Junction 4 - Parish Newsletter - 23rd December 2012

The Parish Newsletter, Junction 4, for 23rd December 2012, the Fourth Sunday in Advent, is now available online. Please follow the link below to view this week's parish newsletter.

Junction 4 - 23rd December 2012

Christmas Carol Service

Congratulations to all who took part in the Carol Service 

in Saggart Church on Sunday 16th December.  

Every Blessing to you and yours for Christmas 

Junction 4 - Parish Newsletter - 16th December 2012

The Parish Newsletter, Junction 4, for 16th December 2012, the Third Sunday in Advent, is now available online. Please follow the link below to view this week's parish newsletter.

Junction 4 - 16th December 2012

Junction 4 Parish Newsletter 9th December 2012

The Parish Newsletter, Junction 4, for 9th December 2012, the Second Sunday in Advent, is now available online. Please follow the link below to view this week's parish newsletter.

Junction 4 - 9th December 2012

Pro life groups mobilise as government prepares abortion proposals

A United Pro Life Vigil is to take place in Dublin next Tuesday (December 4) at 4:30pm at the Dáil.  The vigil will bring together people from a range of groups, and individuals who support a pro-life ethos.

“We are asking as many people as possible who consider themselves pro-life to come forward for this event,” Claire Moore from the Pro Life Campaign (PLC), one of the organisers of the event, told ciNews.

“We will stand together in respect for life in a peaceful atmosphere,” she added.

Ms Moore admitted that it might be difficult for people to make it to Dublin on a Tuesday for the 4:30pm vigil but appealed to the public to do just that.

“We are asking people to make a special effort at such a crucial time,” she said.

So far they have been encouraged by the response the initiative has gained.  “People are making great efforts to be free to come,” she said.

The organisers are expecting groups from around Ireland, and are coordinating buses travelling to the capital.  Those organising buses from outside the Dublin, should notify Clare at  (087) 266 8702 or Katie (087) 702 0255 and they will pass on the information about the buses to others in the area wishing to attend.  The vigil is due to last one hour, from 4:30pm to 5:30pm on Tuesday. 

Junction 4 - 2nd December 2012 - 1st Sunday in Advent

The Parish Newsletter, Junction 4, for the 2nd December 2012, the First Sunday in Advent, is now available online. Please follow the link below to view this week's parish newsletter.
Junction 4 - 2nd December 2012

Junction 4 - 25th November 2012

The Parish Newsletter, Junction 4, for the 25th of November 2012 is now available online. Please follow the link below to view this week's parish newsletter.

Junction 4 - 25th November 2012

Junction 4 - November 18th 2012

Junction 4, the Parish Newsletter for Saggart/Rathcoole/Brittas and Newcastle for 18th November 2012 is now available online. Please follow the link below to download this edition of Junction 4.

Junction 4 - November 18th 2012

Junction 4 - 11th November 2012

Junction 4, the Parish Newsletter for Saggart/Rathcoole/Brittas and Newcastle for 11th November 2012 is now available online. Please follow the link below to download this edition of Junction 4.

Junction 4 - 11th November 2012

Junction 4 - 4th November and 28th October

Junction 4 - The Parish Newsletter for Saggart/Rathcoole/Brittas and Newcastle is now available online for the weeks October 28th 2012 and November 4th 2012.

Follow the links below to view Junction 4 for the weeks mentioned:

Junction 4 - 28th October 2012

Junction 4 - 4th November 2012

All Saints and All Souls

                                     St Mary's Saggart Graveyard

This is being written on Hallowe'en, before the young people come calling to the door.  The day brings back vivid childhood memories for everyone, I'm sure.  We can only do our best to provide some nice memories for the children of today when they 'go round' calling, so that they too, when grown up, will be able to recall with fondness and gratitude the generation of their parents and their neighbours down the road.

One major aspect of Hallowe'en that has changed a lot is the religious one. Priests in the 50s and 60s would talk about the indulgences to be gained by visiting a graveyard and saying the prescribed prayers. The true meaning of all this might well have been lost in the details of the various obligations to be followed, but we can still appreciate the abiding value of what it was all about: the idea of reaching our loved ones through our poor prayers. And so our thoughts this month will be on our family and friends who rest in peace in the earth, both here in Saggart and in other graveyards around the country, as we say for them as well as for ourselves:

I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

Junction 4 - 21st October 2012

Junction 4, the Parish Newsletter for Saggart/Rathcoole/Brittas and Newcastle is now available online. Follow the link below to download Junction 4 for October 21st 2012.

Junction 4 - 21st October 2012

Junction 4 - 14th October 2012

Junction 4, the Parish Newsletter for Saggart/Rathcoole/Brittas and for Newcastle is now available to read and download online. Follow the link below to see this week's Junction 4.

Junction 4 - October 14th 2012

Junction 4 Parish Newsletter - Sept 30 & Oct 7

Junction 4, the Parish Newsletter for Saggart/Rathcoole/Brittas and Newcastle for September 30th 2012 and October 7th 2012 is available below. Follow the links to download Junction 4.

30th September 2012

7th October 2012

Day for Life (2012): Choose Life

Parishes and individuals are invited to pray a special ‘Prayer for the Child in the Womb’ during Masses throughout the month of prayer which will end on the Feast of All the Saints of Ireland on 6th November next.  The prayer asks us to open our hearts to welcome every child as a unique and wonderful gift, and to help those who make our laws to uphold the uniqueness and sacredness of every human life from the moment of conception to natural death.

The Irish Episcopal Conference has asked that annual Day for Life in Ireland this year, on Sunday 7th October, will mark the beginning of a special month of prayer dedicated to theme ‘Choose Life!’

