Newsletter - April - May 2017

It seems unbelieveable that Easter is approaching already. It is, of course, welcomed that our mornings and evening are lengthening.

In the last week, four families have had to face the trauma, sorrow and tragdy of the loss of loved ones in the Rescue116 disaster. Please pray for their families and the families of those who died and were injured in the terrible attack in  London.

Whatever our view of Martin McGuinness, his past of violence & his later commitment to peace, his passing has and will have a certain impact on the position of Northern Ireland and the Republic. Power-sharing brought a whole new hope for a lasting peace on our island and, now, with the political parties unable/unwilling to resolve their difficulties with the re-establishment to shared government the future is very uncertain.

None of us wants the re-establishment of the Border. I travelled to and from Northern Ireland regularly, at least once a month, during the Troubles and I certainly have no desire to relive those days.

Brexit will affect us. We have had a variety of relationships with the UK over the centuries. Our privilege of being able to cross each others' borders with such ease may very well become a thing of the past – it would be a type of bereavement. Together with the efforts of the present government of the USA , Brexit and a possible return to direct – rule for Northern Ireland, we may have tough times ahead. We have always been resiliant, innovative and strong in facing challenge and danger. Let us hope and pray that  we can flourish in the future ahead.

                                                                            Barbara

Safeguarding Trust – Thank-you to those who have signed up to be vetted. Two applications have now been completed. To avoid any misunderstanding; the final document comes to me as the local administrator and is kept in the parish filing cabinet. One word, if you are filling out a form make sure you fill it in completely; there is a little box down near the bottom og the vetting application form that requires a tick! It is good to have a team willing to help with our young people. If you would like to be part of this parish team, please ask for a form.

Singing group – Will meet in Old St Marys on Thursday, 20^th April  & Friday, 28^th April @ 8.00pm -all welcome! All welcome – this is an opportunity to learn new hymns and sing old ones in a relaxed atmosphere.

Place 4U -  Charity Coffee Mornings on  Friday mornings from 10am – 12 noon.

Greeting Cards – Greeting cards with pictures of all our 5 churches are available in each church at €2 each. The inside is blank to facilitate personal greeting

Diocesan Magazine – Thank-you to those who have paid for their diocesan magazines – there are 3 outstanding. I have one spare if anybody would like to get all the diocesan news monthly. (€32 for eight)

Cleaning & Flowers in our Churches – The new rota is in the porch of Old St Mary.'s Where no provider of flowers/greenery appears, it is the task of those who clean in that month.

Parish Funds –  If you are eligible to apply for the Inland Revenue's taxe relief for charities, please fill in a form and benefit your parish to the tune of €40 for every €100 donated. It costs nobody anything and helps us pay our bills!!!

Envelopes & Assessment – If you have outstanding envelopes from 2016, please submit them asap. If you need to indicate where the contents of an envelope needs to go; please write “collect” or “Asses” on the back of the envelope; please, do not attach other pieces of paper which can come loose! Remember that the whole point of this scheme is that all envelopes are filled and submitted – it is not about church attendance!

St Paul's – Water has been coming into the low tower to the right of the main door for some time and that area at the back of the church is damp and with obvious wet rot. The tray on that side has been cleaned out, the interior of the tower brushed down and pointing done to reduce the ingress of water. There is the same arrangement in the other tower with similar effect and that tray has also been cleaned out. The contractor has informed us that the water is actually coming in through the stone! It is possible to seal the tower and a spot test will be done as we do not want dicoloration of the stone. I am also informed that the dicoloration around the base of the north tower can be cleaned off. Considerable attention is required to these areas of the church, but cannot be done until we have the funds to do it.

Old St Mary's – Last Sunday, the sheets which have concealed the east window had been removed. Not only had the coving around the top of the window been removed but the wall had been painted a rather flattering colour. The sun was shining outside and the beautiful east window had come alive. Our thanks goes to Bernard who has overseen the work and created the drapery and to George who did the painting. For some reason, unknown and inexplicable to me, that part of the church had not received any renovation when the remainder of the church was done over ten years ago! The only thing done is this area was to cover the beautiful tiling in memory of the Rev George Murray with carpeting which appears to have been glued to the tiles!! It has been a detraction from the magnificence of the interior of this important building. Some cleaning needs to be done. Perhaps you might like to be part of this project!

