The Feast of the Holy Family
The feast of the Most Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph is celebrated on this Sunday. The Holy Family is seen as the model for the human family, the religious community and the Church itself.
Every Family A Holy Family
The good news about Pope Francis is that he loves people, especially people who find life difficult. We all have seen him on television, reaching out to the little ones and to older people, who have an illness or a disability of some kind. In recent months, he has shown a special concern for married people and, noting that while marriage is a noble vocation, it is not always an easy one.
Every month of the year, the Holy Father gives us two intentions for which he asks our prayers. One of these intentions would refer to the church in some country, where Christians may be suffering persecution perhaps, and the other might be more general. This month of December 2014 we are asked to pray for married couples, as follows “That parents be true evangelisers, passing on to their children the precious gift of faith”.
Pope Francs is strong on the importance of prayer in the home. Morning prayer and evening prayer, including the Rosary, are all important. Remember Fr. Patrick Peyton’s call to prayer in the family: “The family that prays together stays together”. Sunday Eucharist is important. How inspiring it is to see father and mother and children coming to church on Sunday morning or on Saturday evening. We are often told that the family is the church in miniature, where prayers are offered and where prayer and forgiveness are part of everyday life.
Our Holy Father speaks of “protecting people, showing loving concerns for each and every person, especially the children, the elderly, those in need, who are often the last we think about”. He emphasises the importance of the family: “husbands and wives first protect one another, and then, as parents, they care for their children and children themselves, in time, protect their parents”. Pope Francis also explains the importance of caring for society by “building sincere friendships in which we protect one another in trust, respect and goodness”.
The Coming Week in Our Parish
For the coming week, Monday to Saturday, the daily public Mass in our parish will be at 11.00am in St. Patrick’s Church: we will NOT have a 9.30am or 10.30am Mass. Please also note that, on account of many being away, there will be NO exposition of the Blessed Sacrament on Monday in St. Fiacre’s Church or on Friday in St. Patrick’s Church. If there is not enough people to maintain a constant vigil we cannot risk leaving the Blessed Sacrament exposed.
Pray For Our Deceased Friends
Recently Deceased: Mary Cantwell, Sion Road. Requiem Mass in St. Mary’s Cathedral at 11.00am on Sunday. Mai Loftus, Archersrath Nursing Home and formerly Dalkey, Co. Dublin. Requiem Mass at Dunmore Church at 12.00 noon on Monday. Josephine Foley, Leggettsrath Farm. Michael Fahey, Fr. Albert Place. Shane Drennan, St. Teresa’s Terrace.
Anniversaries: Michael Kenny & John Condon (Sat 6.15). Jimmy King (Sat 7.00). Martin McCorry (Sun 9.30). Vera Phelan (Sun 10.00). Ed Crowley (Sun 10.30). Roseanna Smyth (Sun 12.00). Eddie Taylor (Sun 12.30). Josephine & Paddy McGrath. Bill Esmonde. Nora Bartholomew. Ned & Kitty Everard. Ted Carroll. Kevin & Evelyn Hughes. May Campbell. Jimmy Coyne. Jack, Peg & Breda Molloy. Martin & Peg Browne. Martin, Mary & Brendan Doheny. Fr. Martin Cleere. Mgr. Paul Fitzgerald. Sean & Michael Bolger. Kitty Coogan. Nancy Ronan, Tommy Drohan, Mary (Goosey) Drohan, Thomas Drohan. Paddy Doyle. Kathleen & Martin Cawley. Dianne, Kathleen &Winnie Keenan
Intentions for Next Weekend: Maura Molloy (Sat 6.15). Sr. Joanne Holohan (Months Mind 7.00). Fred Lee (Sun 9.30). Josephine & Paddy McGrath (Sun 10.00). Henry Spain (Months Mind 10.30). Sean Devane (Sun 11.00). Michael Kennedy (Sun 12.00). Henrietta Hyland (Sun 12.30).
Parish Calendar
The St. Patrick’s Parish calendar for 2015 is available in our churches. It contains many important details about our parish as well as upcoming important dates. Feel free to take a copy or two!
