Parish of The Assumption and Sts. Columbanus & Gall, Milltown – The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time – January 29th 2023
“Happy the gentle; they shall have the earth for their heritage”. Matt. 4
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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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We offer our condolences to the family and friends of Christy Conville, a valued member of our Sacristy Team whose funeral took place here today. We also offer our condolences to the family and friends of Anne Byrne whose funeral will be here on this Tuesday at 10am.
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Safeguarding & Protection Service: In order to comply with Child and Vulnerable Adults Safeguarding Regulations all Parish volunteers, staff and clergy are required to attend one of the following Information Sessions which will take place in our Parish Church on:
Wed. Feb. 8th from 11 – 1pm and on Mon. Feb. 13th from 7.30pm – 9.30pm
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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 4.30pm, with the exception of Saturday evening when it is closed after the 6pm Vigil Mass.
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Thank you for your donations to last Sunday’s Collections. The Offertory Collection amounted to €990 and the Share Collection amounted to €480.
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Last Sunday our parish hosted the annual Ecumenical Service. Our thanks to all who were involved in organising and helping at the Service and the reception afterwards in the Parish Pastoral Centre.
The variety and quality of the home baking we received was astounding and fully appreciated by all who attended.
The collection that took place for the Ukraine amounted to €780.
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We have received a thank you note from the Society of St. Vincent De Paul for the €26,471 donated to their Annual Christmas Appeal. This amount was in excess of their expectations.
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“PAST TIMES MUSIC OF YESTERYEAR”: The Milltown Branch of the ICA, together with Dublin City Council, are hosting a musical afternoon in the Parish Pastoral Centre on this Thursday, February 2nd from 4.30pm – 6pm. All are welcome. Further information is on our Parish Notice Boards. Donations welcome.
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Effective 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: Closure of our account in Ulster Bank is rapidly approaching.
Our accounts in Ulster Bank are being closed in early January. We would kindly request donors to complete their new Standing Order Forms and return the confirmation slips. 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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This Week’s Feast Days
Wednesday 1st February: St. Brigid, Abbess and Secondary Patron of Ireland.
The name Brigid means “the exalted one”. She is known as Mary of the Gael. One significant virtue about Brigid which outshone all others was her generosity. When it came to serving the poor she said “If I had the power to give away the whole of Leinster, I would willingly give it to God”.
Thursday 2nd February: The Presentation of the Lord. This day commemorates the occasion when the Virgin Mary, in obedience to Jewish law, went to the Temple in Jerusalem both to be purified 40 days after the birth of her son, Jesus, and to present him to God as her firstborn (Luke 2:22–38). This feast day is traditionally called Candlemas Day.
Friday 3rd February: St. Blaise, bishop and martyr. St. Blaise is recognised as the saint of throat disease. Blessing of the throats will take place at this morning’s Mass.
This Friday, is also the First Friday of the Month. The 10am Mass on the day will be offered for all who are recently deceased and those whose names are on the Parish Altar list of the Dead.
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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 61)
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.
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Rathmines & Rathgar Bethany Bereavement Support Service (incl. Milltown & Ranelagh
Rathmines & Rathgar Bethany Bereavement Support Service (incl. Milltown & Ranelagh
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.
Our February meetings will take place in:
- Rathmines Parish Centre (to the left of the church entrance – please use intercom).
On: Wednesday, 1 February at 8.00 p.m.
- Rathgar, St Patrick’s Hall, access via rear of church (Leicester Avenue).
On: Tuesday, 21 February 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).
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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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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 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
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.
Marian Pilgrimages have released their pilgrimage schedule for 2021 & 2022 to Lourdes, Medjugorje, Fatima, Italy & Holy Land. For more information or to register your interest please visit www.marian.ie or ring Marian Pilgrimages on (01) 878 8159.
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