Sunday at 3.00pm. All welcome.
Edmund Rice Centre Callan
September Monday Evening Mass: The Mass for the blessings of Edmund Rice on our lives and for his canonisation will be celebrated in Westcourt on Monday, 6th September 2010 at 7.30pm. All are very welcome.
Relic of the Holy Face
Veneration of the Relic of the Holy Face will take place at St. Fiacre’s Church on Wednesday, 8th September at 7.30pm. There will be a talk afterwards in Parish Centre by Human Life International (Ireland) on why they are promoting this devotion. Tea/coffee available.
Adult Literacy Awareness
The National Adult Literacy Awareness Week takes place from 6th to 10th September 2010. The theme for the week is ‘Skills for Life’.
Word Aid, the Co. Kilkenny Adult Learning Scheme, has a unique role to play in the context of assisting people improve their reading, writing, spelling, numeracy and computing skills while at the same time building their confidence and self esteem, in the hope of enabling them to access further education and training courses.
Word Aid offers help to adults (over 16 who have completed full time education) experiencing difficulties with reading, writing, spellings, maths or computer skills. Help is also offered to adults preparing for the Driver Theory Test.
The service is available in Kilkenny City and at outreaches around the county. Classes can be arranged to suit the individual, daytime or evenings, where the person can learn what they want at their own pace in a relaxed atmosphere, either alone with a tutor (1 - 1) or in a small group. The service is free and confidential. For further information telephone 056 776 3149 or call to our new address: 43, Upper Patrick Street, Kilkenny.
S.O.S. Meeting
S.O.S. is a service for adults with a mild to moderate intellectual disability. S.O.S. is setting up a new scheme called home share where an adult with an intellectual disability could have a short break with a family.
If you are interested in offering a person with an intellectual disability a short break in your home and would like to know more there will be an information evening in S.O.S. on Thursday, 9th September from 7.30pm to 9.30pm.
You can ring Kathleen Sherry on 776 4000 or email ksherry@soskilkenny.com for more information.
Camphill Open Day
The Camphill Community, Ballytobin, Callan will hold an Open Day on Sunday, 19th September. Festivities start at 2.00pm. The Camphill community cares for children and adults with special needs.
Loughboy Library
Free Computer Classes: Are you bored? Do you have two hours to spare? Would you like to improve your PC skills? Loughboy Library, in partnership with FAS, are providing free online computer classes on Monday and Thursday afternoons. All are eligible. For bookings contact the Library at 779 4176.
Exhibition: the ladies of KK Art Group are exhibiting their works at the Library until 10thSeptember and then it’s the turn of Joe O’Toole, an art student at Ormonde College. Bookings are now being taken for this free facility for 2011.
Details of local adult education opportunities including VEC, BTEI, Pitman College, Enterprise Board and LARC courses are available at Loughboy Library. And we stock the Irish Independent every day.
Toddler Hour: This will commence on Thursday mornings at 11.30 from 30th September. This is a free facility and will include interactive story time and colouring. Parents/Carers: FAS is offering a basic first-aid online course. This could be your opportunity to sign up.
Opportunity for Graduates
A Department of Education approved TEFL Course is to be held in Carlow. This will entail at 120+ hours. Part time from September to November. For further information and bookings please contact ruth@englishlanguage.ie or telephone either of the following numbers 059 914 0227 or 087 618 7081.
Service of Healing
There will be a service of healing with Eddie Stones at the Capuchin Friary, Kilkenny on Friday, 10th September at 7.00pm. General prayers for healing, individual prayers, blessing. Mass will be celebrated at 9.00pm. All are welcome to come along and pray for healing.
