Mass Intentions Week 21st December 2014

Kilcullen Church

Saturday 20th December 10.00am Mass 6.30pm (Vigil) Michael and Kathleen Nolan their daughter Betty and son

Billy, son in law Joe Walsh (A), Michael Bathe (A), John and May O’Halloran and

sons (A), Jim Cardiff (A),

Sunday 21st December 11.00am Sean Mackey (A), Kitty Dempsey (Birthday Remem-

brance). Sunday 11am Mass intentions Deirdre Wilkinson (1st Anniversary)

3.00pm Carol Service

Gormanstown Church

Sunday 21st December

9.30am George James (11thA), Mary, John and David Doran (A)

Kilcullen Church Weekdays

Monday 9.30am Jack Browne (A), Phyllis Slevin (A), Maura McNally de-

ceased

Tuesday 9.30am James Dixon (A) and his mother Brigid Dixon (A)

Wednesday( Christmas Eve)

9.30am Mass

9.00pm Mass, Carol Singing from 8.30pm

Thursday (Christmas Day)

10.00am Mass

11.30am Mass

PARISH CENTRE:

Phone No.: 045 480 727

Opening hours:

Mon—Fri 10 a.m.—1 p.m. & Mon / Weds / Fri: 1.30 p.m.—4.30 p.m.

Email address: kilcullenparish @ eircom.net

Info available online: www.kilcullenparish.net

Broadcast mass radio frequency: 107 FM

Fr. Niall Mackey:

Phone no.: 045 481 230

Fr. Martin Harte:

Phone No.: 045 481 222

T H E N A T I V I T Y O F O U R L O R D

Church of The Sacred Heart & St. Brigid, Kilcullen

Church of St. Joseph, Gormanstown

Parish information currently available online at www.kilcullenparish.net/ and also on

www.kilcullenparish. blogspot.com

December 24th /25th 2014

A Blessing of the Crib in the Home:

This blessing can be prayed when the crib is being put in place in the

home. When the final figures are ready to be put into the crib, the

family might gather around it and recite the following blessing:

All make the sign of the cross .

We would like to extend a big thank you to all our members of the Pastoral Council, Ministry workers, The Adult Choir

and our Alter Servers (senior and junior members), Tom ,

Nancy & Tom our caretakers. all the people who have given freely of their

time throughout the year, and all the other groups within the parish. We wish you all a very Happy and Peaceful Christmas and

thank you all for all your hard work during the year. We

also wish you all Peace and Joy in your homes for 2015

The secret of Christmas is not just that God gives us his Son ... it’s that God trusts us to take care of him. God trusts us. Me, you, we.

Isn’t that amazing! After all that has happened, all that has been done, we are

trustworthy. When we live up to the trust God has placed in us, we

live incarnation. The secret of Christmas is that we can be trusted with a child’s heart. Lets live up to that trust. Now and forever..Amen

Light and Life Now there’s two words that highlight Christmas: Light and Life. We need

both, in good times as in bad.

A week before Christmas Pope Francis prayed for victims and perpetrators:

in St Peter’s Square on Wednesday he asked those present to join him in his

prayers to the Lord to receive the deceased in peace, to bring comfort to their families and to convert the hearts of the violent .

Pope Francis sent on Dec. 14 a letter to inmates of the prison of Latina

Wishing them a Merry Christmas, Pope Francis hoped that “hours, days, months and years that you have spent or you are spending in this prison are

considered and lived not as a wasted time or as a temporary punishment, but

as a real occasion of growing in order to find the peace of heart and the

strength to spring up, returning to live the hope in the Lord that never disap-point you.”

On Saturday 20 December he received a group or them that includes a man

serving a life sentence for having committed a homicide in 1991. While in prison, Carmelo Musumeci completed high school and tearned a law degree.

And meeting with prison chaplains on Oct. 23, 2013, he asked them to tell

prisoners, “I am praying for them, I have them at heart, I am praying to the Lord and to Our Lady that they may be able to get through this difficult pe-

riod in their lives in a positive way, that they may not become discouraged or

close in on themselves.”

As well as all the people we know, it’s good to remember others at Christmas.

