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St
Mary’s Church Bocan - 17th
February 2008
Second
Sunday in Lent
The Bloom
of Nature - James Thompson,
Spring 1728
...Along
the blushing borders, bright with
dew,
And on yon mingled wilderness of flowers,
Fair-handed Spring unbosoms every
grace;
Throws out the snowdrop, and crocus
first;
The daisy, primrose, violet darkly
blue,
And polyanthus of unnumbered dyes;
The yellow wall-flower stained with
iron brown;
And lavish stock that scents the garden
round:
From the soft wing of vernal breezes
shed,
Anemonies; auriculas, enriched
With shining meal o’er all their
velvet leaves;
And full ranunculas, of glowing red.
Then comes the tulip-race, where Beauty
plays
Her idle freaks; from family diffused
To family, as flies the father-dust,
The varied colours run; and, while
they break
On the charmed eye, th’ exultant
florist marks,
With secret pride, the wonders of
his hand,
No gradual bloom is wanting; from
the bud,
First-born of Spring, to Summer’s
musky tribes:
Nor hyacinths, deep-purpled; nor jonquils,
Of potent fragrance; nor narcissus
fair,
As o’er the fabled fountain
hanging still;
Nor broad carnations, nor gay-spotted
pinks;
Nor, showered from every bush, the
damask rose
Infinite numbers, delicacies, smells,
With hues on hues expression cannot
paint,
The breath of Nature, and her endless
bloom.
Responsorial
Psalm
May your love be upon us, O Lord,
as we place all our hope in you..
First Holy
Communion & Confirmation Dates
The First Holy Communion will take
place this year on
Saturday, 24th May at 11 am.
The Sacrament of Confirmation will
be administered on
Wednesday, 2nd April at 5
pm.
Collection:
Weekly Offering,
€1,527; Development Collection,
€1,000. Thank you for your generosity.
READINGS
1st
God calls Abram and blesses him abundantly.
Abram’s faith will lead him
on a journey which will be testing
but ‘he who has promised is
faithful’;
2nd
The Good News is that God took the
decision to save us ‘from the
beginning of time’;
Gospel In preparation
for the Passion, Peter and John are
fortified by the revelation of Jesus’
true identity.
Youth Club
Rota
Friday, 22nd February: George Brennan,
Elizabeth McDermott, Lizzie O’Brien,
Doreen Donaghy.
UMBRA Clothes
Collection
Any unwanted clothes will be collected
from the Chapel car-park on Saturday,
23rd February at 12 noon.
Whist Winners
1st Gerard Doherty, Ourt; 2nd Eamon
Donaghy, Effishmore, 3rd Mickey O’Donnell,
Ballybeg, Carn.
Draw Winners: Caroline Catterson,
Parochial House; Eamon Donaghy, Effishmore,
Phyllis Lloyd, Gleneely.
Other Winners: Paddy McLaughlin, Gleneely,
Corney McFeeley, Culdaff, Phyllis
Lloyd, Gleneely, James McConalogue,
Cashel, Mick Hirrell, Glentogher,
Carn.
Snowball Next Week
€60 for 185 points or less. Friday
Nights at 8.45 pm in Bocan Hall. Everyone
welcome.
Parish Council
Voting papers will be delivered in
the next two weeks to all those over
18 yrs. Voters are asked to present
6 names from their school area, and
place these in the boxes provided
in the church on the following weekend
23rd/24th February; 1st/2nd March.
Voting slips for Gleneely are Red
and the Culdaff voting slips are green.
Attention
all employers and job-seekers
A Job Fair will take place in the
Inishowen Gateway Hotel on Wednesday
March 5th from 10.30 am – 6.30
pm. Employers from Inishowen, Derry
and Letterkenny who are looking for
staff will be there. Interested employers
and jobseekers please contact Aisling
at Inishowen Development Partnership
on 9361376.
Bocan Community
Defibrillator Group
Would members please note that we
are now due for re-certification which
will take place in Bocan Hall on Thursday,
21st February at 7.30 pm. We will
also have a refresher course on Monday,
18th February at 7.30 pm. It is vital
that all members attend if at all
possible.
Charity 25-Card
Drive
In Malin GAA Centre on Saturday, 23rd
February at 8.30 pm. 2 Rounds at €10
per round including supper. All proceeds
to Bothair to buy cows, goats and
hens for
poor African families. Among the prizes
on offer are Easter Bumper Hampers
and Easter Eggs. Come along and support
this worthy cause.
Thank You
The Parents Committee of St Nicholas’
pre-School for Children with Special
Needs would like to thank all those
who supported their recent church-gate
collection and the Christmas Day Swim
at Lisfannon.
Wise Words
To lift up the hands in prayer gives
God glory, but a man with a dung-fork
in his hand, a woman with a slop pail,
give him glory too. He is so great
that all things give him glory if
you mean they should. - Gerard Manly
Hopkins
The Deep
End – Rainy Sundays
British novelist Susan Ertz [1894-1985]
once remarked that millions long for
eternity who wouldn’t know what
to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday
afternoon. Nowadays, the lure of unreality
and cyberspace from television and
the Internet, has eased that problem
to some degree. Unfortunately, in
so doing virtual reality increasingly
substitutes for the real thing.
Our faith, however, carries us far
beyond the confines of cyberspace.
It propels us to the edge of eternity.
It blows our mind with the promise
of resurrection and a fullness of
life beyond imagining. And, it does
so while keeping our feet firmly fixed
on mother earth.
The invitation to journey beyond cyberspace
and unreality was issued a long time
ago to Abraham [Genesis 12:1-4]. He
was to leave his familiar surroundings
and move without knowing his final
destination. He would discover that
along the way trust and commitment
come first. Fulfillment of promise
comes later.
Sunday afternoons were not a problem
for Abraham. He had a mission in life
to carry out, a future to face, a
destiny to fulfill – hail, rain,
or snow. May we use our Sunday afternoons
wisely. This Lent they may they be
times to abstain from the self-indulgence
of feeling bored. Fr Tom
Cahill SVD
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