Hope that is seen is no hope at all.  Who ‘hopes’  for what he already has? If we hope for what we do not yet have, though, we actively wait for it with patient endurance.

Romans 8: 24-25

Often it is difficult to feel any hope. We hear so much bad news. Often situations around us appear to be out of control and we feel powerless to change them. Yet we remember that, when Jesus died on the cross and all appeared hopeless, he was raised   to new life. Even death could not defeat him. Instead we have given hope through the resurrection.

Lord, may we live this and every day in the knowledge of  love and power, and always grow in hope. Grant us open and expectant hearts. Help us see and celebrate signs of your power at work in our world today. Then we can begin again and again to live out our hope as your disciples – with confidence, courage and joy.

PRAYER

In the midst of war and hunger

We celebrate the promise of plenty and peace

In the midst of oppression and tyranny

We celebrate the promise of service and freedom

In the midst of doubt and despair

We celebrate the promise of faith and hope

In the midst of fear and betrayal

We celebrate the promise of  joy and loyalty

In the midst of hatred and death

We celebrate the promise of  love and life

In the midst of sin and decay

We celebrate the promise of salvation and renewal

In the midst of the dying Lord

We celebrate the promise of the living Christ

“The God of the cosmos,

the creator,

in his love and compassion,

has healed humanity of death

by sending his Beloved Son

in an act of self-emptying love and service,

freeing us from the power of sin

and making us into a new creation

through the Holy Spirit.”

CHRIST IS RISEN!
ALLELUIA!

Deepening the Connection between Faith and Life

A member of our Faith Community participated in the Faith for Life Course which ran from the Autumn of 2018 to the Spring of 2019.

Attached is her faith-for-life-testimony given at the final group presentation which some of our parishioners were fortunate to attend.

Also are details of a Social Analysis Project which considered bringing an aspect of Laudato Si to life by considering a project related to the Care of our Common Home.

The Social Analysis Project considered the use of Eco Bricks – a project initiative underway by the Seal Rescue Ireland.

Details about ecobrick workshops in Seal Rescue Ireland in Courttown are below or Dublin based at Reuzi.ie

If you would like to consider participating in a Faith For Life Course, contact the office for Evangelisation and Ecumenism. Details of the 2019-2020 programme are below.

Confessions for Easter

This will give us all an opportunity to prepare for our Easter celebrations and to experience the healing love of God.

The Welcoming Ceremony

The welcoming ceremony is part of the celebration of baptism in the community.  It is intended to be a way of introducing the children to the Christian community to which they will belong and become a part of, as they grow in their faith.

The welcoming ceremony will take place as part of the Sunday Mass on the 2nd Sunday of the month before the month of Baptism of the child. For example, if your child’s Baptism ceremony is in July then you will take part in the Welcoming Ceremony on the 2nd Sunday of June. It will take place within the 11:30am Mass in Holy Rosary Church.

In April due to Palm Sunday being on the second Sunday, this ceremony will take place on April 7th.

The first stage of baptism will be celebrated at this Mass.  You will present your child to the community to be welcomed and your child will also be anointed on the heart at this time. Please note that the Godparents of your child and other family members are very welcome to come to this ceremony.

Some images of our involvement in St. Patrick’s Day in our pastoral area

In order to continue to enhance our Sunday Liturgy we need more volunteers to assist with the Liturgy of the Word at 10am Mass in St. Kilian’s Church.

Can YOU help? Take time this week to consider and next Sunday 24th March after the 10am Mass there will be an opportunity to become involved.

The St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Greystones is always a hugely positive event, where community organisations come together to celebrate our national saint, and our island culture. This year, several local churches have decided to collaborate in celebrating our joint Christian heritage. Members of Holy Rosary Church, the Presbyterian Church, St. Patrick’s Church have been working on a float that would embrace all Christian traditions present in our town. This float would parade under the banner of ‘Greystones Churches Together’, with the proposed theme being ‘Land of Saints and Scholars’.

