19 th March 2017 Vol 27 No 17 Third Sunday of Lent Fr. Tom Little - 91-31559 Fr Sean Hyland - 91-31212 Sr. Joan Pierse 91-42565 Emergency Priest on Duty 087 2588118 Askea Parish Community Centre Phone 91-42565 087 1269709 Collections last week: Development €1,307 Offertory €1,614 Mass Times: Askea 9.30am Mon-Fri; Sat 7pm; Sun 9am, 10.30am & 12 Noon. Bennekerry Sun 11.30am; Tinryland Tues 9.30am & Sunday 10am ************ Deadline for items for Newsletter is 5pm on Wednesday by phone to 9142565 or email to [email protected]Website: www.askeaparish.ie 24 Hours with the Lord In 2014 Pope Francis launched a prayer action called 24 Hours for the Lord to encourage people to return to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. “24 hours with The Lord” Church of the Most Holy Rosary Tullow Friday the 24 th of March at 6pm to Saturday 25 th at 6pm A time for quiet prayer and reflection in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament An invitation to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Priests from around the Diocese (including Bishop Denis) will be available during each hour of the 24 hour period to hear confessions.
Anniversaries 17th March 2017 Paddy Cassidy Jnr, Kernanstown, Bennekerry
Anniversaries 19th March 2017 Frank Archbold, Bennekerry
Baby Terry Patrick Dowling McGrath,
47 Cois Abhainn
Collections last week: Development € 180 Offertory €225
Palatine GAA Lotto Draw. Numbers drawn 1, 2, 13, 32. No jackpot winner 4 Lucky dips - each gets €50. Winner Promoter Mark Byrne John Fitzpatrick J.W Tyres Willie Mullins Ryan Gordon Barry Gordon Jackie Ryan c/o Super Valu Nicky Parle Promoter's Prize Nicky Parle Next Draw Monday 20th March Jackpot €7,800
Kildare & Leighlin Weekly Lotto Results For Wed 15th March 2017. Numbers drawn were 4, 12, 20 & 28.
TEN JACKPOT WINNERS shared €16,000 and will receive €1,600 each. One Jackpot winner from Askea / Bennekerry,
Winner EDITH DELANEY Promoter MICHAEL SHANNON 50 Match 3s won €20 each. Askea/Bennekerry had 5 Match3s. Next week’s Jackpot €10,000. Winner Promoter
Sheila Gallagher Christy Kennedy Terry and Anne Michael Shannon Maria Butler Patricia O’Regan Gem Betty Hayden Two for Joy Pat Kennedy Tickets €2 each – available from Askea Parish Centre. Please note the draw takes place on Wed at 4.30pm in Portlaoise. Tickets must be returned by 5pm each Tuesday to Askea Parish Centre.
Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes In 2017 Kildare & Leighlin Diocese will have its first Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes for five nights from 16th July which will be led by Bishop Denis Nulty. The cost of the trip is €719 per person sharing. Booking forms are available from the Parish Centre. Joe Walsh Tours Pilgrimages 01 2410810.
Vocation Views – Third Sunday of Lent – March 19th
2017 “But whoever drinks the water I give, will never be thirsty.” Are you thirsting for an understanding of your vocation? If you think Jesus may be inviting you to the priesthood, contact: Fr. Ruairi O’Domhnaill [email protected], www.kandlepriest.com
Mass times for the season of Lent In addition to the weekday morning Mass at 9.30am in Askea Church, an Evening Mass will be celebrated from Monday to Friday at 7pm.
Askea Senior Citizens Easter Party Sunday 9th April in Seven Oaks Hotel at 2pm. Bingo, music and tea served at 6pm. Names and money to be in by Wednesday 29th March. March Night Out on Wednesday 29
th from 7pm to 10pm in
Askea Parish Community Centre. Bingo, music and cuppa. Contact Marian 059 93010. Bus available to bring and collect people.
Baskets If anyone has baskets from the Christmas party could you please return them.
