Unwanted Gifts Appeal

Staff in St. Mary’s Pro- Cathedral are again appealing to people to donate unwanted Christmas gifts for distribution to the homeless. The gifts will be given to Crosscare who will distribute them to people most in need throughout 2011 and use them as Christmas gifts for people who may never receive one, this time next year.
If the appeal is as successful as it has been in previous years, Crosscare will sell the surplus gifts in their “Gifts for Good” shop in Cathedral Street and use the monies raised in their homeless services around Dublin.
Unwanted gifts can be left at the crib in the Pro Cathedral up until January 6th.

Happy Christmas 2010

Happy Christmas in Chinese

Teresa Yi Zhang kindly gave me this wish written in Chinese characters, something I had asked her for.

圣 means Holy, 诞 means Birth, and 快 乐 means rejoice or happiness.

So altogether : 圣诞快乐 means Holy Birth Happy, with the pronunciation being: Sheng Dan Kuai Le.

So the Greek icon below and this Chinese wish both illustrate the universality of what Christmas announces to all people: the Incarnation of God, a great mystery.

Nollaig Shona,

Donal.

Christmas Celebrations

You are very welcome to join us for the celebration of the birth of Jesus, Our Saviour.

The paths and roads are cleared, the church building is warm, the crib is up! Looking forward to seeing you. 

 

MASSES

Saggart
Friday 24th December (Christmas Eve)
5.00 pm Children’s Mass
9.00 pm Vigil Mass
Saturday 25th December-The Nativity of the Lord
9.00 am and 11.30 am
Rathcoole
Friday 24th December (Christmas Eve)
6.00 pm Children’s Mass
10.00 pm Vigil Mass
Sturday 25th December-The Nativity of the Lord
10.00 am and 12.00 pm

Brittas Mass Centre
Friday 24th December (Christmas Eve)
8.00 pm Vigil Mass
Saturday 25th December-The Nativity of the Lord
10.30am
Newcastle
Friday 24th December
5.30pm Children’s Mass
7.30pm Vigil Mass
Saturday 25th December
10.30am

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION
Saggart
Wednesday 22nd & Thursday 23rd December After 9.30 am Mass
Friday 24th December 10.00 am to 11.00 am
Rathcoole
Wednesday 22nd & Thursday 23rd December After 9.30 am Mass
Fiday 24th December 11.00 am to 12.00 pm
Brittas Mass Centre
Friday 24th December 12.30 pm to 1.30 pm
Newcastle Church
Tuesday 21st, Thursday 23rd December After 10am Mass
Friday 24th December 11.30am – 12 Noon

Facing difficult times as a community

The Irish Bishops have said they are praying for a spirit of national solidarity and hope as well as a renewal of confidence in the country’s ability to work together for the good of all so as to address the adverse circumstances confronting the nation at this time.
“Faced with these challenges it would be easy to descend into a culture of negativity, defeatism and despair,” the bishops acknowledged.
However, they said that while important questions have to be asked about how this situation had arisen, “a preoccupation with blame and recrimination alone would be futile and distract from the urgent task of building a more just, sustainable and prosperous future”.

Citing the appeal of St Paul in his first letter to the Thessalonians, “Encourage one another and build one another up... For this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus,” the bishops said that as Christian leaders, they echoed this to the people of Ireland today.

“As we prepare for the coming of ‘God-with-us’, in the celebration of Christmas, we pray for a spirit of national solidarity and hope”, they said.

‘A good man was there of religioun’ | CatholicHerald.co.uk

‘A good man was there of religioun’ CatholicHerald.co.uk


This is an interview carried out by myself with the parish priest of St Mary's, Chippenham, a town near Bath in Wiltshire. It appeared in the English 'Catholic Herald' weekly newspaper this week. Fr Millett is 81 and has been P.P. of St Mary's for over 25 years, having been 15 years in Bath before that. He taught me in primary school in the 50s (St John the Baptist primary school, Clontarf, Dublin). I had him for 5th and 6th class. He went for the priesthood in his late 30s and was ordained in 1971. The interview gives a good idea of what St Mary's parish is like, and we may compare with it our own parish of St Mary's.

I hope I have a reader out there, and any comment is welcome.

Donal (Web Sec).

Charlie Brown: Tell me, what is the true meaning of Christmas?

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Advent - A Journey with Pope Benedict XVI

For a daily reflection on the meaning of Advent by Pope Benedict XVI (prepared by the American Bishops) see http://usccb.org/advent/AdvChr.pdf

“Come, let us climb the LORD’s mountain,

to the house of the God of Jacob,

that he may instruct us in his ways,

and we may walk in his paths.”

Is 2:3

Advent, this powerful liturgical season that we are beginning,

invites us to pause in silence to understand a

presence. It is an invitation to understand that the individual

events of the day are hints that God is giving us signs of the

attention he has for each one of us. How often does God give

us a glimpse of his love!

Homily in Celebration of First Vespers of Advent

November 28, 2009