First Friday Visits
Next Friday, 2nd January, is the First Friday of the month and we ask people to take careful note: Frs. Dan and Liam will be making their calls on the following Friday, 9th January. Fr. Roderick will attend as arranged with those he visits regularly.
Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
We invite those families who had a child baptised in our parish churches during 2014 to bring their child to 10.30am Mass on Sunday, 11th January 2015. As a community we will praise God for the gift of our children and give him thanks for the gift of baptismal faith.
A Busy Year in Our Parish
On the one hand, when we look back at 2014, we feel like saying, ‘Where did the year go?’ It seems to have flown by and now we are about to step into 2015, probably before any of us are ready for it! And in other ways, 2014 was a busy year that saw a lot of things happen in our parish and a lot of work done. First off, we were delighted to welcome 142 children into our faith and parish community through the Sacrament of Baptism. Fifty couples celebrated the Sacrament of Marriage during 2014. And we were sad to lose 61 parishioners, family and friends who died during 2014.
During the year a lot of maintenance was carried out. In Foulkstown Cemetery the next section for burials was developed. The church interior was painted and the wall between the Kilkenny Rugby Club and the Cemetery was rebuilt (The cost of this rebuild was borne entirely by the parish). The main driveway into the cemetery was resurfaced and the trees were pruned. Added to this was the remapping of the cemetery and an index of all graves was compiled to make it easier to locate graves in the cemetery. The addition of a new votive candle shrine was also a welcome addition to the church.
Other work such as upgrading of footpaths and maintenance of the cemetery was carried out by the ever-faithful Foulkstown Cemetery Committee and we’re grateful to these hardworking men!
In St. Fiacre’s Church, the interior was re-painted and a new carpet fitted. Security was upgraded as was the votive candle shrine.
In St. Patrick’s Church, two windows were repaired with their lead and rotting frames replaced. Also a engineer’s survey was carried out on the condition of the building.
All in all, a busy year, but a lot done and we’re grateful to all whose generosity made this possible.
There is More to Do
As mentioned above a survey was carried out on St. Patrick’s Church in 2014 to identify sources of leaks and damp spots arising on walls in the church. It was discovered that the roof slates are in pretty bad shape with some loose or missing altogether. Further problems were identified in two internal roof trusses which have developed cracks and are in need of immediate repair. The lead flashing is also in need of repair and was identified as being the source of at least one major leak! After careful study of this survey, it was decided the best course of action is to re-slate St. Patrick’s Church and, please God, when we get to stripping off the old slates, we will find minimal damage underneath. When we are re-slating the roof, we hope to be able to avail of some insulation grants to help defray some of the costs. While we don’t have a full costing to hand just yet we’re confident that, given current contribution levels from parishioners, we shouldn’t have to borrow too heavily for this work. Once complete, St. Patrick’s will be good for another 120 years of worship: assuming we have priests that is!
Vocations!
We encourage all our faithful to pray for and promote the life of a priest or religious as a worthy and valid way of life for any young person to consider. There are people out there who feel this calling, perhaps it’s your son our daughter? Those who wish to discuss a vocation to priesthood or religious life, can contact any of the priests of the parish or our Diocesan Director of Vocations, Fr. Willie Purcell. Details on our Ossory website.
There’s no denying that the clergy in Ossory are getting older by the year with very few spring chickens left! If I’m not mistaken, there are just 5 Ossory priests under the age of 50 with the rest varying in age right into their 80s. What this leaves us with is a crisis ready to happen as many retire and parishes lose their resident priest. This slide can only be averted by people here on the ground. There is little use looking to overseas for priests or religious, and doctrine isn’t going to change anytime soon, therefore vocations must happen from among your family and friends.
Tax Rebate Scheme
As we come to the end of the year we are looking again at the tax rebate scheme from which St. Patrick’s Parish has benefited enormously, thanks to the co-operation and generosity of so many of our parishioners and families.
Throughout the scheme, our parish has benefited greatly, at no extra cost to you, from the tax you have already paid. Tax paid by you can remain with the Revenue Commissioners or it can be reclaimed by way of refund to any eligible charity including St. Patrick’s Parish. This scheme has made a huge difference to our parish finances and repayments.
If you are not part of it you might contact the Parish Office in the days ahead: 056 776 4400. Thank you.
