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

Sunday, 17th January 2010

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

"Jesus said: 'Fill the jars with water'. And they filled them to the brim." People often think of themselves as very ordinary and the place they live in as fairly insignificant. And yet it was for people like this in a place like that that Jesus worked one of his most famous miracles. One of the keys to this reality was that the servants obeyed Jesus’ command, in fact they overdid it and they 'filled the water jars to the brim'. Jesus' command to us is to love one another as he has loved us. If we follow his command great things will also happen in our lives and in the world we live in. But we also have to use the key and fill our love to the brim. We tend however to measure out our love. This week we are asked to practise our love more intensely in our homes and communities and let Jesus transform us.

Fr. Johnny Doherty, C.Ss.R.

Sunday, 17th January 2010

2nd Sunday of the Year.

First Reading : Isaiah 62: 1-5
The promise of God to love and care for his people.

Second Reading: Corinthians 12: 4-11
The variety of gifts which are brought by the one Spirit.

Gospel: John 2: 1-11
The miracle at Cana.

Marriage Today

Each and every marriage contains pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow, hurt and happiness. It will always be so, because a marriage is made up of imperfect people. Marriages live under far greater pressure nowadays. True, there was more hardship, hunger, disease and child deaths in our grandparents’ day. However, there isn’t the same surrounding support to rally behind couples today. Modern marriages tend to be lived in isolation, further and further away from family and friends.

Perhaps it’s one reason why we plot and plan so much. We plan the wedding of course; sending invitations, reserving the hotel, and booking the florist, the photographer and the caterer. There are more plans to follow, budget-planning, family-planning, insurance-planning, career-planning. The more decisions we make, or plans we hatch, the better the chance of something, somewhere will not go the way it was planned.

Only confidence can save people from panicking. The kind of confidence that Mary and Jesus had when everything seemed to be going wrong at Cana. It’s not confidence in the things you plan, but in the things that God’s power can do for you. God can always change the water of botched plans into the wine of happiness and real peace.

Collection

Last Sunday’s collection was £1,730.00. Many Thanks!

The recent collection for the above charity amounted to £930.22 sterling and €6.86 euro. The organisers are very grateful for your support.

Sick and Housebound

Weather permitting, the sick will be attended on the morning and afternoon of Tuesday next [19th January].

Special Diocesan Mass

The Annual Diocesan Mass for those with special needs, and their families and friends, will take place in St. Joseph’s Church, Galliagh, Derry on Saturday
24th April 2010. Bishop Lagan will celebrate the Mass. If you have a child who wishes to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation or First Communion at this Mass, please contact the Catechetical Centre on [028] 71264087 or email ddcc@derrydiocese,org

St. Vincent de Paul would like to thank parishioners for further donations for their Annual Collection which amounted to £237.50. They would also like to thank St. Mary’s Primary School, Cloughcor for an additional donation of £410.03 which was received for the annual Carol Service.

Church Unity Week

The week of special prayer for Christian Unity begins tomorrow 18th January and continues until 25th.

Church Unity Week – A Prayer for Ireland

Lord Jesus Christ, you are the way of peace.
Come into the brokenness of this land with your healing love.
Help us to bow before you in true repentance,
and to bow to one another in real forgiveness.
By the fire of your Holy Spirit melt our hard hearts
and consume the pride and prejudice
which separate us from one another.
Fill us, O Lord, with your perfect love
which casts out fear,
and bind us together in that unity
which you share with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.
Amen.

Pre-School and Year 1 Applications

Applications forms for places in P1 in St. Mary’s P.S., Cloughcor and
St. Joseph’s P.S., Glenmornan for September 2010 are now available in the schools. Application forms are also now available for St. Mary’s Pre-School, Cloughcor. Completed application forms must be returned on or before 12noon on Wednesday 20th January at the latest. If you know any friend, relatives or neighbours who have children of Pre-School or Primary School age, I would be grateful of you could remind them to submit forms for this deadline. Please contact either St. Mary’s [028] 71841237 or St. Joseph’s [028] 71398588 to receive an application form.

First Anniversary Mass

The 9.15am Mass in St. Mary’s Church, Cloughcor on Sunday 24th January will be said for the late Cissie McCay, Station Road on the occasion of the anniversary of her death.

Family History Society
Please note that the January meeting of the Strabane Family History Society has been cancelled due to the present extreme winter weather conditions and the uncertain weather forecast.

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.