Please support the St. Vincent DePaul Annual Appeal Next Sunday Today there are people in your community in crisis… No food in the cupboard. No heating in their home. No end in sight. At St. Vincent de Paul, we are asked for help with these things every day. Don't let any family have an empty Christmas... Even in an improving economy, it can still take just one small problem to tip someone into crisis and poverty. But we know that a little help at the right time can change everything. This Christmas, over 140,000 people in communities across the country will ask SVP for help with food, fuel and basic clothing. But we cannot say yes without you. Please support the SVP Annual Appeal Your help can last a lifetime St. Matthew’s Church Ballyfermot PARISH NEWSLETTER 3 Dec (1 st Sunday of Advent) PLEASE TAKE THIS HOME WITH YOU TO SPREAD THE WORD Feast of the Immaculate Conception Friday December 8 Holy Day of Obligation TRIDUUM OF PRAYER Three Special Days in honour of Our Lady of Fatima. This Triduum marks the centenary of the apparitions at Fatima. Wed Dec 6: Opening Mass 7pm Thu Dec 7: Scripture Rosary 6pm Solemn Mass of Our Lady of Fatima 7pm Eucharistic Adoration 8-9pm Fri Dec 8: Concluding Mass 7pm
Transcript
Please support the St. Vincent DePaul Annual Appeal Next Sunday
Today there are people in your community in crisis… No food in the cupboard. No heating in their home. No end in sight. At St. Vincent de Paul, we are asked for help with these things every day.
Don't let any family have an empty Christmas...
Even in an improving economy, it can still take just one small problem to tip someone into crisis and poverty. But we know that a little help at the right time can change everything. This Christmas, over 140,000 people in communities across the country will ask SVP for help with food, fuel and basic clothing. But we cannot say yes without you.
Please support the SVP Annual Appeal Your help can last a lifetime
St. Matthew’s Church Ballyfermot PARISH NEWSLETTER
3 Dec (1st Sunday of Advent)
PLEASE TAKE THIS HOME WITH YOU TO SPREAD THE WORD
Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Friday December 8 Holy Day of Obligation
TRIDUUM OF PRAYER
Three Special Days in honour of Our Lady of Fatima.
This Triduum marks the centenary of the apparitions at Fatima.
Wed Dec 6: Opening Mass 7pm
Thu Dec 7: Scripture Rosary 6pm Solemn Mass of Our Lady of Fatima 7pm Eucharistic Adoration 8-9pm
Fri Dec 8: Concluding Mass 7pm
PARISH SHOP Cards, Calendars, Candles
and much more available at the shop in the Parish Centre
Gospel Readings for the Week Ahead MON 4/12 Matt 8: 5-11 ‘ nowhere in Israel have I found faith like this’ TUE 5/12 Luke 10: 21-24 ‘Happy the eyes that see what you see’ WED 6/12 Matt 15: 29-37 The crowds were astonished THU 7/12. Matt 7: 21, 24-27 ‘and it did not fall, it was founded on rock’ FRI 8/12. LK 1: 26 - 38 IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF BVM. ‘ for nothing is impossible to God’ SAT 9/12 Matt 9: 35-10:1,5, 6-8 And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.
Mass Times Weekdays:
Saturday: Vigil Mass 6.30 Monday Sunday: 9.00, 9.45 (Convent) 10.00 Prayer Service 10.30,12.00 Masses
Mass Intentions 6.30 Saturday 2 Dec Christina McGann, Kenny, Margaret Ford, Bob Harte, Christina Griffin 09.00 Sunday 3 Dec Peggy McCaffrey 12.00 Sunday 3 Dec Patricia Eaton, James Brien, Bridie Rochford, Carmel Kelly 10.30 Fri 8 Dec Mary, John, Nicholas Carroll, Des Robinson
Recent Funerals Fr. Pat Reynolds
Paul Harris May They Rest in Peace
BOOK OF THE WEEK WATCH FOR THE LIGHT
READINGS FOR ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS ORBIS BOOKS. MARYKNOLL NEW YORK. 2001. Pp 330
A beautiful and very rich collection of readings for this time of year. No more than a few short pages each day, from the very best of spiritual writers. It includes material from Thomas Aquinas to Gustavo Gutierrez, Meister Eckhart, John Donne, Sylvia Plath, Martin Luther to Eberhard Arnold. It is a collection that could be followed daily or indeed dipped into occasionally. Very solid and very enjoyable. Good soul preparation for the impending great feast.
