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Second
Sunday of ordinary time
It’s a long
way from Cana in Galilee to Killowen
in County Down but I have little doubt
that the hopes and dreams of the unnamed
couple in today’s Gospel were
no different to the hopes and dreams
of the Killowen couple Damian and
his beautiful bride Grainne at whose
marriage I officiated on 27 May 2009.
The couple of the Gospel, like any
newly-weds, wanted their “Big
day” to be the best of days
but so quickly it began to go sour.
In a culture that prized the virtue
of hospitality, to run out of wine
would have made their wedding the
talk of the country. But “She”
was sensitive to their need; his “hour”
was precipitated and the couple did
certainly live that day happy ever
after.
The cynics say Marriage is the triumph
of hope over experience but the Church
says it is a Holy Sacrament that invites
a man and a woman to mirror the love
of Christ for his Church. Isaiah saw
it all when he wrote, “As the
bridegroom rejoices in his bride,
so will your God rejoice in you.”
As such it is hope for the world.
The world needs marriage for the simple
reason that the world is always in
need of love, a love that is faithful,
and a love that is true. But love
is a fragile plant needing the rich
soil of care and the gentle rains
of fidelity. And the garden of love
is not complete without precious petals
from the flower of forgiveness.
ACCORD, the Catholic marriage care
service, calls their marriage preparation
programme, “Marriage: a journey
not a Destination”. The sacrament
of marriage reminds us that this journey
is best walked in the presence of
the Lord who, as St John says, is
Love itself (1 John 4: 8). The 17th
century metaphysical poet Richard
Cranshaw caught the spirit of the
miracle at Cana when he wrote, “The
conscious water saw its God blushed.”
Today belongs to Grainne and Damian
and to all who share the sacrament
of marriage. In the goodness of God
may the wine of their love be as abundant
as the wine at the wedding feast in
Cana of Galilee so long ago.
(Fr Tom Cahill
– Intercom)
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| Daily
Readings
You
can access the daily readings on the
parish website:
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Planning
for the Future Consultation
At
the time of the Diocesan Campaign
Planning for the Future I (Father
Martin Magill) indicated that whatever
the parish received back from the
successful completion of the campaign
would be used for youth work within
the parish. So far £780.00
has been allocated from the total
amount of £7471.00 towards
the costs of guitar lessons for
young people leaving £6691.00
still to be allocated. A proposal
has come in from St Oliver Plunkett
Pre-School Playgroup for funding
(See below). So I would like to
suggest to parishioners that if
there were no objections that some
of this money be allocated to the
Pre-School Playgroup. If parishioners
have any objections to this, please
put these in writing and leave them
in a suggestion box in either church
porch.
St Oliver Plunkett Pre-School Playgroup
Proposal
The
management committee of St Oliver
Plunkett Playgroup is seeking financial
assistance from the monies returned
to the parish from the Diocesan
Planning for the Future Appeal.
The Playgroup which provides
pre-school education for 24 children
is housed in two mobile classrooms
located in the grounds of St Oliver
Plunkett Primary School. This building
has provided a very important service
for the young children of the parish
together with their parents for
30 years now and provides employment
for three of our parishioners. The
provision of this service is only
minimally grant-aided to cover the
cost of wages and equipment by Social
Services. Up until now fund-raising
activities undertaken by the staff,
management committee and parents
have managed to keep the interior
of the building welcoming and attractive
for the young children. A recent
survey has indicated that much more
serious repairs now need to be undertaken
to ensure that the building complies
fully with acceptable standards
of accommodation. We hope you will
support our bid to receive a share
of this money which will enable
another generation of children to
attend St Oliver Plunkett Playgroup.
Patricia
Barry (Secretary)
Sr Emmanuel (Treasurer)
Maureen Irvine (Chairperson)
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Volunteers
Required
Volunteers
are required to help run a Drop-In
café for young people in
the Parish Hall. It will run every
Saturday during Lent from 8.30-10.30pm.
If you can help please contact the
parish office on 028 90618180 Monday-Friday
9am-5pm.
