Parish of The Assumption and Sts. Columbanus & Gall, Milltown – The Ascension of the Lord

“And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time”

Matt. 28:20

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Parish Contact Details: Fr. Peter Briscoe: 2196600

Parish Office: 2196740

Parish Centre: 2680041

Parish Email Address:

milltownparishcentre@gmail.com

Parish Web Site: www.milltownparish.ie

Registered Charity Number: RCN 20016166

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MASS TIMES

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday 10am.

Vigil Mass on Saturday – 6pm

Sunday Mass – 10am and 11.30am.

Thursday – Prayer and Communion Service 10am.

All Masses and Prayer Services in Milltown Parish will be available online.

These can be viewed at:

http://www.mcnmedia.tv/camera/milltown-parish

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Dear Parishioners,

I wish to let you know that I have passed my 75th year of age and as required by Canon Law I have offered to the Archbishop my retirement from the office of Administrator of Milltown Parish. Archbishop Farrell has now accepted my retirement from that office and has appointed Fr. Paul Kenny to become Administrator here as and from the 8th / 9th July next. I am sure that you will join with me in offering Fr. Paul our warmest of welcomes to Milltown.

I should mention that Archbishop Farrell has also very kindly given me an appointment (health permitting) to continue in pastoral ministry here in Milltown as a ‘Team Assistant’. I am most grateful for this opportunity to stay on here in Milltown especially as we face into the development of new models of ministry and build up our new formal partnership with the parishes of Donnybrook, Merrion Road and Booterstown.

In this week of special prayer for the Feast of Pentecost we ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten and inspire us with hope as we face the future together.

Yours,

Fr Peter

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We offer our condolences to the family and friends of Ian Byrne whose funeral took place here during the last week.

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A Novena to the Holy Spirit for the renewal of the church in the Archdiocese of Dublin will commence today.

The Novena Prayer

Come, Holy Spirit, revive and renew us

Come, Holy Spirit, inspire and enthuse us,

Come, Holy Spirit, unbind and release us

Open our eyes to see God’s grace around us

Open our ears to hear God’s voice within us

Open our hearts to welcome God among us

Send us out with joy to live the Gospel

Send us out with peace to act as one

Send us out with love to build up hope

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Laudato Si’ Week 21 to 28^th May 2023

Laudato Si’ Week is the annual celebration of the anniversary of Pope Francis’ papal encyclical letter,

“Laudato Si’: On Care For Our Common Home”.

The theme for this year’s Laudato Si week is:

“Hope For The Earth, Hope For Humanity”

To mark the event the parishes in our partnership have organised a talk which will be presented by:

Mr Tony D’Costa, General Secretary, Pax Christi Irish Section

“Landmines – Weapons of mass destruction in slow motion – One Step at a Time”

Booterstown Parish Centre at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 23^rd May 2023.

If you require assistance with travel to the venue contact Mary at 087 616 2569

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Thank you for your donations to last Sunday’s Collections. The Offertory Collection amounted to €950 and the Share Collection amounted to €480.

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We thank those of you who have already returned your Easter Dues. Dues envelopes may be posted to 67 Ramleh Park, Milltown Dublin 6, placed in the collection bags at Mass, or left into the Parish Office.

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The Dublin Archdiocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes takes place from the 7^th to the 12th September 2023. It will be led by Most Rev. Dermot Farrell, Archbishop of Dublin.

Please contact the Parish Office if you, or somebody you know, wishes to apply to travel with the Section for the Sick on this pilgrimage.

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Parish Celebration for Fr. Peter’s Golden Jubilee

Our Parish will celebrate Fr. Peter’s Golden Jubilee at the 11.30am Mass on next Sunday, May 28^th.

Mass will be followed by a reception in the Parish Pastoral Centre. We thank those who have kindly offered to provide home baking for the reception.

The Parish Pastoral Centre will be open to receive baking before the 6pm Mass on Saturday and the 10am & 11.30am Mass on Sunday.

