Week of 22nd July 2018

The Word Of God Introduction to our Scripture Readings

First reading Jeremiah 23:1-6

This passage was written when the political leadership failed ab-jectly, leading to a catastrophic collapse of institutions. As we

hear the message of condemna-tion, perhaps we need to be open

as well to the message of hope.

Second reading Ephesians 2:13-18

The separation mentioned in this reading was originally the division between Jews and non-Jews. Lis-

ten carefully and you will hear the seeds of a new vision of humani-ty, “whose common father is the

same.”

Gospel Mark 6:30-34

Anyone in a caring role will un-derstand this story. Do carers

need to care for themselves? Yes, of course. At the same time, the cry of those in need is insistent

and penetrating.

BE HOLY, BE ALIVE FOR OUR TIMES

God’s greatest glory is human beings fully alive. Fully alive in all aspects of life sums up holiness. Then our lives are taken into the energy of Christ Risen. We become Him in our world with all his appeal and charm. That holiness, as Cardinal Newman says, is ‘the consistent life,’ where prayer, mass, work, family, community, the world is our concern and our life. Nothing is outside it.

In last week’s Bulletin I wrote about Pope Francis letter on ‘the vo-cation to holiness of every believer’, in every situation of life. I also mentioned I would say a little this week about some qualities of that holiness for our times. Holiness does not have a good press in our time, yet it is the supreme beauty and achievement of life. As we look back over the centuries, we hardly remember anyone from them except the saints, St. Patrick, St. Francis, St. Therese od Lisieux, Dom Marmion, Matt Talbot.

Pope Francis sees healthy faces of holiness today as opposite to the limitations and dangers of our culture. “There we see a sense of anxiety, sullenness, self-centredness, individualism, and those forms of ersatz spirituality – with nothing to do with God- but dominating the religious marketplace”. (111)

In contrast to this spiritual desert, he asks to ground our lives in “perseverance, patience and meek-ness”, to watch the verbal violence of our age and be people of respectful dialogue with others and help them come to him with their burdens. Our world must be bigger than ourselves, truly spacious and open to all the Spirit inspires. It will embrace the cross because life brings it but embrace it with Christ who gives it meaning. Even the Cross will not take away the joy that our faith brings. “I want you to be happy, always happy because the Lord is near”. (Gal.4.4) Pope Francis especially invites us to “have boldness and passion” in our faith. Too many believers have gone silent. We need to speak boldly like The Apos-tles after Pentecost because we have such good news, not only for the church but for the world. The world will have no healthy future without Christ. He is the biggest gift we can bring our world ad culture. The world is his and He wants us mind it and meet Christ there, in the environment, in all peoples, in the old, the family, the community, the poor, the children, in the neglected, in the work of justice and peace - in all relation-ships.

Holiness is this noble vocation. “God is eternal newness”. (135) He is the newness our age needs so deeply but he needs you now to be his feet, his voice, his hope, his joy, his Heart on earth. Let it be. (See the Pope’s letter, Gaudete et Exultate, “The holiness of all people”) Fr. Michael Screene MSC

Saturday July 21st

6.00pm Special Intention

Gabrielle Jones (A) Special Intention

Sunday July 22nd

9.00 am Kathleen Farrelly (A) James Farrelly (A) Muintir Shuilleabháin (A)

10.30 am Maureen & Jim Whelan (A) Get Well Intention

Bridin O’Neill & John O’Brien (RD) Sean Kehoe (A) 12.00 noon Eamonn & Marie Donnelly (A) Colm Keegan (2nd A) Fr. John Gilsenan (2nd A) Siuin Morrissy (MM died in USA) Maeve Kearney (A)

Recently Deceased : Oliver Mahon, Terri O’Connor, Denis O’Leary, Marianne Walsh

Mass Intentions can be requested by contacting or by visiting the Parish Office and at the weekends, the Sacristy.

STUDY THEOLOGY BY DISTANCE LEARNING

Join this Autumn

Flexible and accessible courses.

Attend Saturday lectures in Tallaght or online from the comfort of your own hoe and build modules towards a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theology.

Call (01) 4048124 or www.prioryinstitute.com

UCD Vitamin Drink Study

The UCD Institute of Food and Health are recruiting adults of ages 50 years and older to participate in a new research project to see if B-vitamin drinks can improve your B-vStatus.

Over the course of the 16 week study, you will be asked to: • Visit UCD on three occasions, each visit of about 40 minutes duration. • Consume a free daily vitamin drink. • Have your blood pressure checked. • Give a blood sample to allow vitamin analysis of your blood.

For more information or to ask any questions, please feel free to get in touch with our researchers: Roberta at roberta.hackmendes@ucd.ie or call 01 7162442

Church Gate Collection for GORTA/SELFHELP AFRICA this weekend.

