Parish News for Sunday 20th April 2008

Fifth Sunday of Easter

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

Our Royal Priesthood

Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Because these words are so familiar to us we can easily hear them and move on. What do they mean? Jesus is the way, first of all, to the true God. We can easily reduce God to our own size, into proportions that we can manage. Jesus constantly lifts us out into the vastness of God and we are out of control. He also is the way to the full mystery of ourselves made in the image of God because there too we tend to reduce each other and ourselves down to size. Jesus is the truth about God who loves us with an infinite and passionate love. God adores us like a parent in the presence of a newborn baby. And he is the life. He teaches us that the only true human way of living is the way of love – the love of God and of each other. This has huge implications for us in our homes and in our parish community.

Fr. Johnny Doherty, C.Ss.R.

Confirmation Today

Today we welcome Bishop Séamus Hegarty to the parish where he will administer the Sacrament of Confirmation to fifty-two children in the Sacred Heart Church during the 11.30am Mass. The children being confirmed are pupils of St. Mary’s Primary School, Cloughcor, St. Joseph’s Primary School, Glenmornan, Strabane Primary School and Belmont School in Derry.

As we wish God’s blessing on the children who will be receiving the Holy Spirit this morning, perhaps those of us who have already received this sacrament would like to renew the commitment we made on our Confirmation Day.

We gather today to renew the commitment
which we made at Confirmation.
We first received the Holy Spirit
when we were baptised.
At Confirmation, we were called
to be witnesses to Christ.
On that day we promised to take
an adult, active part in the life
of our Church.
We were given the gifts of the
Holy Spirit,
and we undertook to let those gifts shine out in our lives.
We thank God today
for the gift of the Spirit
and we pray that we will live
as people filled with
the spirit of the Living God.

Last week’s Collection was £1,552.00. Many thanks.

First Anniversary Mass
The first anniversary Mass for the late Geraldine Gallagher, Newtown Street will take place in the Sacred Heart Church on Friday 25th April at 7.30pm.

North West Regional College
North West Regional College Open Evening on Wednesday 23rd April from 5.00pm until 8.00pm. Information available on all full-time courses commencing September 2008 at all College locations. Everyone welcome. Please telephone [028] 7127 6022 or visit www.mwrc.ac.uk

Aware Defeat depression
Aware Defeat Depression is organising a public talk and information event in The Tara Centre, Holmview Terrace, Omagh on Monday 21st April at 8.00pm. Guest speaker is Dr. Declan Fox GP and the title of his talk is ‘Overcoming Depression: A Self-help Approach’. Information literature about depression will also be available as will details about Aware’s self-help support group in Omagh. Admission is free and all are welcome to attend. For further telephone 0845 202961 or email infor@aware-ni.org

Cemetery Sunday
The Blessing of Graves will take place in the Sacred Heart Cemetery on Sunday 11th May at 5.00pm.

First Communions

Saturday 3rd May 2008: First Holy Communion for the children of St. Mary’s Primary School in the Sacred Heart Church at 11.00am.

Sunday 4th May 2008: First Holy Communion for the children of St. Joseph’s Primary School in Glenmornan Church at 10.15am.

Saturday 10th May 2008: First Holy Communion for the children of Strabane Controlled Primary School in the Sacred Heart Church at 11.00am.

Living Stones

The dwindling number of Christians in the Holy Land are often called the ‘’Living Stones.’ A reminder that it is not bricks and mortar that count but human beings and living faith. Indeed, travels in Asia Minor will find you encountering ruined remains of early Christian communities. Literal evidence that where you have no lived faith, you have no church building.

You may be reading this in a church that is a testament to your ancestors’ generosity. It could even be a listed building marked for conservation, requiring great effort to maintain its physical fabric. But what about the spiritual structure if its occupants? They call us to be a ‘living stone’ [second reading]. Being called a ‘brick’ is an important compliment, it means being reliable and present in time of need.

But we are called to be bricks, solid rocks of faith upon which others can build their faith. And we do that by standing our ground, by doing what is right even in the face of adversity, even in the face of criticism. We become living stones when we refuse to let the anguish and grief of the world overwhelm us, knowing that his welcome is eternal in the many rooms in our Father’s house.