St
Mary’s Church Bocan
29th
July 2007—No 34
17th
Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Responsorial
Psalm
On the day I called, you answered
me, O Lord.
The
Need to Pray
I got up early one morning,
And rushed right into the day;
I had so much to accomplish
That I didn’t have time to pray.
Problems just tumbled about me,
And heavier came each task.
‘Why doesn’t God help?’
I wondered.
He answered, ‘Because you didn’t
ask’.
I wanted to see joy and beauty,
But the day toiled on grey and bleak.
I wondered, ‘Why didn’t
God show me?’
He said ‘because you didn’t
seek.’
I tried to come into God’s presence,
I used all my keys at the lock.
God gently and lovingly chided,
‘My child, you didn’t
knock’.
I woke up early this morning,
And paused before entering the day.
I had so much to accomplish,
That I had to take time out to pray!
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Wise
Words
We may be excused for not always
being bright, but we are not
excused for not always being
gracious, yielding and considerate.
St Francis
De Sales
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Today’s
Readings
1st :
God hears the prayer of Abraham and
saves a city;
2nd : Paul presents
a theology of baptism to the Colossian
community
Gospel : Jesus teaches
his disciples how to pray.
Money
Matters:
Weekly Offering €1,735
Development Collection, €1,005.
Thank you for your generosity.
Good as new shop
opening
In Pound Street, Carndonagh [Margaret
Theresa the painters premises].
All Proceeds in aid of Bocan Chapel
/ Hall on Monday, 30th July. All donations
of bric-a-brac, clean clothes, sheets
etc most welcome.
If you could help by volunteering
for a couple of hours to ‘man
the shop’ then contact Angela
on 9379303 or Bridget Rose on 9379277
Gleneely
School
Top Soil required for school playground.
If you can help contact Catherine
McCallion on 9379123.
UMBRA
Clothes Collection on Friday, 3rd
August [before 12 noon] at Bocan Chapel
Car Park.
Childlikeness
Now, as always, God [discloses] himself
to “babes” and hides himself
in thick darkness from the wise and
prudent. We must simplify our approach
to him. We must strip down to essentials
[and they will be found to be blessedly
few]. We must put away all effort
to impress, and come with the guileless
candour of childhood. If we do this,
without doubt God will quickly respond.
AW Tozer
A big thank you
to Angela and to all those members
of the Ceili Club for their generous
donation of €600 toward the Bocan
Hall Re-Development Fund.
MMR Vaccine
Any child born in 2002 or already
in school that has not yet received
their Pre-school Booster are now invited
to attend their GP for the 4 in 1
and MMR Vaccine. All childhood vaccines
are free of charge. For more information
contact Bernie McNulty, Asst. Director
of Public Health Nursing specific
to Immunisations in Donegal on 087
9008239 / 9189117.
Serenity
House
Active Retirement Trip to
Killarney – Deposits
must be paid to Serenity House by
the end of July.
Arts & Craft Exhibition
in Serenity House on Sunday, 5th and
Monday, 6th August from 12 pm –
5 pm. Admission is free. Why not come
along and see what you also could
achieve under the tuition of expert
tutors.
ECDL for Second Level
– Begins on 3rd September [Monday
& Thursday from 5 pm – 7.30
pm] at a cost of €5 per week.
Contact Serenity House on 9382945
as places are limited.
Culdaff Active
Retirement Club
The Active Retirement Club is now
closed for the month of August. It
will reopen on Friday, 7th September
as usual and new members are most
welcome to attend.
Annual Culdaff
Sports
The Annual Sports will take place
next Sunday [5th August] at 2.30 pm.
All the usual races and side-shows
with a bouncy castle and seven-a-side
football. A great day out is guaranteed.
Good Morning
Inishowen
From mid-September a ‘Good Evening
Inishowen’ service to older
people is being introduced. If you
would like to join or find out more
then contact Anne on 9321598.
The Scottish
/Irish Hogmany in August Weekend 24-26
August.
Fr Eddie McGuinness is organising
this event to acknowledge the traditional
links between Scotland and Donegal.
More details next week.
Praying
Out
What would you do if you were given
divine information about the impending
destruction of a city? Contact the
TV stations? Telephone someone? Raise
the alarm? Abraham however chose to
‘…[remain] standing before
the Lord’. You could say that
he chose to remain in prayer. He stayed
in the presence of God
This Sunday we are told a few things
about prayer. They seem almost contradictory
at first sight, but they aren’t.
Prayer is not being long-winded as
God already knows our needs. It is
also to be persistent. At times, there
seems no answer to our prayer. It
may be that we need to demonstrate
our resolve, or that the time to grant
our request is not yet right, or that
we are asking for the wrong thing.
Whatever the reason, we are not to
lose heart; still less to worry that
God might grow impatient with us.
It also seems that God seeks intercessors
in the mould of Abraham when there
are situations of sin and injustice
[First Reading.] Have you raised your
voice for a good cause? Ever?
Someone once said that God answers
prayer in one of four ways: Yes, No,
Wait, and Are you joking? Somewhat
glib, but there is some truth to it.
Sometimes the heart must be ready,
that inner house swept clean before
the visitor an truly enter within.
Tom Cox
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