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, 20th April
& Friday, 28th 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 1st 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.