‘We are dedicated to ending hunger and poverty in rural Africa’

THE DEEP END: Crowds and Shepherds The gospel today emphasises the im-portance of taking time for yourself as Jesus takes the disciples to a deserted place after all their hard work. It teaches an important lesson about remaining connected to Jesus if we are to be his followers. It is unfortunate for them that their break is interrupted. The crowd are thirsty for more and suffering from a lack of real leadership. Jesus has so much compassion for the people that the phrase

Mark uses actually means he felt compassion in his intestines! A biblical way of saying he felt compassion for them in the pit of his stomach.

Next month we greet the shepherd of the Catholic Church as Pope Francis comes to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families. It will be a momentous occasion, a once in a life-time experience to see and to hear from a Pope who has so much to say to us about sharing the gos-pel message in our world. He calls us to be joyful Christians, to reach out to the poor and abandoned, to be disciples in our families, commu-nities, on the streets and to help build a world that is true to Christ’s vision for this world. Pope Francis is a leader who inspires many. Wheth-er you are travelling to the festival or watching it at home we pray for the success of this extraordinary event. Let us pray today for leaders in our Church and in our communities, that they will inspire people, nur-ture people and listen to the Spirit who guides us on this path.

Jane Mellet—courtesy of Intercom Resource

During the month of July Pope Francis invites us

to pray 'That priests, who experience fatigue and loneliness in their pastoral work, may find help and comfort in their intimacy with the Lord and in their friendship with their brother priests.'

"From a distance, priests may seem almost divine – but they are not. Priests are human people, who get

tired, feel dejected, even at times get depressed.

Sometimes people can be too demanding, other

times priests wonder if they are doing any good. In

taking time off for prayer and relaxation, priests imi-

tate their Lord: even Jesus had to get away from time

to time, to spend time with his Father and renew his

energy. Like the Lord Jesus, priests need to be allowed

and encouraged to take time off. Fr Bernard Cotter (www.sacredspace.ie/apostleship)

www.thepopevideo.org

BOOK REVIEW

PIC OF THE WEEKPsychologists say we can make life easier for ourselves and others by following a few simple guidelines on happiness:• Learn to count your blessings. Once a week take time to write

down three or four things that make you happy. They could be small things like seeing a flower bloom or big things like seeing your child take her first steps.

• Virtue and vice become easier with practice. Acts of kindness not only help us to be kind but help others too. Let somebody go ahead of you in the queue at the supermarket or coming out of a side road in traffic. Prepare lunch for an old person who wouldn’t otherwise get one. Recognising that we can help others boosts our own happiness.

• Enjoy the pleasures of life. If you get a delightful dinner today, enjoy every morsel of it. Take mental pictures of pleasurable moments and play the over in your mind. Gratitude is a way of boosting your happiness. If somebody has helped you, tell them so. Don’t wait until they’re dead. Brighten that person’s life now.

• Learn to forgive. Somebody once told me that holding onto resentment is like taking poison yourself and waiting for your enemy to die.

• Make time for special people in your life like family and friends.

• And, finally: “Each of us will have to answer to God for the per-missible pleasures in life that we failed to enjoy.” Now when was the last time a preacher told you that pleasure wasn’t a sin?

TRAVELLING LIGHT: YOUR JOURNEY TO WHOLENESS is Daniel O’Leary’s most popular book for a reason: it is the best guide to cultivating a deeper spiritual connection with yourself and God. This beautiful reprint features a new cover showcasing the beauty and joy provided by this 30-day spiritual guide, which combines wisdom on spiritual-ity, mindfulness and self-love with exercises to help develop the thought processes that keep us feeling strong in ourselves and in God. The wisdom offered in this book focuses on overcoming some of life’s most common but difficult challenges: letting go of fear, trusting yourself, listening to your body and staying optimistic in the face of challenges. Each bit of daily wisdom is followed by a ‘praxis’ activity to help readers put into practice what they’ve read, and as the days go by, readers will notice them-selves becoming calmer, happier, more mindful people who notice the joy and the Divine in the every day. Daniel O’Leary is an experienced teacher of spirituality, and this book showcases his ability to help even the most disillusioned among us find a relationship with God through deepening our relationship with ourselves. If you’ve ever longed to wake up with joy and vigour for the day ahead, this is the book for you.

Travelling Light: Your Journey to Wholeness by Daniel O’Leary is published by Columba Books and

is available for purchase at www.columbabooks.com for €14.99.

Fr Tony Coote and his team of supporters are walking from Letterkenny to Ballydehob until 6th August in support of the Irish Motor Neurone Dis-ease Association with Walk While You Can.

Quote of the week

When the light in most people’s faces comes from the glow of the smartphone or the television screen, we are living in a Dark Age.

– Rod Dreher

Challenge:

How can I search for the light in my life to come from God?

For a free weekly challenge download YourParish App

Extract from Gold Collection by Brian D’Arcy (www.columbabooks.com)

Happiness

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