Church of the Ascension of the Lord 25th February 2018 Parish Office Open Hours: Tuesday to Friday from 10.30am 12.30pm. Tel: 01-2954296, Email: parishofbalally@eircom.net Web: www.balallyparish.ie Pastoral Centre: Tel: 01-2953095 Email: balallyppc@gmail.com Web: www.balallyppc.ie Priests of the parish: Fr Peter Byrne: Tel: 089-4824671 Mgr. Dermot A Lane: Tel: 01-295 6165 Mass Times & Intentions Sunday: 25th February 10.00 am: Ailish Byrne/Joe Byrne / Betty O Neill 11.30am: John Kavanagh / Marie Bradshaw (5th Anniversary) 12.45pm: Mass Pro Populo Mon 26th Sat 3rd March- 10.00am Monday: Aileen Wale / Special Intention Tuesday: Sr. Catherine Spillane / Angela Cahill Segarty & Una Segarty / Special Intention Wednesday: Molleen Joy Adank Thursday: Eddie Kelly Friday: Altar List of the Dead Saturday: Special Intention:(50th Wedding Anniversary Maureen & Séamus Coughlan) Sunday: 4th 10.00 am: Anne Delaney/Thomas Delaney/ Kathleen Delaney 11.30am: Mass Pro Populo 12.45pm: Bridgid Kavanagh (2nd Anniversary) / Oonagh Quinn THE DEEP END: Transfiguration Can you recall a time when you had an aha moment? One of those moments when something suddenly makes perfect sense to you. It may have been a long time coming, a combination of various pieces of a jigsaw fitting together or it may be an insight you received from prayer or spiritual practice. These are really special moments. We are never quite the same afterwards, something changes, even a small thing, but something in us changes. These aha moments even move us outside of ourselves or beyond ourselves in some way. They are moments of transfiguration. This is what is happening to the disciples in today s gospel: a very deep and significant aha moment. Peter is desperate to stay on the mountain in that blissful moment with Jesus, so much so that he offers to build tents. One can understand Peter s request, after such an occurrence of course he would want to stay there. What moments of encounter in your own life do you recall? An encounter where you simply did not want it to end? It may be something very deep and meaningful which gave you a glimpse of God or a moment of complete contentment? As with all blissful moments, the disciples must come down from the mountaintop. Jesus way involves walking a very different path, a path that will not be so easy. Jesus way is different to what Peter may have had in mind. No doubt these moments of transfiguration strengthen us all for walking the more difficult paths. Jane Mellett mellettj@gmail.com
Other Church Services: Holy Day Masses: Vigil 7.30pm; 10.00am,1.10pm Confessions: Saturday after 10.00am Mass Baptisms: Second Sunday of the month 1.30pm straight after the 12.45pm Mass View the Live Broadcast of our services Go to www.balallyparish.ie/balally-goes-live/ for a live streaming of our Masses & Services The Rosary: is recited every morning at 9.40am before 10:00 am Mass. All Welcome. Lay-led Evening prayer is held every Thursday at 7.30pm in the church. All Welcome St Mary s Sandyford, Mass times: Saturdays: Vigil 6.00 p.m. Sundays: 9:00 a.m., 11:00a.m, 6:00p.m.(Youth Mass)Mondays to Fridays: 10:00am. ( Tue & Thurs: 7.15 am Lent Only) Holy Days: 10.00am and 7.30pm. Sacrament of Reconciliation/Confessions by request Lenten Night Prayer A sung form of Night Prayer will take place in St Mary's on the Fridays of Lent @ 8pm. -This short service will include music, candlelight, silence, scripture, reflection and stillness to end the day. We encourage as many of you as possible to commit to attending for Lent. Baptism & Confirmation Certificates can be booked through our website: balallyparish.ie just look under Sacraments for the Request Form. Get Well to all our parishioners who are sick, at home or in hospital, we wish you a speedy recovery The Monthly outdoor collection for the Society of St Vincent DePaul takes place after all Masses Today Society of St Vincent De Paul Annual Clothing Appeal The appeal is for clean, good-quality clothes, bedclothes, curtains, shoes etc. Bags will be available inside the church porch this Sunday 25th February and bags of clothing will be collected next Sunday 4th March only The Suggestion Box Strikes Again 2. Dear Parishioners we (members of the Parish Team) have received another 13 suggestions over this last while. Thank you very much indeed. They were all read and discussed at the Parish Pastoral Council meeting. A couple of these regarding safety have been dealt with immediately. Others can be dealt with immediately while most require time and planning. Some other suggestions are personal in nature and we cannot facilitate an answer as no contact details were submitted. Indeed some suggestions require more work on behalf of the volunteers who basically run the parish and it would be improper to impose upon them more time commitments. Several of the suggestions rightly point to shortcomings in lighting and heating issues in the parish. These are very important aspects and we have begun a process to address them on a long term basis. When the church was built there was no insulation put into the walls. The windows and the side doors are not double glazed. These factors contribute to the immediate dispersion of the heat. The heating system itself is requiring a lot of attention and is making a lot of noise. The fixing of these inter-related problems is going to require hefty financial commitment and planning. We are trying to formulate an overall plan that would address all these problems at once (including parking, the fixing of the Bell etc.). Please continue to highlight aspects such as these with the knowledge that your input is an important asset