In any project, it is important to be clear about the mission at hand, to focus on it and live it and not to lose sight of it. And there is so much to distract us in the modern world.

We have never had so much media saturation before. Information is available constantly. But too much exposure to noise deafens.

Maybe that is what has happened to us in relation to the Word of God. When you look at that Ezra’s people of the First Reading, the ancient, uneducated, simple folk, who could not even imagine a TV or a computer, seem to be far more aware of the fact they are hearing the words of the Creator, than their modern counterparts. Unlike a modern congregation who sit in beefy calm, they actually react and respond to what they hear.

So, what’s changed? We live in constant haste, noise and fear. We are bombarded by an enormous amount of relevant and irrelevant information, countless images of poverty and opulence, violence and helplessness. We become unable to hear because we hear so much and the tune keeps changing constantly. The tragedy lies on our growing inability to distinguish between the voices – in effect, the voice of God is drowned in the chatter of a monkey. He doesn’t look for much, an open ear a heart, a willingness to hear and act in His name. So that ‘this text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’

Copyright: Fr. Tom Cox (Intercom)

In 1999 the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains was set up to receive information in relation to the location of the remains of those colloquially known as ‘the disappeared’ so that they might be returned to their families for Christian burial. These are people who had been killed by paramilitary organisations and buried in secret. There were fourteen in all. To date only five of these remains have been recovered.

The first was Eugene Simons who disappeared in 1981. His body was recovered by accident near Dundalk in 1984. On the morning the commission was set up in May 1999, the remains of Eamon Molloy were left in a coffin in Faughart graveyard. A few weeks later, after extensive searching by An Garda Síochána on foot of information given to the commission, the remains of Brian McKinney and John McClory were found in Co Monaghan. In spite of extensive searching during 1999 and 2000 no further remains were discovered until the remains of Mrs Jean McConville were found, by walkers, on Sheling Hill beach on the Cooley Peninsula in County Louth.

The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains is now appealing for anyone with any information in relation to these cases to contact it. Any information given to the commission will be treated as strictly confidential and may only be used to locate and identify the remains. The commission has set up an international confidential telephone number and Post Office box, details of which will appear soon in newspaper advertisements. The Commission emphasises that its work is strictly non–political. Their sole purpose is to return the victims’ remains to their families so that they can give them the Christian burial they have so far been denied.

To do this the commission has established good working relationships with interlocutors from the INLA and the provisional IRA. Both organisations have given their support to this campaign to locate the remains and have provided much information to date on most of the cases. In spite of this, the commission has had only limited success.

Experience shows that in spite of having extensive information, some crucial missing information can lead to large errors in the focus of the searches. This is why it is important to get as much information as possible from as many sources as possible.

While the commission is particularly anxious to get information in relation to those cases where it has received no information up to this, it would also like to hear about those cases where it has already received information.

This current effort provides a real opportunity to end the harrowing ordeal for the families concerned. With this in mind the commission appeal is to anyone who has any information on any of the cases to contact them now using the confidential telephone line 00800 555 855 00 or Post Office box ICLVR. PO BOX 10827, Dublin 2.

will be celebrated on Thursday 8th March at 4pm.

will be celebrated on Monday 26th & Tuesday 27th March.

Baptisms today at 2pm. Next baptisms will take place on Sunday 4th February 2007 at 2.00pm. Please note the next date available for Baptism is Sunday 18th March. The next pre-Baptism instruction will be on Thursday 8th February 2007 at 8pm in the convent.

It is necessary to attend pre-Baptism preparation before asking to have your child baptised. To register for pre-Baptism preparation please contact the parish office 9061 8180, Mon & Wed 2pm-5pm, Tue & Fri 10am-2pm & Thurs 10am-1pm.

We offer our sympathy and prayerful support to the families of those parishioners who died recently:

Peggy McErlean, Carrigart Avenue
James McNally, England

We pray for the happy repose of those whose anniversaries occur around this time:

Patrick Hanna
Pat Hardy
Robert Wright
John Dinnen
Sheila & Joseph Devlin
Sheila Toner
Mary McLoughlin
Arthur Sloan
Malachy Cunningham
Paul Murray
John Kinnard
Patrick Smith
Kathleen & Anthony Murray
Mary Smith
Josephine McCarthy
Sadie Hughes

Last week's offertory collection amounted to £1186.33

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