It would be greatly appreciated if the food brought along was already plated and ready for distribution at the reception. This will reduce any unnecessary handling of food. We also ask parishioners to bring home their plates after the reception.

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PARISH PARTNERSHIP

In Advent, Archbishop Farrell announced that a strategic plan has been put in place to support the mission of the Church in future years and that plan involves parishes working together in formal partnerships.

As previously advised, Milltown will be working in partnership with the Parishes of Booterstown, Donnybrook and Merrion Road.

Already, the four Pastoral Councils have had an inaugural meeting and have planned a way forward through the working of an agreed Partnership Parish Council. Three meetings of that new Council have taken place. Significant changes will be necessary in the coming months, including the reconfiguration of Masses reflecting the fact that there are fewer and fewer priests serving in parishes every year. The Council is also focusing on intercommunication and joint pastoral initiatives.

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A meeting for members of the parish’s Ministers of the Word Group will take place in the Parish Pastoral Centre on Monday May 22^nd at 8pm.

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The Parish Liturgy Group will meet after the 10am Mass on this Wednesday May 24^th.

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We require additional volunteers to help prepare and serve tea and coffee in the Parish Pastoral Centre on weekday mornings. Please call into the Parish Office if you are available to help.

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Weekly Quote from Laudato Si

“True wisdom, as the fruit of self-examination, dialogue and generous encounter between persons, is not acquired by the mere accumulation of data which eventually leads to overload and confusion, a sort of mental pollution”. (LS 47).

Laudato Si is a worldwide wake up call to help humanity understand the destruction that man is rendering to the environment and his fellow man.

Laudato Si can be downloaded from the laudatosi.va website.

Copies of the encyclical are available from Veritas for € 4.99.

Last year many parishioners participated in the Lenten “Pledges of the Planet” initiative organised by the parish Laudato Si group. For this lent you are invited to again make a pledge to take an action to reduce the damage being caused to our environment. If you have continued with your pledge maybe you would like to make a new one. Pledge forms and a list of suggested actions you may take are available at the church doors. Pledges can be placed in the basket provided. A member of the Laudato Si group will update you on progress at a later date.

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The Parish are inviting girls and boys, who have received their first Holy Communion, to join our team of Altar Servers.

Training will be provided for this Ministry. Parents are required to complete an Application Form before their children commence training.

Please contact the Parish Office at 2196740 / 2680041 if you wish to receive an Application

Form for your son or daughter.

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Milltown Parish has a Vacancy for a Project Worker / Caretaker

Community Employment Ref: CES: 2220302

Duties to include:

Routine setting up of facilities for service users.

Reception – Meet and Greet Visitors

Operation of Coffee Dock – Prepare and Serve Refreshments

General Cleaning Duties

Sale of Mass Cards

Light Gardening Duties

Other Ad hoc duties as required.

Eligibility to participate on CE is generally linked to those who are 21 years of age or over and in receipt of an Irish Social Welfare payment for 1 year or more.

For further information please call Milltown Parish Office at 2196740/2680041 or email milltownparishcentre@gmail.com.

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CLOSING TIME OF CHURCH – Please note that the church closes at 5.30pm, with the exception of Saturday evening when it is closed after the 6pm Vigil Mass.

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Driver Appeal: For the last 30 years the Mary Aikenhead Day Centre have been providing a Meals on Wheels service to people in our community. They now require additional volunteers to deliver these meals. Drivers are also required to bring clients to and from the Day Centre. If you are available to help please contact the centre at madaycentre@gmail.com or call 2698995.

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Effective from 2023 we will be in a Parish Partnership with Donnybrook, Merrion Road and Booterstown.

Each parish will retain its identity, particular sense of community and its financial independence.

However, the Partnership will be a more formal collaborative arrangement and will focus on the development of a Partnership Council with representatives from all four parishes, reviewing Mass scheduling, setting up Funeral Ministries and extending and supporting Lay Ministries in each parish.