Fall on your knees! O, hear the angels' voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born;

G os pe l Re f l e c t i on

F eas t of t he H ol y F a mi ly 28 t h D ecem ber

" T h e c h i l d ' s f a t h e r a n d m o t h e r w er e a m a z e d a t w h a t wa s b e i n g s a i d a b o u t h i m. " T h i s s h o w s t h a t t h e y h a d n o h i n d s i g h t ; t h e y t h o u g h t o f t h e m s e l v e s i n e v e r y wa y a s n o r m a l p e o p l e . T h i s i s t h e i r c o n n e c t i o n w i t h u s . H a d t h e y t h o u g h t t h e m s e l v e s s p e c i a l f r o m b i r t h , t h e y w o u l d b e a s d i s t a n t f r o m u s a s a r o y a l f a m i l y . B u t w e s e e t h e m f o l l o w i n g t h e o r d i n a r y c u s t o m o f p r e s e n t i n g t h e c h i l d i n t h e T e m p l e , a n d t h e i r o f f e r i n g i s t h e o f f e r i n g o f t h e p o o r .

W h e n s o m e t h i n g i s a c t u a l l y h a p p e n i n g w e h a v e n o h i n d -s i g h t o n i t . O f c o u r s e w e s e e t h i n g s m o r e c l e a r l y w i t h h i n d s i g h t ; h i n d s i g h t i s a l wa y s 2 0 / 2 0 , a s s o m e o n e s a i d . B u t i n a wa y i t c a n b e a f a l s e a n d g a r i s h l i g h t . I t j u d g e s p e o p l e i n t h e l i g h t o f e v e n t s t h a t t h e y c o u l d n o t h a v e k n o w n a b o u t ; i t a l l o ws t h e m n o f u t u r e , n o d e v e l o p m e n t , b ec a u s e w e s e e t h e i r f u t u r e a l r ea d y p r e s e n t i n e v e r y t h i n g t h e y d o a n d s a y . I t f l a t t e n s o u t t h e i r l i f e l i k e a s h e e t o f p a p e r o n w h i c h e v e r y t h i n g i s v i s i b l e s i m u l t a n e o u s l y .

For his birthday (Wednesday(, @Pontifex the Pope gave homeless people living around #Vatican sleeping bags as a gift. 400 bags were

handed out.

Pray for Pat Carroll, Lurg Lane, Kinneagh who died recently. May he Rest In

Peace.

Fr John Bermingham wishes to thank everyone who supported

Miscellany on Sunday last weekend. €4,250 was raised in aid of his

mission in Mozambique

A very happy, healthy and blessed

Christmas…

Lord Jesus, on the first Christmas night you came among us at Bethlehem. Come

now once again and give us the grace to welcome you with an open heart, the grace

to take you to ourselves in love and simplicity of heart, Amen.

Samaritans are available 24 hours a day to provide confidential emotional support for people who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those which may lead to suicide.

Call 1850 60 90 90 open 24hrs, 365 days

New Year’s Eve Wednesday 31st December. Crossing the

Threshold: a service of prayer, music and reflection to see out the old and welcome in the New Year in Our Lady of Dolours

church, Glasnevin, 11.30pm-12.15am. All are welcome

KIYC YOUTH CLUB OLD TENNIS CLUB

LOGSTOWN, KILCULLEN.

THURSDAY 12+ 7-9.30PM

FRIDAY 7-10 YRS 5.30-7PM

FRIDAY 11+ 7-9PM

The Pope John Paul II Award

is dedicated to the memory of the late Pope John Paul II whose love

of young people was so profound. The Award was launched by the

Papal Nuncio to Ireland His Excellency Most Rev Dr Giuseppe Laz-

zarotto on 7th November 2006 in the Diocese of Derry, Ireland. If

you are aged between 16 and 18 and living or going to school in par-

ticipating Dioceses, the Pope John Paul II Award will enable you to

become more actively involved in the life of your parish and commu-

nity. Religion is not just for learning, nor a list of rules designed to

stop you doing what you want. Religion is for living and through tak-

ing an active part in your church and community you will experience

the contentment and fulfilment that comes from serving others, espe-

cially those in great need. Contact Fr. Mackey on 045 481230 for

details.

