As I said last
month, clergy rely on their neighbours for support, companionship and
assistance when we are away, unwell or in need of being with family. We get little time to socialise; do what
other colleagues do in “the real world”. We do spend some time with each other, share our
problems and just be with each other, but not enough!
As of now, the Rural Deans will try to assist in organising
opportunities for us to meet, share a meal, enjoy each others' company and make
it possible to share our difficulties and joys and grow as a community of faith
with one purpose; to praise and magnify the Lord and to do His work here on
earth in our parishes in good times and bad!
I am a Rural Dean and am privileged to have a husband and family who are
completely supportive of what I do. But I have colleagues who lead lives where
there is little support, and nobody to turn to in difficult
times, and, for some, who will not seek help, even when they should, from
anybody. The Bishop and colleagues may discover their plight, but it depends
sometimes on somebody informing them!
Ministry can be lonely, miserable, isolated, frightening and very much
removed from the “world outside”. For some it is devastating, frightening,
intimidating and just awful! Yes, we do have clerical societies where we pray
together, share in our study of scripture, worship and Church life; but we are
also colleagues working in the “real world”, working with each other and with
those who have no understanding of why we do it and what we have been called to
do.
So, might I ask you to pray for your Rector/Priest-in-Charge and to play
your part in furthering Christ's kingdom!
Tell us when somebody is unwell, lonely, bereaved or in need of a
“listening ear”! Tell us when somebody is in hospital. We were not given a
crystal ball at ordination! And take on board the fact that most people want to
see the clergy, receive a blessing, receive Holy Communion, have somebody to
pray with them, perhaps relieve them of their fear and trepidation and that
their protestations of not wanting to see the chaplain is that they don't want
to “bother them” and “take up their time”!
Nobody “bothers us” or “wastes our time” in times of trouble, distress
and need! Instead of trying “to spare us”; telephone, ask on the street, in
church, on the phone or in person but don't marginalise us!!
Yours in
Christ
Barbara
Cleaning
& Flowers in our Churches – Please
remember to do what you have volunteered for. And please take your rubbish away
with you . The boiler room has been thoroughly cleaned by some of your fellow
parishioners; keep it that way!
Envelopes & Assessment – This scheme only works if every envelope is filled whether
you are in Church or not! If you need to indicate where the contents of an
envelope needs to go; please write “collect” or “Assess” on the back of the
envelope. Please, do not attach other pieces of paper which can come loose!
Select
Vestry Meeting – Will take place in Old St Mary's Church, Clonmel
on Friday 16th November 2017 @ 8.00pm – You will receive a reminder
by text some days before, please reply to it!
Concerts - In Old
St Mary's,
Clonmel
Saturday 9th
December – Kelley Lonergan in Concert @
8.00pm
Thursday 14th
December - Christmas Concert organised by the Rugby Club @ 8.00pm
Whist Drives –
Friday, 10th November @ 8.00pm sharp
Friday, 8th December
@ 8.00pm sharp
Friday, 12th January
@ 8.00pm sharp
Friday, 9th
February @ 8.00pm sharp
Friday, 9th March @ 8.00pm sharp
We rely on donations of prizes in
order to keep going – this is one of a few fundraisers we have during the year
and is also an opportunity to socialise.
Carol
Services -
- Friday 15th December in St Paul's, Cahir @ 7.30pm
- Sunday 17th December in Holy Trinity, Fethard @ 7.30pm
- Friday 22nd December in Old St Mary's, Clonmel @ 7.30pm
Singing
Group – Will meet in Old St Marty's on the following dates:
- Wednesday, 8th November @8.00pm
- Friday 17th November @ 8.00pm
- Friday 1st December @ 8.00pm
All welcome!
Christmas
Fair – This annual event will take place on Sunday, 10th
December 2017 from 1.00pm to approx
5.00pm in Old St Mary's, Clonmel.
We hope that all parishioners will participate; either by their presence
in assisting, supporting, contributing and facilitating various aspects of the
event – you may introduce and present your own particular contribution to
making this a “Christmas” celebration of talent, enterprise and community
interaction .
We need contributions to stalls, help in organising & energising the
event through your presence, preparation, providing and furthering opportunities
that will have a good effect on local and wider enterprise in our wonderful
County of Tipperary.
The way forward for all of us is to grasp every opportunity to further
the life and welfare of ourselves, our neighbours, family and those around us
so that we can give hope, assistance & encouragement to a wider community.
If you have a dream, begin with your local community!
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.Good afternoon!
Bio-Diversity Project – Thank-you
to those who have supported our biodiversity project at Old St Mary's. The
churchyard has been
transformed. We need more plants and more
people to maintain the beds and pots. Autumn is the best time to dig up
portions of large clumps of perrenials! Take note of the plants that attract
bees and insects, take the spade and slice a small part off, put it in a bucket
with a little water to keep it bright and alert and leave it on the church
doorstep or in the porch or, better still bring the spade with you and plant
it! To enable success, each congregation should assign a small area in which
they can develop, at least, a small area that is insect - friendly.
Parish Records – Most of the contents of our registers are now on
computer and I have offered a copy of our database to the RCB Library so that
those who come to our country to trace their roots and do not have the time to
travel to Clonmel can access their family history. We are having difficulty in
copying from my computer to the library computer; it seems their system is not
up-to-date!
We will have a new Tus participant from Tuesday who will work on the
parish registers in order to ensure that the computerised version is complete!