Parishioners will be kept informed of progress.

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REMINDER

Our accounts in Ulster Bank are now closed.

We would kindly request donors to complete their new Standing Order Forms and return the confirmation slips to the parish.

If you are not already a donor to the Family Offering we would ask you to consider doing so.

Bank Standing Order Forms for donations to the new Family Offering Account are available at the church doors.

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An Information sheet on the activities in the Parish Pastoral Centre is available on the tables at the back of the church.

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BUILDING HOPE THROUGH SERVANT LEADERSHIP

This course is especially for all those in parish ministries and pastoral councils. It will be held during Lent on 5 Monday evenings from 7.30pm – 9pm in St. Paul’s Centre for Mission and Ministry on Arran Quay.

Further information on this course is available on our Parish Notice Boards.

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Rathmines & Rathgar Bethany Bereavement Support Service (incl. Milltown & Ranelagh)

Our May meetings will take place in:

Rathmines Parish Centre (to the left of the church entrance – please use intercom).

On: Wednesday, 3 May at 8.00 p.m.

Rathgar, St Patrick’s Hall, access via rear of church (Leicester Avenue).

On: Tuesday, 16 May at 8.00 p.m.

Individual meetings can be arranged at Milltown: please phone 087 2243787.

This is a free service.

For further information please phone: 087 2841276 (Siobhán) or 086 3282151 (Marie).

The Bethany service is confidential, non-judgmental and open to all who have suffered bereavement or other significant loss and who need to speak in a supportive setting. Our trained listeners are here to help.

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COINS – CHANGE FOR GOOD

Help save children’s lives by donating your non euro coins to this voluntary organisation. They upcycle these coins in order to provide a pediatric MRI scanner that will save lives into the future. For further information please see our notice boards and the koinsforkids website.

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For your information: For security reasons we have our CCTV cameras back in action in our parish church.

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Copies of our Child and Vulnerable Adult Safeguarding Policy Statement are on display in the Church porches and in the Parish Pastoral Centre.

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In April, Archbishop Dermot Farrell established a Task Force called Building Hope. The Task Force was asked to assess the needs of the people of the Archdiocese emerging from Covid-19 and to work to support parish communities as they undertake a radical renewal, looking to the future with creativity. 3,000 people, mostly lay faithful, responded to the invitation to share their views. The Task Force report is now available on the Diocesan Website.

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If you are interested in starting a Rosary/Divine Mercy Group in the parish please contact Mary at 0872959518

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The Legion of Mary has resumed its meetings in Bird Avenue Church, Clonskeagh. They meet in St. Joseph’s Oratory every Wednesday at 7.30p.m. New members and visitors are always welcome. For further information please contact Una 087 2253845

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MILLTOWN PARISH ACTIVE RETIREMENT GROUP continues their GENTLE EXERCISE TO MUSIC CLASSES In the Parish Pastoral Centre on Thursday at 11am.

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The Dodder Action is an umbrella group of volunteers who want to maximise the potential of the River Dodder as an amenity for the people of Dublin.

They organise working groups to regularly go out and clean the river banks with equipment from Dublin City Council, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and Dublin South County Council.

More information on this group can be found on the Dodder Action website.

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Home from Home Dodder Area Community Sponsorship Group

Community Sponsorship for refugee resettlement: Can you help?

Community Sponsorship is an alternative model to state-led resettlement under which local groups of volunteer’s source accommodation for a family and provide a ready-made network of support and friendship when the families come to Ireland.

Outcomes for both resettled families, sponsors and local communities have been demonstrated time and again to be extremely positive.

A local Community Sponsorship group was formed in this area in late 2021 and we hope to welcome a family during 2022.

To do this we need to find accommodation and raise sufficient funds to provide the required support over a two-year period.

Please consider how you might be able to help.