Membership Fee due by end of March. SUAS Fundraiser Orla Heffernan, a second year student in Trinity College Dublin and former student in Askea GNS and St. Leo's will be heading to India for ten weeks with the Irish organisation Suas this summer. Suas is an Irish organisation which aims to bring education to all children in Ireland and abroad. This Summer I along with a team of other students will be spending ten weeks teaching children from extremely disadvantaged backgrounds. We will aim to make some sort of positive impact on their lives. Orla will be holding a Church gate collection next weekend 24th and 25th March to raise funds for the Suas organisation. Your support would be greatly appreciated.
Follow Me Up To Carlow Concert series - Friday April 7th @8pm - Seven Oaks Hotel. We welcome the one and only RED HURLEY and The Man with the Golden Trumpet JOHNNY CARROLL as well as other local artists. Ticket Only Event. Tickets €20 available from Seven Oaks Hotel, or by contacting John Candy 087-2632324 or online at eventbrite.ie.
Would you like to save towards the cost of Christmas 2017; First Communion; Family Events Etc Etc. Contact ST CATHERINES COMMUNITY SAVINGS CLUB, ST JOSEPHS ROAD, CARLOW. Open each Thursday 5 -6pm and Friday 12.30 – 1.30pm Available to Adults and children for individual savings of any amount up to €50 max per week.
Asca GFC Juvenile training is back for 2017. Indoor in the Presentation College on Wednesdays at 6pm for up to under 12s. Outdoor training for all ages will start Thursday 23 March in Presentation College at 6.30pm. First under 12 game is 19 March and first Under 14 game is 26 March. Go Games will have their first event on 9 April. "Everyone gets a game".
CARLOW LIONS CLUB - Book Sale beside Paul White’s Chemist on Tullow Street, for 6 weeks from Monday - Saturday. Donation of Books very welcome. Contact Des 086 - 2372218 / Tony 087 - 2673748.
Pre-marriage Course Accord Carlow run Pre-marriage course’s for couples intending to get married in the Catholic Church. It is a requirement of the church that all couples attend a Pre-Marriage course before getting married. The course is held in St Catherine’s Social Service Centre Carlow Places available on May 5th & 6th and June 9th & 10
th. No courses
in July or August. Book on line www.accord.ie Contact Mary at Accord Carlow 059 9138738.
Second National
Collection for the
World Meeting of
Families 2018 Pope Francis has personally chosen Dublin to be the host diocese for the World Meeting of Families from 21-26 August 2018. Planning for this great national and international celebration of faith is well underway. Hosting this important event requires an enormous amount of planning and funding. In this regard a second national collection will be held on the weekend of 1 and 2 April 2017. Your support for this collection would be greatly appreciated.
Digital Skills for Citizens Programme - Free Internet
and Email Courses for Beginners – on Computer, Smartphones or Tablets. Courses currently being organised in various locations around the county, if you are interested in enrolling yourself or arranging some FREE training for a group you are involved with, please contact Andrea Dalton in St Catherine’s Community Services Centre on 059 9138706 or email [email protected]
INFORMATION EVENING WITH The Irish Guide Dogs Seven Oaks Hotel Carlow Thursday March 30th 8PM “Sharing our mission for independent and confident living for us all in 2017” OUR INVITATION: Please join us and learn how our services and support for vision impaired people enable fuller participation in education, work, travel and leisure. We provide people with the confidence and skills to move about independently and to get to where they need to be without being dependent on others. Learn how our Assistance Dogs programme for families of children with autism has a significant impact on the quality of life of the child with autism and his or her family. The child with autism is better able to function in the home and critically in the external environment. This makes it possible for parents, the child and their family to travel (as a family) and enjoy activities and leisure together. All our clients are more included in their community, more equal in terms of participation in society and physical and mental health is greatly improved.