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St Oliver Plunkett Primary School:
Enrolment for Primary One
Parents
of children who will become four years
of age
on or before 1st July 2010
are invited to our Open Day
Tuesday 19th January 2010 at 1.15pm
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Open Days/Nights for Primary
7 Pupils
| St
Louise’s Comprehensive College |
Open
Night on Wednesday 20th January
2010 at 6.30pm
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| St
Mary’s Christian Brothers’
Grammar School |
Open
Night Thursday 21st January2010
at 7.30pm
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Week of Prayer for Church Unity
The
Annual Service for Christian Unity
will be held in St Anne’s Cathedral
on Tuesday 19th January, 2010 at 8.00pm.
The theme for the service is “You
are witnesses of these things”.
The preacher at the service is the
Right Reverend Malcolm McMahon, OP,
Bishop of Nottingham
St Oliver Plunkett/St Matthew’s
Church of Ireland Ecumenical Group
has been invited to join the congregation
of the Church of the Immaculate Conception,
Glenarm (Fr Aidan Kerr’s parish)
for an Ecumenical Service on Thursday
21st January at 8pm. A warm invitation
is extended to all our parishioners
to join us at this service. For further
information contact Sally Brennan
028 90629833.
There will be an
Ecumenical Service on Monday 25th
January at 8.00pm in St Agnes’
Church. Preacher, Rev Jim Rea, from
Shankill Road, Methodist Church and
former Methodist President.
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Irish Bishops’
Drugs Initiative (IBDI)
Following
the Diocesan IBDI Conference in
November the parish has decided
to raise awareness of alcohol and
drug misuse by placing posters and
other information leaflets in both
porches. This information will cover
the risks of misusing these substances
as well as contact details of organisations
that can help anyone affected by
substance misuse.
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Trócaire
Emergency Earthquake Appeal
All donations to Trócaire
until the end of January
received in the box in the church
will go directly to the emergency
earthquake appeal in Haiti.
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Widowed,
Separated, Divorced
Weekly support groups meetings for those who are widowed, separated, divorced run every Wednesday in St Bride’s Hall, 38 Derryvolgie Avenue, Belfast, commencing 20th January 8pm - 10pm
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Please Note
Mass
intentions, Anniversaries Masses,
Baptisms, and Marriages are to
be arranged through the Parish
Office on 028 90618180 during the
office hours of 9am-5pm Monday-Friday.
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St
Oliver Plunkett’s Nativity Crib
The
Parish received an email from the
Director of Holy Family Maternity
Hospital, Bethlehem: In my name and
in the name of the staff, the mothers
and the newborn babies of Bethlehem,
I would like to thank you and your
parishioners for the very touching
and generous contribution (£1626.18)
to this hospital during the Christmas
Festivities. I would like to assure
you that these generous donations
will be used to cover the medical
expense of the poorest. May God Bless
you and your families.
Dr. Robert Tabash
Director of Administration
Holy Family Hospital
322-326 Paul VI Street - P. O. Box
8 – Bethlehem Palestinian Authority
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Apostolic Work Society
We wish to thank sincerely everyone who so generously supported our sale of work last week. We raised £1860. We are very grateful to you.
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Parish Suggestion Box
The Parish Pastoral Council is interested in hearing Parishioners views on any aspect of parish life. Suggestions Boxes and comments slips are now available in both porches for you to let us know of any comments or suggestions you wish to make.
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Mass Times
Saturday
Vigil 6.30pm
Sunday 10.00am and 12 Noon
Monday-Thursday 10.00am
Friday 7.30pm
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| Baptisms
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Next baptisms will take place on Sunday
7th February 2010 at 1.30pm. The next pre-Baptism
instruction will be on Thursday 21st January
2010 at 8pm in the convent.
It is necessary to attend pre-Baptism preparation before asking to have your child baptised. To register for the pre-Baptism preparation please contact the parish office on 90618180, Mon & Wed 2pm-5pm, Tue, Thurs & Fri 10am-2pm.
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Newly Baptised
We welcome into our parish family
Kerriann
Sarah Campbell
Fionntán Tadgh McKenna
Odhrán Eoin Phillips
who were recently baptised.
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| We
Loved Them In Life
We offer
our prayerful support to the families who
died recently:
We
pray for the happy repose of those whose
anniversaries occur around this time:
John Allison
James and Sarah Bell
William John McConnell |
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| Collections
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The offertory collection
amounted to £919.82
Thanks to all
those who gave to the Parish collections.
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