He will work from home as he is a carer.
CHURCH
SERVICES
|
2017
November
December
|
St Pauls, Cahir
9.30am
|
Holy Trinity
Fethard
9.30am
|
Old St Marys
Clonmel
8.30am
11.00am
|
Tullaghmeelan
11.00am
|
|
Nov 5th
|
M.P.
|
H.C.
|
H.C.
H.C.
|
Worship in other
church
|
|
Nov 12th
|
M.P.
|
M.P.
|
H.C.
M.P.
|
H.C.
|
|
Nov 19th
|
M.P.
|
H.C.
|
H.C.
H.C.
|
Worship in other
church
|
|
Nov 26th
Christ the King
|
H.C.
|
M.P.
|
H.C.
Service of the Word
|
Worship in other
church
|
|
Dec 3rd
Advent 1
|
M.P.
|
H.C.
|
H.C.
H.C.
|
Worship in other
church
|
|
Dec 10th
Advent 2
|
H.C.
|
M.P.
|
H.C.
M.P.
|
H.C.
|
|
Dec 17th
Advent 3
|
M.P.
|
H.C.
|
H.C.
H.C.
|
Worship in other
church
|
|
Dec 24th
Advent 4
|
H.C. @ 11.30pm in St
Paul's Church, Cahir
|
|||
|
Dec 25th
Christmas
|
No Service
|
H.C.
|
H.C.
H.C.
|
Worship in other
church
|
|
Dec 31st
New Year
|
United Service in St
Patick's Church, Marlfield @ 11.00am
|
|||
Wednesday Weekday
Service – Service at 10.30am on Wednesdays in Old St Marys –
Refreshments afterwards
Bereavement
– Lousia (Louie)
Auld, nee Ferris, was for some years a parishioner of Cahir. She died at the
advanced age of 88yrs on the 7th October 2017.in the Clover Lodge
Nursing Home in Birr, Co Offaly on 7th October 2017. She had asked that her
Funeral Service would take place St Paul's and burial took place at Kilcommon.
We send our condolences to her children, grandchildren and the wider family.
May she rest in peace.
Your
Prayers – Please
remember those who are unwell, at home & in hospital. At this time we
need to pray, especially, for peace.
Harvest Thanksgivings.- These were quite well attended. The schoolchildren
added a new feature to
the celebrations in Clonmel with their Bulgarian Harvest Tree; which was an
upright branch with nuts, conkers, fruits and a variety of other symbols of
harvest attached. They explained what the symbols represented and on the Monday
afterwards took their fruit & vegetables to Mariancourt. The collections at
our Harvest Thanksgivings, this year, went to Bishop Michael's Route 66. Over
€24,000 was raised through this effort for the literacy programme supported by
Bishops Appeal in Ethiopia. Our contribution was
€900.
Route 66 – A number of parents attended at our school and
Bishop Michael met Amy Carmichael who presented
him with a disposable mug signed by all the children. No, she is not one of the
pupils! - Google her name and find out who she was!
Rev James Mulhall – Has taken office in Kells Union of Parishes as
Priest-in- Charge and will continue to guide and support us in the matter of
child protection. It was lovely to see parishioners present in St Mary's, Kells
for his Service of Introduction to wish
him and his family well in their new sphere of Ministry.
Board of Management Training – The Rector represented the school at the training night
in Carlow. The subject for the night was “employment” rules and
procedures led by the very efficient Ms Flynn. She guided us through all the
entricities of recruiting, interviewing
and all the other stuff one needs to get right in the daily running of a
school. She does it in a gentle way with a certain amount of humour.
Seminar on Compliance – Our Treasurer and I attended one of three seminars
on compliance
under the new Charities Act. The Representative Church Body, our civil service
for want of a better way to decribe them, organised the evening.
Representatives of the new Charities Regulatory
Authority and Revenue were there. It was really good; with lots of
reassurance that we can do it and practical advise.
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!
Mothers Union – Global Moment & Activism against Gender Violence –
For 16 days, following the 25th November 2017 onwards, Old St
Marys will be the centre for prayer, meditation and reflection. Gender violence
is one of the most awful things that can happen to human beings. Too often we
see this as being inflicted by men on women; but the reality is that it happens
the other way as well. It demeans, destroys and ruins the lives of perpetrator
and victim. As Faith & Policy Co-ordinator for Mothers Union in our
Diocese, I will be setting up Old St Marys as a place where all can come to
reflect, meditate and, hopefully, find a listening ear.
We will begin with the “Global Moment” on Saturday, 25th
November when a candle will be lit at 1.00pm in Old St Marys, a short
prayer will be said and, in silence, we can, together, join our silent prayer
with those doing the same worldwide.
The evening reflection during the 16 days will take the form of a vigil
from 7.30pm – 8.30pm in Old St Marys on Wednesday, 29th November 2017.
As a practical gesture, may I ask as many of you as possible to put
together a “washbag” containing items such as, toothbrush and paste, washcloth,
comb and other items (No talc, please) that would be useful for
distritution by the Womens Refuge and St Vincent de Paul – you may leave your
contribution, at any time between now and then, in Old St Marys from 9.00 –
11.30am Monday to Friday in the space behind the organ and in any of our
churches on Sunday mornings or give them to somebody who will pass it on or
ring me and it will be collected. Our Christian duty is to help in as many ways
as we can.
