St
Mary’s Church Bocan
20th May 2007—No 24
ASCENSION SUNDAY
Mass
Times
Monday, 7.30 pm; Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, 9.30 am.
First
Holy Communion Mass on Saturday at
11am.
Monday—Friday,
11 am.
Confessions
Saturday, 7.15 pm—7.45
pm.
Responsorial Psalm
The Lord goes up with
shouts of joy;
the Lord goes up with trumpet blast.
Happiness
So early it's still almost dark
out.
I'm near the window with coffee,
and the usual early morning stuff
that passes for thought.
When I see the boy and his friend
walking up the road
to deliver the newspaper.
They wear caps and sweaters,
and one boy has a bag over his shoulder.
They are so happy
they aren't saying anything, these
boys.
I think if they could, they would
take
each other's arm.
It's early in the morning,
and they are doing this thing together.
They come on, slowly.
The sky is taking on light,
though the moon still hangs pale over
the water.
Such beauty that for a minute
death and ambition, even love,
doesn't enter into this.
Happiness. It comes on
unexpectedly. And goes beyond, really,
any early morning talk about it.
Raymond Carver
1938—1988
Money
Matters:
Weekly Offering
€1,605;
Development Collection,
€1,020. Thank you
for your generosity.
N.B. The Diocesan
Purposes Collection will
be taken up at all Masses next weekend,
and there will be no Development Envelope
that weekend.
Today’s
Readings
1st - The return
of Jesus to the Father is really the
guarantee of his constant presence
with us through his Spirit;
2nd - Paul speaks
with enthusiasm of life in Christ;
Gospel - The gospel
emphasises that those who witnessed
the Ascension of the Lord were ‘filled
with joy’.
1st Holy Communion
Practice in St Mary’s Church
on Wednesday night at 7 pm.
P.S. There will a
short meeting re refreshments of the
parents of pupils in 2nd Class on
Monday night at 8pm in Bocan Hall.
Blessing of Graves
- Sunday, 8th July at 7pm.
Parish Council Meeting
Monday night at 8 pm in Bocan Hall.
All councillors are asked to attend.
Bocan Youth Club Rota –
25th May
Catherine McGrenaghan, Nora McGrenaghan,
George Brennan, Jane Doherty.
The God I Believe In
A God that is present to my deepest
moments, whether of joy or of despair,
is the God that I believe in. To choose
to believe in such a God as this,
to give one’s heart and mind
to the truth of such a belief, is
what faith means to me. And it is
here precisely that I have found what
can only be called a reciprocation
of my belief. My belief is somehow
sustained by divine grace once the
choice was made. I had to decide,
make up my own mind, as freely as
I could, to believe in God. This freedom
was to play an important part in all
that followed. But on deciding to
say ‘yes’, many of my
difficulties disappeared. Maurice
Reidy
House of Prayer, Achill
A bus will be travelling to the house
of Prayer in Achill on Saturday, 28th
July. The bus will depart from Moville
at 7 am travelling via Gleneely, Culdaff,
Malin, Carndonagh and Buncrana. The
fare is €20 and to book a place
contact Sarah on 086 1939125 or Breege
on 9367152.
Hospitalite Cards - Thanks
The Annual Lourdes Hospitalite Collection
raised €405. thanks to all those
who contributed and to those who collected.
Culdaff Fun
Soccer
To cater for the large numbers attending,
the following arrangements have been
made: Under 8s from 5 pm – 6
pm; the 8-10 years group will run
from 6-7 pm as normal. All are welcome
to attend.
Today’s
Psalm
This psalm was sung by pilgrims on
their way to the temple in Jerusalem.
It is easy to see why it was chosen
for the Ascension of the Lord.
God goes up with shouts of
joy;
The Lord goes up with trumpet blast.
The writings of Luke tell us that
the Ascension points us in two directions.
First, we are to look up in joyful
anticipation of the Lord returning
to take us up in glory. With the psalmist
we sing: All people, clap your hands,
cry to God with shouts of joy!
The second direction we take is to
look out…to spread the good
news…to be witnesses.
To be a witness is to allow God's
goodness to be expressed in every
fibre of our being. It means staying
in the city of life until ‘you
are clothed with the power from on
high.’
The best way to open up our doors
to the Holy Spirit is by continually
praising God. That is what the disciples
did.
Sing praise to God, sing praise,
Sing praise to our king, sing praise.
Fr Silvester O’Flynn
OFMCap
Yoga -There will
be a Yoga Class starting in Carrowmena
Community Centre soon. For more details
contact Lyn Crumlish on 9367983.
Water Scheme
- Householders from Cruick
Carrowmore please come to a meeting
in Bocan Hall at 8 pm on Thursday,
24 May. Work is to begin soon.
Co-operating for Cancer Care
North West - “Equal access for
Equal Need”
Public meeting in Clanree Hotel, Letterkenny
on Monday, 21st May at 8.30 pm. Guest
speakers include Dr Orla Hardiman,
Consultant Neurologist from Beaumont
Hospital; Margo O’Donnell and
Marie O’Connor author of ‘Emergency:
Irish Hospitals in Chaos’. The
meeting will highlight the need for
accessible public health services
for everyone, including cancer patients.
All are welcome to attend.
Departures
and Arrivals
As schooldays near an end, and family
closeness [and frustration!] beckons
over a long [hot?] Summer, today’s
Gospel shows us an Ascension. Not
the departure gate of an airport with
the sounds of jet clawing their way
skywards. This is the Mount of Olives,
in East Jerusalem; which to this day
has a tiny, unadorned chapel of the
Ascension, compared to the large Basilica
built over Calvary. This is as it
should be. Because the Ascension is
not an escape from the world but an
affirmation of what He has done on
the cross.
Schooldays are not a bad parallel
either for what takes place on the
Ascension day. In every departure
of a parent as they leave their offspring
off – there is a goodbye but
no real leave-taking. The farewell
is only temporary. Years later, that
same child may well find themselves
leaving a now aged and infirm parent
in the care of a nursing home. As
hearts heave, both child and parent
know that again, while there is a
goodbye, you have no real leave-taking.
Same for Jesus on Ascension. We find
ourselves in the new and frightening
surroundings of this life, in a place
where we are uncomfortable and often
feel ill-equipped to carry on. And
yet, we burn the tall new Paschal
candle to indicate his closeness,
we meet and recognise Him in the breaking
of bread, the hearing of the word
and hopefully in each other. Hear
him bless you and whisper with love
‘goodbye, no one is leaving,
I will send you the Holy Spirit.’
Fr Tom
Cox
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