PRIESTS OF THE PARISH
Rev John Doherty PP Tel: 028 7188 2274
Rev Paul Farren Tel: 028 7188 3247

Sunday 14th March 2010

Fourth Sunday of Lent

The Lord who welcomes sinners

“This man”, they said, “welcomes sinners and eats with them.” One of the dangers with religion is that it can be thought of as for good, holy people. And one of the lovely aspects of Christianity, especially as experienced within our Catholic tradition, is that it is for sinners. Holiness is our call, sinner is our condition, and there is no need to worry or be fearful. It can be difficult for us to accept this for ourselves and also for other people around us and so we find ourselves standing in judgement on one another and at times condemning one another. If we want to find Christ, though, we have to learn to reverence the poor, the weak, the sinful, and the faults and failings of others and ourselves. This is why criticism of one another has no part in our following of Christ, whether in our homes, in our close relationships or in our faith community.

Fr. Johnny Doherty, C.Ss.R.

Sunday, 14th March 2010

Fourth Sunday of Lent

First Reading : Joshua 5: 9-12
The People of God keep the Passover on their entry into the promised land.

Second Reading: Corinthians 5: 17-21
God reconciled us to himself through Christ.

Gospel: Luke 15: 1-3.11-32
The father said, “My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. But it is only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found”.

God’s Beloved Heirs

Inheritance can bring out the worst in us. Though some manage to preserve integrity and dignity, there are those who beg, manipulate, throw tantrums and intimidate the living until they are a named as heirs; others at least wait for the deaths of their benefactors before the squabbling begins. Worst are those who gain control of their legacy during the lifetime of their benefactors and reduce them to destitution.

Both sons in the parable have an ugly sense of entitlement towards their father’s wealth. The younger, tired of waiting for his father to die, demands his share; the older, outwardly more refined, seethes inwardly that his father squanders the family wealth on his spendthrift brother. The father, in contrast, sees wealth as something to share; for him, his son’s return is more valuable than any fortune. His generosity reminds us of God’s love for each of us. No matter how badly we behave, we are always God’s beloved heirs.

Elizabeth-Anne Stewart

Last Sunday’s collection was £1,502.00. Many Thanks!

First Confessions
... will take place in St. Joseph’s Church, Glenmornan on Monday 15th March at 6.45pm, and in the Sacred Heart Church at 7.30pm.

St. Patrick’s Day

Wednesday 17th March is St. Patrick’s Day, a holy day of obligation.

Masses as follows:

Sacred Heart Church
Tuesday 7.00pm and Wednesday 11.30am

St. Mary’s Church, Cloughcor
Wednesday 9.15am

St. Joseph’s Church, Glenmornan
Wednesday 10.15am

St. Patrick

God makes a habit of choosing the wrong people for the job. He chooses people who have little or nothing to offer by way of skills and abilities simply because he doesn’t need them. What he wants is a generous and sincere heart. He called unskilled fishermen and look what happened. He called Patrick, an unskilled shepherd and look what happened.

Like the TV licence Inspector, he’s heard all the excuses. None of them work. When God calls there is nowhere to hide. And why would anybody want to?

Clerical Education & Ongoing Formation
At all Masses on St. Patrick’s Day, there will be a collection for the education of our seminarians and ongoing formation. The envelope is included in your box of envelopes.

Month’s Mind Mass
The month’s mind Mass for the late
John Gallagher will be said in
St. Joseph’s Church, Glenmornan on Friday 19th March at 7.30pm.

Pope John Paul II Awards

On Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd March, hundreds of young people from all over the diocese of Derry received Pope John Paul II awards from Abbot Edmund Power OSB who is abbot of St. Paul’s outside the Walls, Rome. To receive the award, it was required they spend a period of time serving their local parish and also taking part in community or charity work. They included four students representing this parish of Leckpatrick – Anne-Marie Devine, Emma Conway, Maeve Duffy and Conor McLaughlin. We congratulate them and thank them for their dedication to their parish and community, and we offer our congratulations to our own Fr. Paul Farren, who, with his excellent team, organised the event in a most professional manner.

Derry Diocesan Mass
The 10.00am Mass in the Sacred Heart Church on Friday 19th March will be said for the deceased members of the Derry Diocesan Society.

Holy Cross College Tanzania Project
Holy Cross College Tanzania Project is holding a table quiz in St. Patrick’s Hall, Strabane on Saturday 20th March. Admission £5 per person including supper. Doors open at 8.00pm. Everyone is welcome to come along

Strabane Family History Society
The next meeting will take place in Strabane Community Library at 7.30pm on Thursday 18th March 2010.

Special St.Patrick's Night Extravaganza of Local Talent with Irish Stew Supper
The Strabane Lifford Rotary Club have organised a night of Irish entertainment in the Fir Trees Hotel on Wednesday 17th March in aid of the Haiti Earthquake Disaster and Polio Eradication. The event starts at 8.00pm.

Admission is £10 at door. Everybody welcome.

To Parents of a New Born Child

• Baptisms are normally celebrated in Leckpatrick on Saturday at 7.45pm or on Sunday at 12.15pm.

• Each sponsor must not be less than sixteen years of age and must be a practising Catholic.

• Please bring a baptismal garment to the ceremony. The infant should not be wearing it coming to the church, but will be clothed in it by the priest at the appropriate point in the ceremony.

• Please bring a reasonably substantial candle to the ceremony. It is preferable that each child in the family should have his or her own baptismal candle.

• Note that Canon Law states that ‘parents, sponsors and parish priests are to take care that a name is not given which is foreign to Christian sentiment.’

• Please make arrangements with the priest in good time, and see that the baptismal card is completed three or four days before the ceremony at the latest.

• Kindly remember that the church is a sacred space, and is worthy of reverence and respect at all times, including the period when photographs are being taken after the ceremony.

• Finally, congratulations on the birth of your child! Your child’s baptism will be a special occasion for you and your family. It will also be a special occasion for our parish as we welcome your new born baby into the Christian community.