WEEKLY COLLECTIONS 19/11
First Collection €935 Share Collection €790 Family Offering €950
News from Mary Queen of Angels 2
Science Fair Champions!! A group of six boys from 6th class competed in the Dublin 10 Science Fair Competition. This was the first year the school has entered, so the boys were unaware of what to expect. The boys brainstormed ideas for their project and wanted to do research that wouldn’t usually fall into their Science lessons in school. They narrowed their ideas down to one: ‘Can Music Help to Overcome a Stutter?’ This was an idea one of the boys got from watching Channel 4’s ‘Educating Yorkshire’, where he saw a teenager overcome a stutter with the help of music.
The boys were highly praised for their project and their presentation skills. They did themselves and the school proud and it was such an achievement to win the D10 Science Fair. Well done boys!!
Ethiopia School Project Church Gate Collection This Weekend
To provide schooling for children excluded from other schools because of their parents’ Leprosy.
Divine Mercy Meeting Wed Evening @ 8.00 in the Prayer Room
CHRISTMAS AT ST. MATTHEW’S. A NOTE FROM FR. JOE Turkey, Ham, Beer, Party and Presents I hope you enjoy them all! I hope you and all you love and all who love you have a great Christmas but I want to make a suggestion to you. I want you not to just have a good Christmas but the best Christmas. Please believe me when I say that Christmas without Jesus makes no sense. My suggestion to you will not take much of your time but will make a huge difference. Christmas at St. Matthew's involves four simple things: TURN BACK TO GOD. It's never too late. No sin, no mess too great. This is your time to return. LISTEN TO HIM. Come to Mass over Christmas and listen and He will speak to you. SPEND A LITTLE TIME WITH HIM. He wants your company. Your present to His presence. BE OPEN TO BEING CHANGED. If you do this you will grow, even if only slightly, closer to God and also gradually into the beautiful person you are called to be.
FAITH MOMENT From ancient times to the present day, Catholics honour the unique role of Mary, the woman chosen to be the Mother of our Redeemer, with a special reverence and devotion. We do not adore or worship Mary; adoration and worship is given only to God, to Jesus Christ and to the Holy Spirit. We venerate her singular example and prayerfully request her intercession for us.
THE WORST CURSE WORD? If you had a ‘swear box’ in the kitchen or the car and every time you used the name of
Jesus you had to put in two euro, would there be much in it at the end of the day? The end of the week? I actually believe it is the worst swear word we can use. Worse than any other. Unfortunately I do swear from time to time but I have tried for a few years now to use words, that are recognised ‘bad words’ but not the Holy Name. I also believe no other group disrespect the name of God as much as we do. The young Jew, the young Muslim, none of them swear by God’s name to the degree that Christians do. Sadly I believe we Catholics are the worst offenders in this regard. Of course there are various degrees of this from those for whom it is an occasional slip to those who can hardly utter a sentence without the abuse of this most holy name. Indeed we often minimise it. Surely it's not such a big deal? Or is it? As one man said to me recently, ‘sure Father, I could say worse’. That in itself is an interesting question. Could you actually say worse? Admittedly for the most part it is thoughtlessness. For many it is a habit. Perhaps if we give it more thought it would help us break the habit. I think at least part of the reason that we have cheapened this most sacred name is because we have become numbed to its beauty. Perhaps we were never made aware of its power. We are reminded in the letter to the Philippians that the Lord said
‘ For it is written, ‘ As I live, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’ ( Phil 2:10).
A key question about this is why? Why according to St. Paul, in the name of Jesus will every knee bend? The answer of course is that the name reminds us of God’s great love for us, the Incarnation. Namely God made man. God made flesh. If only we could remember every time we say the name Jesus that we are recalling that God loved us so much that he became one of us, in all our poverty and all our brokenness. If we were more conscious of this we would not use the name so lightly or thoughtlessly. It is of course a translation of Yeshua and it is a name that has brought comfort and healing. The beauty of the name is of course rooted in the life death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. The name therefore is steeped in compassion, in gentleness and in mercy.
