| Sunday
29th March 2009
5th
Sunday in Lent
Our
forgiving God
“Anyone
who loves her/his life loses it; anyone
who hates her/his life in this world
will keep it for the eternal life.”
At first glance that statement from
Christ in this Sunday’s Gospel
is hard to take. But it is God’s
wisdom and we must listen to it. It’s
really about our priorities. If our
priorities are all just about the
here and now and our own gratification
we will lose everything. If we set
our sights on what God wants for us
we will gain far more than we ever
imagined possible. And what God wants
for us is love, peace, joy, freedom,
full life - all of which can only
be gained by giving ourselves fully
to one another. Marriage and family
life are the two great schools for
learning self-giving. In marriage
each person has to deliberately choose
what is good and best for their life
together. In family life parents especially
have to constantly give of themselves.
That is how people grow to maturity.
Fr. Johnny
Doherty, C.Ss.R.
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A
pure heart create for me, o
God.
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Anniversary Mass for
Ethna Lynch, Thursday, 10 am;
Next Week’s
Anniversary Mass
Sunday, 11 am: Michael McDermott,
Drumley
Today’s
Readings
First Reading
Jeremiah 31: 31-34
Deep within them I will plant my Law,
writing it on their hearts.
Second Reading
Hebrews 5: 7-9
Christ became for all who obey him
the source of eternal salvation.
Gospel John
12: 20-33
If a grain of wheat falls upon the
ground and dies, it yields a rich
harvest.
“Unless
a wheat grain falls on the ground
and dies,
it remains only a single grain;
but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.”
(John 12:24, 25)
MASS
TIMES
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
[Anniversary Mass
for Ethna Lynch], Thursday, 10 am;
Friday, the First Friday of
the Month, 8 pm; Saturday,
10 am.
Stations of
the Cross, Wednesday, 7.30
pm.
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.
Next Week’s Anniversary
Mass
Sunday, 11 am: Michael McDermott,
Drumley
Priests
Collection: €1,725; Development
Collection: €960; Clerical Students
Collection €1,050. Thank you
for your generosity.
Uganda Appeal
A church gate collection will be taken
up at all Masses this weekend for
the Uganda Appeal – please give
as generously as you can.
Rewiring of
St Mary’s Church, Bocan
Any registered electrical contractor
interested in tendering for the work
please inform the Parish Council in
writing c/o Parochial House, Bocan
before the end of this week.
Whist
1st: Mickey Doherty, Glentogher
2nd Ellen Ann Lafferty, Glengad
3rd Betty Houten, Culdaff
Tickets: Betty Houten [2] Ellen Ann
Lafferty & Dolores O’Donnell.
Other Winners:
Annie McBride, Mary Ellen Ruddy, Phyllis
Lloyd, Darragh McLaughlin, Carrie
McLaughlin.
Whist every Friday
night at 8.45 pm in Bocan Hall. Snowball
€80 for 185 or less.
Public Meeting
A Public Meeting will be held in Gleneely
F.C. Clubhouse on Thursday, 2nd April
at 9 pm with a view to setting up
a Community Alert Group for the wider
Gleneely area. If you feel you can
help then please come along.
Blood Donations
1st April at CCS – 3 pm -4.45
pm & 7 pm-9.30 pm;
2nd April 2 pm-4.45 pm & 7 pm-9.30
pm. Donors urgently needed.
Inishowen Gardening Club
Next Meeting on Monday, 23rd March
at 8 pm in Wesley Hall, Carndonagh.
Talk by Brendan Little on the ‘Gardens
of Ireland’– all welcome
Bocan Community
Playgroup
A Fun Day is being organised for Easter
Sunday. If anyone would like to donate
home baking or a prize for the raffle,
then contact Edward Doherty 9379974
or Norah McGrenaghan on 9379820 /0876839714.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Love and Land
A final chance to see this hugely
entertaining play by the Bocan Drama
Club will be on Friday, 30th April
at 8.30 pm in St Patrick's Hall, Malin.
Well worth a second visit!
Serenity
House
Active Retirement Association
are organising a six day trip to Tullamore
on 17 May. For further information
contact Serenity House on 9382945.
Seats will be allocated on a first
come, first serve basis, so book early
to avoid disappointment.
EIST. East Inishowen
Cancer support group meeting takes
place in Serenity House on Monday
30 March at 7.30pm. Come along and
enjoy a cup of tea and a chat. New
members welcome. Contact Roisin on
0872377089.
Sue Rowlands
a podiatrist/chiropodist (BSc Podiatric
Medicine)
Chiropody Clinic - Castle Clinic which
has now opened on the Malin Road,
Moville.
If anyone in the community
would like to talk to me about a foot
health
issue or if an appointment is needed
I can be contacted on 9385758 or 086
3465817
A new Jobseeking
Training Programme will be
commencing in the IDP Carndonagh offices
next week. During the current economic
jobs climate, competition for job
vacancies is high. Why not come to
the Job Club and learn the skills
that will enable you put the best
application forward? This course is
free to all. Call Aisling on (074)
9361376 for further details and to
book your place.
The
Deep End – As You Like It
Usually I pick the bits of scripture
that I like. But not now. Verse 8
in today’s Second Reading [Heb
5:7-9] grabs my attention and won’t
let go. The reason? It makes no sense:
Jesus learning obedience through suffering!
Does that mean that had he not suffered
he would have been disobedient? If
so, to whom? His Father? Unthinkable!
So, what is the author saying? Thank
God for academics! Even though Richard
Rohr in Things Hidden, writes ‘In
fact none of the Bible appears to
be written out of or for academic
settings’ nevertheless thanks
to someone’s academic study
of scripture a person like me can
discover that in Greek there’s
a play on words here. The Greek for
‘learned’ is emathen,
while the Greek for ‘suffered’
is epathen. The purpose of this wordplay
may be to convey the close relationship
between faithfulness to God and ability
to face the suffering that results
from such faithfulness in a sinful
world.
So instead of verse 8 being a conundrum,
pessimistic and negative in tone,
it’s now a positive and upbeat
statement. It tells us that obedience
[better still ‘faithfulness’]
to God’s will and suffering
go hand-in-hand to some degree. But
most important of all: the suffering
doesn’t harm the faithfulness.
It can even perfect it. Furthermore,
it tells us that faithfulness to God
permeates all of life. Faith does
not dwell in compartments, but apartments.
There are no God-free zones. Facing
God means facing life with all its
joys and sorrows.
Perhaps I should pay more attention
to the bits I don’t like.
Fr Tom Cahill, SVD
Why
Fear?
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for your faithfulness.
In a changing world,
it is encouraging to know
that you are changeless;
In a fickle society,
it is reassuring to believe
that you can be trusted;
In a crumbling
community,
it is comforting to remember
that you are always near;
In a despairing
age,
it is exciting to recall
that you give hope for the future;
In my sin-scarred
life,
it is liberating to understand
that, through Jesus,
you have dealt once and for all with
my sin,
and made me clean – totally;
In my human weakness,
it is stimulating to know
that I am God’s workmanship,
and that I can do all good things
through Christ,
who died for me,
and rose again,
and now dwells within me
by his Spirit!
For all this,
I thank you, Lord,
for you are truly faithful.
Amen.
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