All posts by 3 churches

Doing Advent

advent

Celebrate  – Why not try to join in the celebration of an extra weekday Mass?
Reconcile – Confession is available at the normal times on Saturday (10am at St Brigid’s, 5.30 at St Paul’s, 5.45 at Christ the King). We are once again part of the diocesan “The Light is On” project, so there will also be a priest at St Brigid’s and Christ the King on Wednesday 3rd and 17th at 7.00-7.30pm, and also at most other Catholic churches. On Wednesday 10th December “The Light Is On” will take the form of our 3 Churches Advent Penitential Service 7.00pm at Christ the King.
Call in St Paul’s and St Brigid’s are open most of daylight. Christ the King now open Fridays 6.30-7pm during Junior Youth Club.
Read Take a “Walk with me” booklet to follow during the season. Available in all 3 Churches.
Log on Follow “Made for Glory” – a thought on video for each day of Advent made by young people, including some from our diocese www.youtube.com/user/madeforgloryuk  Every day visit “Sacred Space” an online daily prayer throughout the year at  ww.sacredspace.ie
Reflect We will use this prayer after Communion this Sunday; use it through the week too!

Lord Jesus, 
Open our hearts and minds to the truth, 
that You will return when we least expect it. 
And, as we begin our Advent journey, 
Help us to accept Your challenge
to stay awake, to be alert and 
to be prepared for the unexpected as we wait for Your coming.
Move us to respond to Your plan, for us
and for the world in the small acts of our everyday lives.
Arouse in us a desire to notice opportunities
to be generous 
and to be compassionate towards those we know and those we do not know.
And give us the confidence to joyfully share the message of Your love with others.

Fr Matthew

The King’s people

newsletter,

Happy feast day for today, Christ the King parish and school! Happy 50th anniversary for eight days’ time, St Brigid’s!

Celebration is an important part of our faith, as it is in life itself. I have always believed in marking the patron saint’s feast day in parishes, and Christ the King has a spectacular one this weekend. A few decades ago, the Church moved this feast from the last Sunday in October to the last Sunday in the liturgical year. It’s as if we wanted to go out with a bang. The universal kingdom of Jesus is such a powerful theme. Our Lord lived his kingship in an extraordinarily hidden and serving way. Yet when challenged in his last hours during his trial he affirmed that he is indeed a king – ‘So you are a king then?’ asked Pilate. ‘It is you who say it’ answered Jesus. ‘Yes, I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this: to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.’ So feel free to celebrate this beautiful feast of Christ the King!

Our celebrations for the 50th anniversary of St Brigid’s Church reach their climax with the visit of the Archbishop on Monday 1st December to celebrate Mass with us. And here also we have every reason to celebrate, as the building both houses and in a certain way symbolizes the real Church – the people. We are marking not just bricks and mortar, but flesh and blood, those who have gone before us and those with whom we continue to journey onwards as the People of God. Please make every effort to join the parish family, with our bishop and some former priests, to celebrate this important birthday.

So there you have it – two very different causes for joy. On the horizon lies Christmas, with its season of preparation starting next Sunday. We will publish a full list of Advent and Christmas services and information in next week’s newsletter.

Fr Matthew

Into your hands

newsletter,

After the Second Vatican Council, the various liturgical books were renewed and translated. The Missal for Mass, the words for the seven Sacraments – it was a long process. One of the very last texts to be renewed (appropriately) was the Rite of Christian Funerals. I’m not sure if lessons had been learned in the previous years, but many agree that it is one of the best post-Council rites.

Not only are there many different prayers for every situation imaginable, but the quality of the translation was somewhat better than some previous efforts. The language is modern yet dignified, suitable for public speaking and not contorted. One of my favourite liturgical prayers is the Prayer of Commendation at the end of a funeral. It is a key moment as we prepare to leave the church, the emotions of the bereaved are often strained by this point in the Mass, and something profound yet accessible is called for. And it certainly works – you can usually hear a pin drop as the much-loved person is handed back to the God who gave them to us… It is a prayer for November:

Into your hands, Father of mercies,
we commend our brother/sister N.
in the sure and certain hope
that, together with all who have died in Christ, he/she will rise with him on the last day.
We give you thanks for the blessings which you bestowed upon N. in this life: they are signs to us of your goodness and of our fellowship with the saints in Christ.
Merciful Lord,
turn toward us and listen to our prayers:
open the gates of paradise to your servant
and help us who remain
to comfort one another with assurances of faith, until we all meet in Christ
and are with you and with our brother/sister for ever. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Fr Matthew