Please click here for more information 

Junction 4 Newsletter - September 16th and 23rd

Please follow the links below to view Junction 4, our Parish Newsletter, for both September 16th and September 23rd 2012.

September 16th 2012

September 23rd 2012

Year of Faith

Introduction:

With the Apostolic Letter of 11 October 2011, Porta fidei, Pope Benedict XVI declared a Year of Faith. This year will begin on 11 October 2012, on the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Ecumenical Vatican Council, and will conclude on 24 November 2013, the Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, Universal King.

This year will be a propitious occasion for the faithful to understand more profoundly that the foundation of Christian faith is “the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.”[1] Founded on the encounter with the Risen Christ, faith can be rediscovered in its wholeness and all its splendor. “In our days too faith is a gift to rediscover, to cultivate and to bear witness to” because the Lord “grants each one of us to live the beauty and joy of being Christians.”[2]

The beginning of the Year of Faith coincides with the anniversaries of two great events which have marked the life of the Church in our days: the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, called by Blessed PopeJohn XXIII (11 October 1962), and the twentieth of the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, given to the Church by Blessed Pope John Paul II (11 October 1992).

The Year of Faith is intended to contribute to a renewed conversion to the Lord Jesus and to the rediscovery of faith, so that the members of the Church will be credible and joy-filled witnesses to the Risen Lord in the world of today – capable of leading those many people who are seeking it to the “door of faith.” This “door” opens wide man’s gaze to Jesus Christ, present among us “always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28:20). He shows us how “the art of living” is learned “in an intense relationship with him.”[13] “Through his love, Jesus Christ attracts to himself the people of every generation: in every age he convokes the Church, entrusting her with the proclamation of the Gospel by a mandate that is ever new. Today too, there is a need for stronger ecclesial commitment to new evangelization in order to rediscover the joy of believing and the enthusiasm for communicating the faith.”[14]

Apostolic Letter from Pope Benedict XVI for the Year of Faith

“The “door of faith” (Acts 14:27) is always open for us, ushering us into the life of communion with God and offering entry into his Church. It is possible to cross that threshold when the word of God is proclaimed and the heart allows itself to be shaped by transforming grace. To enter through that door is to set out on a journey that lasts a lifetime. It begins with baptism (cf. Rom 6:4), through which we can address God as Father, and it ends with the passage through death to eternal life, fruit of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, whose will it was, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, to draw those who believe in him into his own glory (cf. Jn 17:22). To profess faith in the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is to believe in one God who is Love (cf. 1 Jn 4:8): the Father, who in the fullness of time sent his Son for our salvation; Jesus Christ, who in the mystery of his death and resurrection redeemed the world; the Holy Spirit, who leads the Church across the centuries as we await the Lord’s glorious return.” – Pope Benedict XVI, Apostolic Letter from Pope Benedict XVI for the Year of Faith

Click on the following link to read the full text of the Holy Father’s Apostolic Letter which was issued on 11 October 2011. Year ofFaith 

Midsummer: Looking Behind, Looking Ahead

Looking behind, first of all.  The big event recently, of course, both nationally and locally, was the Eucharistic Congress. Parishioners who participated in the proceedings either in Dublin or here in the parish will, no doubt, retain a vivid memory of certain moments such as our own little Camino walk from Newcastle to Saggart, the lecture on the history of the parishes, and the various liturgical celebrations. The booklet that we brought out will also provide a lasting memory of the Congress as celebrated in our parish.  Copies can be obtained by emailing donalmcmahon@eircom.net.

The schools are closed, the young people have been confirmed or have received their First Holy Communion. Another big event was the annual Cemetery Mass in the parish graveyards, always a very significant and moving occasion for everyone. The writer attended the Mass in Saggart graveyard on Sunday, July 1st. The people who worked so hard at cleaning up the graveyard over the course of the previous weeks deserve great praise.

The three-year term of office of the Parish Pastoral Council has concluded. New members will be most welcome on the new team to be formed in the autumn. 

Which brings us to the theme of Looking Ahead.  A parish is all about each person being made welcome as a valuable member of a community that comes together in a special way once a week. Each person has gifts that can build up that community and there are all sorts of ways in which these gifts can be offered. 'Something Beautiful for God' is an old phrase worth pausing over. Any act of kindness is one such beautiful thing, any contribution to the well-being of others.  We do our best in this regard where we are, at home, at work, in the local community and parish.  Let's go on doing that, then, and maybe think of doing more in new ways after the summer break.

Junction 4 - June 17 2012

Our Parish Newsletter, Junction 4, for Sunday June 17 is now available online. Click Here to read Juntion 4, our Parish Newsletter, for this week.

Junction 4 - 10th June 2012

Our Parish Newsletter, 'Junction 4', is now available online. Click Here to view 'Junction 4' online.

     

The 50th International Eucharistic Congress 2012

The illustrations reproduced here are from the cover of a small booklet produced by a sub-committee appointed by the Parish Pastoral Council to draw up a programme of events taking place in our two parishes from Monday 11th to Sunday 17th June. The booklet contains photos of the six churches of the parishes, four Catholic and two Church of Ireland, with short texts on their history. These churches are where the Eucharist or Communion Service has been celebrated in our Christian community going back to medieval times. The week of the IEC offers us, both long-time residents of  the villages and newcomers to the recently built estates, the opportunity to renew our sense of connection with these, our local churches. (A talk on the oldest of these churches will take place on Tuesday 12th.  See Junction 4 below.)  Please note the following changes to the Programme of Events as advertised in the booklet, p.7: Sunday 17th:  Rathcoole and Newcastle, 5.30 p.m., Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Vespers and Benediction.  Copies of the booklet were handed out after the Pilgrim Walk on Sunday 27th, and will be distributed after Mass next Sunday, one to each household. 

9th Century Cross, Church of Ireland, Rathcoole