Holy Trinity – The organ is in very poor condition and the parishioners have met to discuss this. There is a great spirit of hope for the future and a willingness to pass on the best to future generations. We look forward to the result of the present conversations

World Day of Prayer – The numbers we a little down on last year; possible as a result of matters not within our control. Brid Greene led us in worship and members of Kilsheelan/Kilcash, Powerstown/Lisronagh, St Peter'& St Paul's, St Mary's, Irishtown and ourselves took an active part in the Service.

Mothers Union – The Rector attended the Annual All Ireland Conference on the 1^st weekend in March. In an Grianan, Co Louth in her capacity as Faith & Policy Co-ordinator in our diocese.

CHURCH SERVICES

2017 March	St Pauls, Cahir     9.30am	Holy Trinity Fethard 9.30am	Old St Marys Clonmel 8.30am 11.00am	Tullaghmeelan 11.00am
April 9th PalmSun	H.C.	M.P.	H.C. M.P.	H.C.
April 11th Tuesday	E.P. @ 7.30pm
April 12th Wed		Compline @ 7.30pm
April 13th Thursday			H.C. @ 7.30pm
April 14th Gd Friday	Service @ 9.30am	E.P. @ 7.30pm	“At the Cross” noon – 3.00pm
April 15th Saturday			Holy Baptism @ 2.00pm
April 16th  EasterDay	H.C.	H.C.	H.C.
April 23rd 2nd of Easter	H.C.	M.P.	H.C. H.CA
April 30th 3rdof Easter	H.C –  In old St Mary's @ 8.30am Central Service of Holy Communion in St Patrick's, Marlfield

Weekday Service Wednesdays – Service at  10.30am in Old St Marys  – Refreshments  afterwards

Holy Baptism – Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday, was the day on which new Christians were Baptised in the early Church .This year there will be a Baptism in our parish on that day!

St Mary's Parochial School – Well done to teachers, children and parent on the amazing  bio-diversity” entry in the St Patrick's Day parade in Clonmel. It really was wonderful to see them appraoch the viewing stand. It was different and stood out in what was the best parade in many years!

 

Bio-Diversity Project – We now have flower-beds, the beginnngs of a bug-hotel and plans to promote a better involvement in addressing environmental issues at Old St Mary's. At St Paul's the wildflower garden project has begun. You toocan be part of this by growing plants that attract bees and other bugs, by using “natural” remedies to dispel the ravishing efforts of the likes of greenfly on your roses – instead of emptying the washing-up” water down the drain, pour/spray it on your roses! And there are other ways of doing all sorts of things – pesticides, spray and other ways of getting rid of the nuisance of plant-damaging bug , harm us as well as the bugs!

You are welcome to participate in whatever way you wish always!

Sunday Life -This is an hour-long programme on TippFm which is broadcast from 7- 8am on Sunday mornings. It usually comprises music, reading and interviews. We keep it light as most of our listeners have just woken up!

Diocesan Magazine – Thank-you to those who have paid for their diocesan magazines – I have two spares if anybody would like to get all the diocesan news monthly. (€40 for ten copies).

                      

Envelopes & Assessment – If you have outstanding envelopes ffrom 2016, please submit them asap. If you need to indicate where the contents of an envelope needs to go; please write “collect” or “Asses” on the back of the envelope. Receipts will be issued as soon as possible early in 2017.  In 2015 those of you who filled out the tax relief forms reduced our liability for Assessment by €3,500 – if more of you did that, we would get much nearer to achieving our full Assessment in the correct financial year.

Board of Management Training – I attended the training evening for the “Anti-bullying” module for National School Boards of Management. It was an intensive evening with all aspects of this problem being delivered in a very competent and professional way by Ms Flynn.

Your Prayers – Please remember those who are unwell, at home & in hospital. At this time we need to pray, especially, for peace.

Whist Drives  - Our season has ended – it has been shorter than usual. For those who do not understand why we do not have whist drives on Good Friday – the soldiers who crucified Jesus, threw for His clothes. They would have passed the time waiting for the crucified to die and, so, the Church has frowned on card playing and other games of chance! Thank-you to everybody who kept the show on the road this past winter.