For more information or to donate, see https://www.homefromhomedodder.com/

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Diocesan Synodal Pathway Prayer

We stand before You, Holy Spirit, as we gather together in Your name.

With You alone to guide us, make Yourself at home in our hearts;

Teach us the way we must go and how we are to pursue it.

We are weak and sinful; do not let us promote disorder.

Do not let ignorance lead us down the wrong path nor partiality influence our actions.

Let us find in You our unity so that we may journey together to eternal life and not stray from the way of truth and what is right.

All this we ask of You, who are at work in every place and time, in the communion of the Father and the Son, forever and ever.

Amen

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Archbishop Dermot Farrell has published a Pastoral Letter on Climate Crisis – ‘The Cry of the Earth – The Cry of the Poor’. Hard copies of this publication are available for sale on the Parish Book Stand. On line copies are on the Diocesan website. Archbishop Farrell’s introduction to this Pastoral Letter is available on this website.

Remarks by Archbishop Dermot Farrell at the launch of the Pastoral Letter, are available on our Parish Website.

A Prayer for Our Earth

All powerful God,
you are present in the universe
and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with your peace, so that we may live as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned
and forgotten of this earth,
so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty,
not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts
of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature
as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle,
for justice, love and peace.

A Prayer for Our Earth was published in Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si’.

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Prayer for Spiritual Communion

My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament.

I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul.

Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally,

Come to me Lord, come at least spiritually into my heart,

and unite my soul completely to You.

Never let me be separated from You.

Amen.

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Glenstal Abbey – Stations of the Cross

There is a recording of the Stations of the Cross available on the Glenstall Abbey website. You can access these Stations of the Cross on the video section of the Glenstall Abbey Website: https://www.glenstal.com/abbey

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Support Services

TOWARDS HEALING is a support service, funded by the Catholic Church for Survivors of Institutional, Clerical and Religious abuse. This service provides Helpline Support and Counselling.

The Freephone number is 1800 303 416 and the website address is: www.towardshealing.ie

ALONE manage a national support line and additional supports for older people who have concerns or are facing difficulties relating to COVID-19.

Professional staff are available to answer queries and give advice and reassurance where necessary.

The support line is open seven days a week, 8am – 8pm, by calling 0818 222 024

Generation Tech

Generation Tech is a free service and is run by volunteers. Volunteer run FREE HELPLINE to help older people in Ireland with tech issues.

Our volunteers are tech experts and work in shifts from 8am-8pm Monday to Friday. Support is provided over the phone.

If you need help with smartphones, tablets, social media, apps, PCs, printers, etc. CALL US on: 01-9633 288.

Aware – Support & Self Care Groups

If you, or those with whom you work wish to connect with people in relation to your mental wellbeing, please consider using the Phone In and Zoom Support & Self Care Groups, the Support Line or Support Mail, now and throughout the holiday season. These services provide support, coping skills and information – and most importantly help people who are in distress to know and feel that they are not alone in their experience. For more information about the groups https://www.aware.ie/support/support-groups/ and all of our services on www.aware.ie

Rathmines & Rathgar Bethany Bereavement Support Service (Including Milltown & Ranelagh) Offer a monthly listening sessions for those of you who have suffered a bereavement or another significant loss. For further information on this free service please contact: 087 2841276 (Siobhán) or 086 3602198 (Anne).

Individual meetings can be arranged at Milltown. Please phone 087 2243787 if you require this service.

The Irish Hospice Foundation Bereavement Support Line is 1800 80 70 77 and is open from 10am – 1pm from Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). If the line is busy when you call, they can call you back if you leave your contact details.

The Mary Aikenhead Centre in Donnybrook operate a ‘Meals on Wheels Service’ for our area. This service provides a healthy meal delivered direct to elderly and housebound person’s homes five days a week Monday to Friday. If you are an elderly person from this area and would like to avail of this service, please contact the Centre at 01 2698995.

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