Kildare Christmas Pilgrimage to the Holy land 20th – 28th December 2017
for 8 nights. Ex Dublin. Taking in Bethlehem, Jerusalem (Mount of Olives, Garden of Gethsemane, Last Supper Room and Calvary), Mount Tabor, Cana, Nazareth, Jericho, Dead Sea and Sea of Galilee. Contact James Treacy 061-921470 or 0860572216
Are you over 18 and long term unemployed? Would you like to work in your own Community on a Tús Scheme to help maintain and keep your community beautiful? If so, please contact Fergal 086 0408240.
Carlow Flower Club will host a demonstration with Veronica McMahon (Judge, T.H. Dip. D.Dip. AOIFA) at 8.00pm on Tuesday 28th March in the Woodford Dolmen Hotel. Visitors welcome (Fee €7.00)
Holiday in Rosses Point Sligo, Monday 3rd to Thursday 6th of April. Coach leaving Carlow bus park at 9.30am Monday. Outings each day, dancing each night, all for 200 euro. Details from Sean 087-6522374.
Meeting of Returned Overseas Volunteers & Lay Missionaries Have you ever volunteered overseas in any kind of profession or have worked as a lay missionary in Africa, Asia or South America? Would you like to meet up with like-minded people? Join us for our next meeting which takes place on Thurs March 23rd at 7.30pm at the Church of the Irish Martyrs (Ballycane Church) in Naas. For more info email Jim at [email protected] or phone/text 083 8422468.
“Making your neighbour a loan is an act of mercy, to lend him a helping hand is to keep the commandments.” Ecclesiasticus, 29:1. This St. Patrick’s weekend, we celebrate the solidarity Irish people have shown with the world’s poor over many decades. Trócaire is proud to be a conduit for the compassion of people here at home which last year saw over 2.4 million people in 25 countries receiving support. For more information on the Lenten campaign visit www.trocaire.org/lent
A question and a prayer for ourselves on our Lenten journey… In his message in this year’s Scripture Sharing Booklet Bishop Denis writes: “It strikes me that an annual operation transformation has been part of my life long before the RTE programme, and that its name is Lent…Our Lent might begin with the prayer: ‘Lord, help me to know what needs changing in my life’. That could be the beginning of our transformation in which mediocrity is exchanged for fullness of life, just as God wants for us. But along with knowing comes work! The Lenten call to the generosity of almsgiving, a deeper commitment to prayer, and the practice of penance and fasting are purposeful actions leading us deeper into relationship with God and with one another.”
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK - A TRUE FRIEND “A true friend knows your weaknesses but shows you your strengths; feels your fears but fortifies your faith; sees your anxieties but frees your spirit; recognizes your disabilities but emphasizes your possibilities.” - William Arthur Ward.
CALENDAR Monday 20
th:-St Joseph, Husband of The Blessed Virgin Mary ‘The
virtues of St Joseph have been the object of ecclesial reflection down through the centuries, especially the more recent centuries. Among those virtues the following stand out: faith, with which he fully accepted God’s salvation plan; prompt and silent obedience to the Will of God; love for and fulfilment of the true piety, fortitude in times of trial; chaste love for the Blessed Virgin Mary, a dutiful exercise of his paternal authority, and fruitful reticence. Tuesday 21
st:-St Enda is considered to be one of the late vocations
(athleach) of Ireland. His sister, Faenche, a nun, set his thoughts on a religious vocation. He made a small foundation in Cell Aine, Co. Louth and after studies in Scotland under Minian, made several foundations in the Boyne Valley. On Faenche’s urging he went to Aran. He died probably in 520 and is considered as one of the early models of ascetic monasticism in Ireland Thursday 23
rd:St. Turibius 1538-1606, was a layman in Spain when
he was appointed archbishop of Lima, Peru by King Philip 11. He combated all the abuses of the conquerors in Peru and built up the Church there. Friday 24
th:-St. Macarton belongs to a very early generation of
saints in Ireland and is recognised as the first Bishop of Clogher. He us known as Patrick’s ‘Strong Man’ for his dedication and faithfulness.
