| St
Mary’s Church Bocan
28th
December 2008
Happy
New Year and
may the blessing of the
newly born saviour
come into every home in 2009.
The
Holy Family
“Meanwhile
the child grew to maturity and he
was filled with wisdom; and God’s
favour was with him”.
It is always fascinating to watch
children growing up. Each small stage
is filled with wonder. It doesn’t
take long for each child to begin
to show his/her own individuality
and special gifts. This is what happened
with Jesus also. Mary and Joseph had
to go through all the emotions of
parents everywhere, wondering how
this boy was going to turn out. They
worried about him. In today’s
world, hildren growing up have to
contend with so much that get in the
way of their true development. Many
are being drawn away from the practice
of their faith and any real knowledge
of God’s love, much to the distress
of their parents and grandparents.
It is only by working together as
parents, as couples, as community,
that we can hand on this most valuable
gift of faith. Make your home a place
of love and prayer. And make your
faith community a place of joy and
welcome and God’s favour.
Fr. Johnny
Doherty, C.Ss.R.
 |
He,
the Lord, is our God. He remembers
his covenant forever. |
 |
The Holy Family
of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
First Reading
Genesis 15: 1-6
Your heir shall be your own
flesh and blood.
Second Reading
Hebrews 11: 8, 11-12, 17-19
The faith of Abraham, Sarah and Isaac.
Gospel Luke
2: 22-40
The child grew, filled with wisdom.
MASS
TIMES
Monday: Wedding Mass at 3 pm;
Tuesday: Wedding Mass
at 1 pm;
Wednesday & Thursday,
10 am;
Friday, the First
Friday of the Month, 8 pm;
Saturday, 10 am.
Saturday, Vigil, 8
pm;
Sunday, 8.30 am &
11 am.
Confessions
Friday, 7.15 pm-7.45 pm;
Saturday, 7.15 pm-7.45 pm.
Anniversary
Masses
Sunday, 11 am: Philomena McFeeley,
Bunagee
Next Sunday: Mary
Ellen McConalogue
Weekly Offering:
€1,700; Development
Collection: €975. Thank you for
your generosity.
N.B.
Envelopes for the new year will be
delivered this week. Parish Councillors
please call to the house on Wednesday
or Thursday.
A big
thank you to everyone for your most
generous Christmas Collection.
The recent
Church Gate Collection for Children
with Special Needs raised €390.
a big thank you to all who contributed
and collected.
Whist
Whist Friday, 2nd January at 8.45
pm in Bocan Hall.
Snowball : €110
for 182 or more.
Annual Christmas
Concert in Carrowmenagh
Sunday, 28th December at 8 pm. Admission:
€5 and proceeds are for the upkeep
of the Community Centre.
A good night’s entertainment
is guaranteed.
Missionaries
of the Sacred Heart
Thousands of used mobile phone are
discarded annually, especially around
Christmas. Missionaries of the Sacred
Heart can recycle used mobiles to
support their work in Third World
countries. Phones with batteries [but
not chargers] can be posted to Mobile
Phone Recycling, P.O. Box 23, Western
Road, Cork.
Marriage
A good marriage must be created.
In the marriage, the little things
are the big things…
It is never being too old to hold
hands.
It is remembering to say ‘I
love you’ at least once each
day.
It is never going to sleep angry.
It is having a mutual sense of values
and common objectives.
It is standing together and facing
the world.
It is forming a
circle of love that
gathers in the whole
family.
It is speaking words
of appreciation and demonstrating
gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is having the capacity to forgive
and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere
in which each can grow.
It is a common search for the good
and the beautiful.
It is not only marrying the right
person,
It is being the right partner.
A Blessing
for Friendship
May you be blessed with good friends,
And learn to be a good friend to yourself,
Journeying to that place in your soul
where
There is love, warmth and feeling.
May this change you.
May it transfigure
what is negative, distant
Or cold within your heart.
May you be brought
into real passion, kindness
And belonging.
May you treasure
your friends.
May you be good to them, be there
for them
And receiving all the challenges,
truth and light you need.
May you never
be isolated but know the embrace
Of your Anam Cara
John O’Donaghue
The
Deep End – Family Fortunes
The word of God doesn’t deal
in half-measures, even when telling
a story. Take today’s First
Reading, from Genesis. Abraham, incredibly,
becomes a father at the overripe age
of 100. and Sarah, advanced in years
and barren all her life, gives birth
to the child. The message is clear
and challenging: nothing is impossible
with God.
What’s also
clear is that God’s gift of
life blossoms in spite of all threats
to it. In Isaac’s case, parents
are so old they could die while he
is still an infant. What would happen
then? But God is not stupid, confused,
or whimsical. Nobody and no thing
can thwart God’s plan. Even
when it seems, incomprehensibly, that
God wants Isaac dead you know that
there is something else at stake.
That’s the conviction that you
can’t go wrong by being faithful
to God’s will – even when
it seems to make no sense.
Did it make sense for Jesus to be
conceived out of wedlock? Not a good
start to life. Did tongues wag? Did
it make sense for Jesus to be crucified
as a despised criminal? Not a good
end to life. Did fingers point? Yet
God was fulfilling a plan in spite
of it – and continues to do
so today.
Today’s feast has an important
message for all families, but especially
those experiencing difficulties. Wagging
tongues, pointing fingers, and apparent
failure in life mean nothing to God.
What count are: integrity, faith in
God’s promise and the courage
to take God at God’s word and
act upon it – in full measure.
Fr Tom Cahill SVD
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