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St
Mary’s Church Bocan 11th November
2007—No 49
32nd
Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Reflection
God is the source of all life. To
him we owe our very being and his
plan for each of us is to be raised
to everlasting life with him in heaven.
Our faith calls us to express our
gratitude for this gift by the respect
which we show for our own lives and
the lives of all God’s creatures.
As well as living our lives as fully
as possible, we should also oppose
anything which threatens or degrades
human life.
Responsorial
Psalm
I shall be filled, when I awake, with
the sight of your glory, o Lord.
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Stay awake,
praying at all times for the
strength to stand with confidence
before the Son of Man.
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Today’s
Readings
First Reading
Maccabees 7: 1-2.9.14
The reward of faithfulness is everlasting
life.
Second Reading Thessalonians 2: 16
– 3:5
The grace of God gives us strength
and protection.
Gospel Luke 20: 27-38
Our God is a God of the living, not
of the dead.
Money
Matters:
Weekly Offering €1,620;
Mission Collection
€1,040. Thank you
for your generosity.
Deaths
We mourn the death of Dennis
Canny, Baskil – a very
committed parishioner over the years.
We extend our deepest sympathy to
his nephews and nieces from the Lynch
Family and to the wider family circle.
May he reap the reward for his faithfulness
in this life.
Parish Council
The three year term of the Parish
Council is coming to an end. All parishioners
are invited to a General Meeting in
Bocan Hall on Monday, 19th November,
at 8 pm to review the work of the
Council and to make arrangements for
the setting up of the new Council.
Whist Winners
1st Tommy Doherty, Redcastle;
2nd Betty Houghton;
3rd Gerard Doherty, Ourt.
Lowest Score: John Doherty,
Malin Head;
Highest Score, Mary McDermott,
Falmore.
Draw Winners: [1st] John
Doherty, ; [2nd] Mary Ellen Ruddy
[3rd] Hannah McLaughlin. The Whist
is on every Friday night at 8.45 pm
in Bocan Hall.
Snowball €70 for a score of 182
or better.
Derry Diocesan Pilgrimage
to Lourdes 16th-21s July 2008
150th Anniversary of the apparitions
at Lourdes
Application forms for the Lourdes
Pilgrimage can now be obtained from
the Parochial House or from the Pilgrimage
Office on 048 71260293. The fare is
£449stg.
Gift Vouchers for the Pilgrimage can
also be obtained from the above number
and would make an excellent Christmas
present.
Nazareth House, Fahan
Mass for the deceased Residents and
Staff of Nazareth House, Fahan will
be said on Wednesday, 21st November
at 7 pm in the Nazareth House. All
are welcome
Serenity House
Women’s Bible Study:
Meet on Monday, 12th November at 10.30
am. All women welcome.
Book Club: Meet on Tuesday, 13th
November at 7.30 pm in Serenity House.
This month’s book is: “The
Remains of the Day” by Kazuo
Ishigoro.
Moville Family Resource Centre:
The Resource Centre are running a
course for parents of national school
children about alcohol and drugs.
The course starts on 8th November
and lasts from 8 pm – 10 pm
in the Moville Day Centre [below the
Moville health centre].
The course is free and is run by the
HSE. To book a place or for more information
contact Mary McKinney on 9385548.
Chiropodist: Deirdre Britton
will be in Serenity House on Friday,
30th November at 9.30 am. Appointments
to 086 0666538 / 9360363.
Credit Union The AGM of the Foyle
Credit Union takes place on Tuesday,
20th November at 8 pm. All members
are welcome to attend and there will
be a free raw for members in attendance.
Derry Diocesan Mass for Deceased Young
People
This Mass will be said on Sunday,
25th November at 3 pm in the Holy
Family Church, Ballymagroarty, Derry.
The Mass will be an opportunity for
family and friends who have lost young
loved ones to come together in a spirit
of prayer and hope. Everyone is welcome.
Diocesan Mass for Deceased
Teachers takes place on Monday,
12th November in the Immaculate Conception
Church, Strabane at 7.30 pm. Bishop
Hegarty will celebrate the Mass and
everyone is welcome.
Death
We seem to give them back to Thee,
O God, who gavest them to us. Yet,
as Thou didst not lose them in giving,
so we do not lose them by their return.
Not as the world giveth, givest Thou,
O Lord of Souls. What Thou givest,
Thou takest not away, for what is
Thine is ours also if we are Thine.
And life is eternal and love is immortal,
and death is only an horizon, and
an horizon is nothing save the limit
of our sight. Lift us up, strong Son
of God, that we may see further; cleanse
our eyes that we may see more clearly;
draw us closer to Thyself that we
may know ourselves to be nearer to
our loved ones who are with Thee.
And while Thou dost prepare a place
for us, prepare us also for that happy
place, that where Thou art we may
be also for evermore.
William Penn [from Fruits of
Solitude]
Thank You
The recent church-gate collection
for Self-Help Development International
raised €728.39. Thanks to all
who contributed and to those who took-up
the collection.
Inishowen Athletics Club
‘A Night at the Races’
Friday, 23rd November in Simpson’s,
Carndonagh at 8.30 pm. Horses are
on sale throughout the area at €10
each. Everyone is welcome to come
along.
AFTER
BLENHEIM
More than 50,000 Irishmen, Catholic
and Protestant , died in the Great
War, 1914-1918. These Irishmen were
finally remembered in 1998 by president
Mary McAleese when she dedicated the
Irish Peace Tower and gardens to their
memory. This poem brings home the
futility of war
“My father lived at Blenheim
then,
Yon little stream hard by;
They burnt his dwelling to the ground,
And he was forced to fly;
So with his wife and child he fled,
Nor had he where to rest his head.
“With fire and sword the country
round
Was wasted far and wide,
And many a childing mother then,
And new-born baby, died;
But things like that, you know, must
be
At every famous victory.
“They say it was a shocking
sight
After the field was won;
For many thousand bodies here
Lay rotting in the sun;
But things like that, you know, must
be
After a famous victory.
“Great praise the Duke of Marlboro’
won,
And our good Prince Eugene.”
“Why, ‘twas a very wicked
thing!”
Said little Wilhelmine.
“Nay, nay, my little girl,”
quoth he;
“It was a famous victory.
“And everybody praised the Duke
Who this great fight did win.”
“But what good came of it at
last?”
Quoth little Peterkin.
“Why, that I cannot tell,”
said he;
“But ‘twas a famous victory.”
It was a summer evening;
Old Kaspar’s work was done,
And he before his cottage door
Was sitting in the sun;
And by him sported on the green
His little grandchild Wilhelmine.
She saw her brother Peterkin
Roll something large and round,
Which he beside the rivulet
In playing there had found.
He came to ask what he had found,
That was so large, and smooth, and
round.
Old Kaspar took it from the boy,
Who stood expectant by;
And then the old man shook his head,
And with a natural sigh,
“‘Tis some poor fellow’s
skull,” said he,
“Who fell in the great victory.
“I find them in the garden,
For there’s many here about;
And often, when I go to plow,
The plowshare turns them out;
For many thousand men,” said
he,
“Were slain in that great victory.”
“Now tell us what ‘twas
all about,”
Young Peterkin, he cries;
And little Wilhelmine looks up
With wonder-waiting eyes;
“Now tell us all about the war,
And what they fought each other for.”
“It was the English,”
Kaspar cried,
“Who put the French to rout;
But what they fought each other for,
I could not well make out;
But everybody said,” quoth he,
“That ‘twas a famous victory.
Robert Southey
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