| PRIESTS
OF THE PARISH
Rev John Doherty
PP Tel: 028 7188 2274, Rev Paul Farren Tel: 028 7188
3247
St. Joseph’s Church,
Glenmornan
(we will rotate the church images
each week)
Sunday,
20th December 2009
Fourth
Sunday of Advent.
The theme of this Third Sunday of Advent is
rejoicing. This Sunday is known as Gaudete
Sunday. The word Gaudete means rejoice; the basis for
this rejoicing is the nearness of the Lord. What everybody
wants in life is to be happy, but what is the secret
of happiness? The secret of happiness consists in being
faithful to one’s commitments and responsibilities,
while at the same time enjoying life. It’s easy
to be happy when we are doing what we want. But to find
happiness in what we have to do, not simply in what
we want to do, this is a blessing from God. Happiness
is not a shallow self-satisfaction. There can be no
happiness for us as long as the things we do are different
from the things we believe, and then there can be no
happiness without love. Sadness falls upon us when we
say ‘No’ to love. In the end, only God can
fulfil our dreams and happiness is the best sign of
his presence. The presence of God is the cause of our
joy. The joy that this world cannot give is the joy
that comes from a sense of God and his love for us.
Sunday 20th December 2009
4th Sunday of Advent
First Reading Micah 5: 1-4
Out of you will be born the one who is to rule over
Israel.
Second Reading Hebrews 10: 5-10
Here I am! I am coming to obey your will.
Gospel Luke 1: 39-44
Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother
of my Lord?
Fourth Sunday
of Advent
A Saviour is born
In 1809, a war-weary
world anxiously watched the march of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Babies were being born in 1809 too – Gladstne
and Abraham Linclon, poet Alfred Lord Tennyson and composer
Felix Mendelssohn.
Yet, people’s
minds are occupied with battles, not babies. Exactly
200 years on, it is clear that these babies made a far
greater contribution to history than the battles.
So it is with
the birth of Jesus. The Bethlehem crowds had no inkling
of the greatness in their midst. Napoleon summed up
the admiration of the ages for Jesus Christ: ‘Alexander,
Caesar, Charlemagne, and I myself have founded great
empires. But Jesus alone founded his empire upon love,
and to this very day, millions would die for Him. Jesus
Christ was more than a man.’
Every birth is
shrouded in wonder. The mystery of unknown potential
lies asleep in a parent’s arms.
Care is taken
at the naming of a child. But the name of Jesus was
not left to Joseph and Mary to choose. Jesus means ‘God
is Salvation’. His name describes the purpose
for which he came – to be the Saviour of the world.
And
all because Mary said ‘yes’.
Last week’s
Collection amounted to £1,434.00.
Many thanks.
Retired Priests’
Collection
The retired priests’
collection was £1,440.00. Thank you.
The Christmas
Collection will be taken up on Christmas Eve night and
on Christmas morning.
Community Carol
Service
A Community Carol
Service will take place in the Alley Theatre, Strabane
tomorrow [Monday]night at 8.00pm.
The Carol Service
is being presented by the Marie Curie Cancer Care.
Your support will
be greatly appreciated.
Penance Service
in Melmount
There will be
a Penance Service followed by confessions in St. Mary’s
Church,
Melmount tonight
[Sunday 20th December] from 5.00pm until 6.30pm.
Several priests
from surrounding parishes will be available.
St. Vincent de
Paul Society
The St. Vincent
de Paul Conference wishes to thank you very much
for your generosity
of £1,889.65 towards their recent collection.
Our
Thanks to You
As we come
to the end of another year, we would like to thank you,
our parishioners
for the support
and encouragement you gave us in 2009.
In particular
I thank our teachers and school staff;
our sacristans,
altar servers, organists, instrumentalists, soloists
and choirs;
the Readers and
Eucharistic Ministers.
We are grateful
to those who sell the Catholic papers;
the St. Vincent
de Paul Conference;
those who provide
flowers for the churches; the groundsmen and all who
help in any way.
We wish you all
a very happy and peaceful Christmas.
Dan Gillespie
is 100 Years Young!
This weekend
we mark the 100th birthday of Dan Gillespie,
19 Newtown Street.
We congratulate him not only on reaching this magnificent
age, but also on reaching it in such a healthy state
of mind and body. It is truly a remarkable achievement
for Dan, and is surely a proud occasion for his sister
Jean and his brother Pat. We thank the Lord for all
he has done for Dan since the 5th December 1909.
And we pray that God may continue to do great things
for him in the future. Ad multos annos!
Trócaire Global Gifts
Trócaire
has once again launched its hugely successful Global
Gift Plan offering a range of nine ethnical non-commercial
and life-changing gifts for families and communities
in the developing world. Over half a million of the
world’s most vulnerable people will benefit for
generations to come from the sale of Global Gifts. The
global gifts for 2009 are;
Price
Gift
£9.00 - School Lunch
£13.00 - Chicks
£22.00 - Vegetable Garden
£30.00 - Food
£40.00 - Goat
£63.00 - Education
£90.00 - Water
£135.00 - Fishing Boat & Nets
£180.00 - House
Under this scheme,
shoppers can buy a gift of genuine value for their family,
friends and clients which will also change lives in
the developing world. Thousands of shoppers have felt
that it had given people a real option for the poor
and reflects the true spirit of Christmas.
The
following are asked to assist as collectors and church
cleaners during the month of December:
SACRED
HEART CHURCH:
Collectors:
Saturday 7.00pm:-
Brian Edwards and Declan Carlin.
Sunday 11.30am:-
Stephen Barrett, Terry McCallion and
Patsy McNulty.
Cleaners:
Team A
ST. MARY’S
CHURCH, CLOUGHCOR:
Collectors:
Leon Farrell.
Altar
Society & Cleaners:
Geraldine Devine, Laura Devine and Terina Devine.
ST. JOSEPH’S
CHURCH, GLENMORNAN
Collectors:
Sean McShane and Domnhaill McShane.
Altar
Society:
Marie Bradley and Donna Doherty.
Our
thanks are due to all who served the parish in any way
during the month of November.
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