We’re inviting all pupils of local schools to join in with our parade float. We would encourage children either to dress as a Celtic saint, perhaps the ‘patron saint’ for their school (Kevin, Patrick, Brigid, Lawrence), or simply to wear their school uniform. We would also suggest that, perhaps as part of a school project, children make and bring a symbol of their school’s patron saint (by way of suggestion: a shamrock, a St. Brigid cross, a blackbird, or a mitre) which they can carry in the parade. We will need parents also to help and join the walk.

Children would arrive at the designated area on Mill Road no later than 11.45, in order to parade at 12. Warm clothing is highly recommended, weather depending. Parents with younger children should bring up the rear of the float, in order to ensure children arrive safely at the parade’s end.

WE ARE FLOAT NO.33 IN THE PARADE

Morning Prayer of the Church will be celebrated each Tuesday and Thursday of Lent beginning Tuesday 5th of March at 9.15am in the Holy Rosary Church.

All Welcome.

What is the Liturgy of the Hours?

The  Liturgy of the Hours  is a collection of daily psalms, prayers, and scripture readings that has been part of the Church’s liturgical prayer life almost from it’s very beginnings. It is prayed at morning, midday, evening, night, plus one other “floating hour” that can be done at any time.

You may also have heard other names for the liturgical hours, names derived from Latin. Lauds, Vespers, and Compline are the other names for Morning, Evening, and Night Prayer. Daytime Prayer can be called Terce, Sext, or None, depending on whether it is prayed at Mid-morning, Noon, or Midafternoon.

The psalms and readings of the Divine Office rotate in a four week cycle throughout the year during ordinary time. There are  additional variations for the liturgical seasons and/or feast days.

Although long perceived to be the territory of religious and clergy, the Divine Office is strongly recommended by the Church to lay people.

The Liturgy of the Hours

From Universalis.com

“Seven times a day I praise you.” – Psalm 118(119):164

The Hours help us to pray without ceasing.

Morning Prayer – at the start of the day’s work and the coming of the light.

Daytime Prayer – at mid-morning, noon and in the afternoon, to unite us with the one for whom and through whom we are working.

Evening Prayer – at the end of the day’s work, to offer up what we have done.

Night Prayer – last thing at night, to commend our souls to God.

And finally, there is the magnificent Office of Readings, at whatever time of day is best for us to reflect on the mystery of salvation, with the help of Scripture and the writings of the Fathers of the Church.

“The purpose of the Divine Office is to sanctify the day and all human activity.” – Apostolic Constitution, Canticum Laudis.

The Liturgy of the Hours is the richest single prayer resource of the Christian Church, with prayers, psalms and readings for each of the Hours, changing each day and through the seasons.

But such riches come at a price. With more than a thousand different Hours every year, the books are thick and using them is complex. So complex that it is rare to find anyone reciting the Hours apart from the clergy and religious. Which is not as it should be. This treasure is too marvellous to be the exclusive possession of our servants:

“The Office is… the prayer not only of the clergy but of the whole People of God.” – Apostolic Constitution, Canticum Laudis.

Each Friday during Lent join us in a Taizé Prayer service taking place in St. Kilian’s Church Blacklion, from 8pm to 9pm. All are welcome.

It will conclude on Good Friday evening 19th April.

Singing is one of the most essential elements of worship. Short songs, repeated again and again, give it a meditative character.

Using just a few words they express a basic reality of faith, quickly grasped by the mind. As the words are sung over many times, this reality gradually penetrates the whole being. Meditative singing thus becomes a way of listening to God. It allows everyone to take part in a time of prayer together and to remain together in attentive waiting on God, without having to fix the length of time too exactly.

To open the gates of trust in God, nothing can replace the beauty of human voices united in song. This beauty can give us a glimpse of “heaven’s joy on earth,” as Eastern Christians put it. And an inner life begins to blossom within us.

These songs also sustain personal prayer. Through them, little by little, our being finds an inner unity in God. They can continue in the silence of our hearts when we are at work, speaking with others or resting. In this way prayer and daily life are united. They allow us to keep on praying even when we are unaware of it, in the silence of our hearts.

Learn some of the Taizé music here or read a guide about Meditative singing courtesy of the Taizé website