GOSPEL REFLECTION

…...I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come

round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and

women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow

passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. ~ Charles Dickens

There is a kind of timelessness about Christmas: it

takes us out of our routines; suddenly all the rush of preparation is over and there is

nothing more to do. This could be the moment to experience something different

from the perpetual motion that is our ordinary life. But what happens? We turn on

the TV, which is what we may have been doing every single evening since last

Christmas. No change. Then we say Christmas is boring, or sad, or too commer-

cial…. Of course it is; it is just like all the other days. We have not allowed change

to happen. We have not allowed space for anything new to appear. Paradoxically, all

the flashing lights, the incessant television, the Christmas cards, the emailing and text

-messaging…all have the effect of filling our lives and so leaving no space to move,

no space for anything really different to appear; so we are enclosed in a cave of artifi-

cial lights that never lead us to the sun. “The light shines in the darkness.” But it

does not shine in artificial light. We have to turn something off. We have to leave

space and time for the new thing to appear.

USEFUL WEBSITES www.vatican.va

Www.dublindiocese.ie

Www.sacredspace.ie

Www.veritas.ie www.yfaith.co.uk

(Youth site )

www.irishbishops.ie www.iec2012

Www.sacredspace.ie

Www.universalis.com

Family Table Prayer for Christmas Day:

Loving God,

on this Christmas day we give thanks that

Jesus, your Son, has come into our world

bringing us gifts of peace and joy.

Bless us as we sit down together at this table

for our Christmas meal.

Bless the food we share and help us to remember those who are hungry.

Be with our neighbours and our friends,

those who are lonely, sick or away from

home.

The story of the First Christmas A model of Bethlehem, Nazareth and the surrounding countryside has been constructed, setting the scene celebrating the birthday of Jesus. Open daily at St. Martin’s Church,

Aylesbury, Tallaght, Dublin 24. – Admission is free. Among the many events depicted are the Annunciation, The Visitation, The arrival of Joseph & Mary into Bethlehem for the census, The Birth of Jesus & the Angel appearing to the shepherds on the hillside Groups wel-

come, telephone (01) 4510160 for more details

Parish Lotto Numbers drawn on Tuesday 16th December were 18, 22, 29, 30.

There was no winner. Next week the Jackpot will be €7,400. Winners of €50 in the

open draws were Bridie Murphy (May Coyne), Eileen O’Connell (Berney’s Chemist)

and Agnes Daly (Ger’s Fruit & Veg). Promoter draws were won by John Archbold

and Leanne Clifford. Winner of €25 in draw for those present was Breda McCor-

mack. Lotto Draw takes place on Tuesdays at 9.00pm in the Parish Centre and every-

one is welcome. Tickets are €2 each from the Lotto Office, Parish Office and local outlets. The Parish Shop has Christmas Cards, Christmas Candles, Children’s’ Cribs,

Christmas Books for Children, Calenders and Diaries for 2015, Christmas Mass Bou-

quets etc. Open: 10am-1pm Monday to Friday, also 2pm-4pm Monday, Wednesday

and Friday.

Christmas Carol Service on Sunday 21st December at 3.00pm in Kilcul-

len Church with choirs from Gormanstown and Kilcullen, and students from Scoil

Bhríde and Cross and Passion schools.

Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal The St Vincent de Paul Soci-

ety wish to thank you for the wonderful response to last weekend’s Annual Christmas

Appeal which amounted to €2,388.

St Vincent De Paul Ph Nos:

The St Vincent de Paul Society is here to help people if you know of

someone that may need our help please give them the following phone

numbers 087 1506099 or 01 8550022 .

POPE FRANCIS

God’s heart has a special place for the poor, so much so that he himself

“became poor” (2 Cor 8:9). The entire history of our redemption is

marked by the presence of the poor. Salvation came to us from the

“yes” uttered by a lowly maiden from a small town on the fringes of a

great empire. The Saviour was born in a manger, in the midst of ani-

mals, like children of poor families; he was presented at the Temple

along with two turtledoves, the offering made by those who could not

afford a lamb (cf. Lk 2:24; Lev 5:7); he was raised in a home of ordi-

nary workers and worked with his own hands to earn his bread. When

he began to preach the Kingdom, crowds of the dispossessed followed

him, illustrating his words: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because

he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor” (Lk 4:18). He

assured those burdened by sorrow and crushed by poverty that God has

a special place for them in his heart: “Blessed are you poor, yours is

the kingdom of God” (Lk 6:20); he made himself one of them: “I was

hungry and you gave me food to eat”, and he taught them that mercy

towards all of these is the key to heaven (cf. Mt 25:5ff.).