Éire Óg Juvenile Training Our Juvenile training resumes on Saturday March 25th in Páirc Úi Bhriain @ 11am for U6s, U8s and U 10s boys and girls. Looking forward to the new season and newcomers are always welcome. Guaranteed expert coaching at all levels.
Mass times for the season of Lent In addition to the weekday morning Mass at 9.30am in Askea Church, an Evening Mass will be celebrated from Monday to Friday at 7pm. Other Services in Askea are: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament on Wednesdays from 10am to 7pm. Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Tuesdays after the 9.30am Mass. The Stations of the Cross will be recited before the 9.30am Mass on Tuesdays and Thursdays during Lent. The Rosary will be recited before the 9.30am Mass on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during Lent and before the 9.30am Mass on every weekday outside the season of Lent.
Lenten Poem
Lent is a time to take time to let the power
of our faith story take hold of us,
a time to let the events get up
and walk around in us,
a time to intensify our living unto Christ,
a time to hover over the thoughts of our hearts,
a time to place our feet in the streets of
Jerusalem or to walk along the sea and
listen to his Word,
a time to touch his robe
and feel the healing surge through us,
a time to ponder and a time to wonder….
Lent is a time to allow
a fresh new taste of God!
Perhaps we’re afraid to have time to think,
for thoughts come unbidden.
Perhaps we’re afraid to face our future
knowing our past.
Give us courage, O God,
to hear your Word
and to read our living into it.
Give us the trust to know we’re forgiven
and give us the faith
to take up our lives and walk. Ann Weems
The Tides of Providence It's not what you gather, but what you sow,
That gives the heart a warming glow.
It's not what you get, but what you give,
Decides the kind of life you live.
It's not what you have,
But what you spare.
It's not what you take,
But what you share
That pays the greater dividend
And makes you richer in the end.
It's not what you spend upon yourself
Or hide away upon a shelf,
That brings a blessing for the day.
It's what you scatter by the way.
A wasted effort it may seem.
But what you cast upon the stream
Comes back to you recompense
Upon the tides of providence.
Patience Strong
ODE ON SOLITUDE
Happy the man, whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air,
In his own ground.
Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,
Whose flocks supply him with attire,
Whose trees in Summer yield him shade,
In winter fire.
Blest, who can unconcernedly find
Hours, days, and years slide soft away,
In health of body, peace of mind,
Quiet by day,
Sound sleep by night; study and ease,
Together mixed; sweet recreation;
And innocence, which most does please,
With meditation.
Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie.
Alexander Pope
CHRISM MASS 2017
You are warmly invited to join
with Bishop Denis and the priests
of the diocese in the Cathedral,
Carlow at 7:30 p.m. on Monday,
April 10 to celebrate the Chrism
Mass - the largest diocesan celebration held during
the year!
Trócaire The 2017 Lent Resources draw on Trócaire’s work with communities vulnerable to natural disasters in Honduras.
A Quote from the Parish Resources for Lent: Hope
means to keep living amid desperation and to keep humming in the
darkness. Hope is knowing that there is love. It is trust in tomorrow. It
is falling asleep and waking to work when the sun rises. In the midst of
a gale at sea, it is to discover land. In the eyes of another, it is to see
understanding. As long as there is hope, there will also be prayer. And
God will be holding you in his loving hands. (Henri Nouwen)
Please support the work of Trócaire this Lent. Trócaire boxes are available in the Church and Parish Centre.
Legion of Mary The Parish Team welcome members of the
Legion of Mary who will visit Carlow starting on Saturday evening 18
th March. They will speak at all weekend Masses in Askea. They
hope to visit all the homes in Carlow from 19th
to 24th
March to promote the Legion. All are invited to a closing meeting in Askea Parish Community Centre on Friday 24
th March from 5.30pm to
6.30pm.
A Table Prayer for Lent
God of mercy and love, source of our hope,
this season of Lent we ask your blessing upon us
and upon this meal we are about to share.
As we give thanks for the gift of this food
we remember those people
who will go without a meal today.
We remember, too, those who hunger
for more than physical food.
We pray that all of us will seek out and be nourished