to our Parish. Another group of suggestions focused on the Liturgy: A change of hymns, more silence around the Church and at certain times of Mass. There were also petitions for more explanations of the Mass, the inclusion of intermittent prayers in Latin. These suggestions have been noted and will be spoken about at a future Liturgy Committee meeting. However, as some require more work from our over-worked volunteers we can only ask them to consider these suggestions. Two suggestions have been made recently that cannot be facilitated (one regarding the restoration of the Higher Cross on the Altar and another about the microphone). The camera which broadcasts the Mass to the housebound needs a clear view so that people can see better. For that reason one of the microphones was changed and a lower cross placed on the Altar. Third National Collection for World Meeting of Families 2018 The Third National Collection for the World Meeting of Families will take place in parishes this weekend, This collection will replace the usual SHARE Collection UPCOMING PARISH EVENTS AND MEETINGS: WMOF Tuesday 6th March Board of Management of the Pastoral Centre Thursday 8th March The Parish BINGO is held every Friday at 8.30pm in the Pastoral Centre. All welcome
Next draw takes place this Sunday 25 th February. Did you ever think of joining? Ph: 087 2577651 or 01 2954296 Naomh Olaf GAA Club Congratulations to Ciaran Foley and Donal Leavy on being selected on the Dublin 2018 minor hurling panel. Ciaran has also been selected on the Dublin minor football panel. Congratulations also to Chloe Ní Cheallaigh on representing Naomh Olaf on the Dublin Intermediate Camogie League team of 2018. Sunday last our three newly promoted adult football teams played their first League games of the year. The second and third teams won their games. Following an exciting and well contested match with Castleknock our senior Division 1 team was unfortunately defeated by a goal on the score of 1-15 to 0-15. Sympathy is extended to the Thornton family, Wesley Lawns, on the death of Daniel Thornton. Sympathy also to the Quinn family Llewellyn Grove on the death of Maureen Quinn. There was no winner of the Lotto Jackpot. The numbers drawn were 11, 15 & 22. Jackpot is now 1,100. Parents Information Nights for Teen Hope with details as follows: When: Sundays 25 th February &11 th & 25 th March, from 7-8.30pm. Venue: The New Parish Centre at St Mary s, Sandyford Village, Who : 1 st & 2nd Years Contact: Office@sandyfordparish.org Or Phone 2956414 or Ed Burke 087-6334644 Archdiocese of Dublin - Choose Life 2018 - Choose Life 2018 is a newsletter circulated by the Catholic Communications Office to promote the Church s position on unborn human life and to encourage family discussion on this important subject. http://www.dublindiocese.ie/choose-life-2018 Balally Bells - Operation Transfomation Come along to Nomh Olaf GAA Club at 7pm on Monday and/or Wednesday nights and join in with Ireland Lights Up group for a choice of 3k or 6k walk. All welcome Prayer for World Meeting of Families 2018 God, our Father, We are brothers and sisters in Jesus your Son, One family, in the Spirit of your love. Bless us with the joy of love. Make us patient and kind, gentle and generous, welcoming to those in need. Help us to live your forgiveness and peace. Protect all families with your loving care, Especially those for whom we now pray: We pause and remember family members and others by name Increase our faith, Strengthen our hope, Keep us safe in your love, Make us always grateful for the gift of life that we share. This we ask, through Christ our Lord, Amen Mary, mother and guide, pray for us. Saint Joseph, father and protector, pray for us. Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us. Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, pray for us. Registration & Tickets for WMOF2018: Registration for the World Meeting of families in 2018 is now open. Visit the Tickets Section on www.worldmeeting2018.ie to access information on the different type of tickets and registration available. Accommodation booking is also available at time of registration through the booking form on the website World Meeting of Families - 21-26 August 2018 This is my Son, the Beloved It is wonderful for us to be here. Peter made this enthusiastic statement in the story of the Transfiguration, which is given to us this Sunday for our inspiration in faith. Each of us has a right to be able to make this same statement in our following of Christ. It is also one of the most important responsibilities we have to each other to make that possible. We do this by working together to build our parish into a real community of faith and hope. It means everyone being willing to take their full part in the life of the parish. We do it by making our homes into places of joy and happiness. Again, each person, no matter how young, has a part to play in bringing this about. Married couples do it for each other by working on the quality of their relationship of love in terms of tenderness and affection. This takes dedicating time for each other and using that time well. Johnny Doherty CSsR Parish of Sandyford ~ Pilgrimage to Fatima & Cascais with Map Travel. 30th August - 6th September 2018. Cost 895. See notice board for details of the 8 day programme. Deadline for applications is end of February. Contact Fr Paul Ludden 01 2958933 or the Parish Office Focal Scoir: Ag tnúth le glóir na haiséirí, iarraimid maithiúnas go h-umhal ón Tiarna ar son ár bpeacaí go léir. Looking forward to the glory of the resurrection, we ask forgiveness from the Lord from all our sins.