For me perhaps even more important than the beauty of the name is the power that it holds. This is actually well documented through history. In 1274 Pope Gregory X in the face of great dangers in the world and in the Church exhorted the frequent prayerful repetition of the Holy Name of Jesus. In the devastating plague that engulfed Lisbon in 1432 it was said that it was the widespread repetition of the Holy Name that saved the city. Throughout the centuries many of the saints had special devotion to the name of Jesus. St. Bernard got great joy and comfort from repeating the Holy Name, as did St. Augustine. The great St. Ignatius of Loyola gave to his great order not his own name but rather he called it the Society of Jesus. Francis de Sales felt sure that those who regularly repeated the name of Jesus prayerfully could rely on a happy and holy death. When St. Frances of Rome describes her ‘dialogue’ with the angel she records the delight of the angel when she said the name of Jesus. Indeed other saints, including St. Gemma, remark how they had encountered the devil and how enraged and frightened he was at the mention of the Holy Name of Jesus.
So we quickly see that when we throw the name of Jesus around thoughtlessly or even disrespectfully, we are a long way from both its beauty and its power. We would be making great progress in the spiritual life and on our pilgrim journey if we could resolve to deal with this issue once and for all. Our resolution could have two aspects to it. The first is to do everything we can to stop saying the name of Jesus in a thoughtless or disrespectful way. Not to say it in anger. The second aspect of this resolution is to begin the habit of whispering the name of Jesus as prayer. First thing in the morning and last thing at night. Jesus help me. Jesus protect me. Jesus heal me. Jesus forgive me. Jesus I am sorry. Jesus I love you.
J MC DONALD. 24. 11. 17
SPREAD THE WORD: A Thriving, Vibrant Community Matters – Support Our Advertisers!
St. Matthew’s Church10 Blackditch Drive, Ballyfermot
Dublin 10
Liturgical Publications of Ireland LimitedFor AD information Please Call:
Ruth on 086 045 27 37 or 1850 790000BECAUSE VIBRANTCOMMUNITIES MATTER
LARRY
FUNERAL DIRECTORS
The following services are FREE of charge
MASSEY
• We are part of the Ballyfermot Community for over 40 years.• We are members of the Irish Association of Funeral Directors• We are a family run Funeral Directors that employs Locally.
DidYOU KNOW?
FREE use of Our Funeral Homes
FREE use of a limousine on the day of the funeral.
Subject to Availability – Terms & Conditions ApplyLet our Family look after yours along the Wild Atlantic Way
The Yeats Country Hotel Eros Spa& Leisure Club,Rosses Point Co. Sligo
THIS SPACE IS
THIS SPACE IS
Sheerlock Combs
Hair Salon
Claddagh Green
OAP SpecialsTues & Wed
Call 01 623 4590
head meche
Tues &Wed
LADIES GENTS
McGUILL’S FUNERAL DIRECTORS PH: 01 - 685 43 33Dedicated Professionals providing a personal service to you, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
Call Ruth: 086 045 27 37
THIS SPACE IS
Ph: 01 455 9659, Kildare Rd, CrumlinTry your local Bingo for a fun night out!
This Bingo is licensed by the District Court, pursuant to the GAMING AND LOTTERIES ACTS”
allwelcome!
Charity No. 20009601
Buy a Trócaire Gift
and transform lives
this Christmas
Buy online at
trocaire.org or
Call 1850 408 408
Fully Escorted Group Pilgrimages
(01) 878 8159 | WWW.MARIAN.IE
Medjugorje - Holy land - Lourdes - Fatima - Italy
Organising a Group for 2018Over 27 years experience in group pilgrimagesSupport from a dedicated professional management teamTailored itineraries & special rates available as standard Promotional material to build & inform your groupSpiritual, enthusiastic & experienced guides on all tripsFully licensed and bonded Tour Operator TO142
Contact us for a free quotationwith no commitment
Open Day
Call (01) 404 8124 www.prioryinstitute.com
Why not come along and meet current students and teaching staff, attend a lecture and talk theology over soup and rolls.
