Events

March 25, 2012;

The story of the Annunciation, meaning the announcing, from the Latin annuntiare, is told in Luke’s gospel. At the Annunciation, the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will conceive a Son, and his name will be Jesus. His greeting, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you” has echoed down through the ages in many prayers, and is known as the “Hail Mary.” Mary is initially confused as to how she will bear God’s Son, seeing as she is a virgin. The angel then explains that the Holy Spirit will come upon on her. This is why when we recite the Nicene creed we say “by the power of the Holy Spirit, [Jesus] was born of the Virgin Mary and became man.” The Apostles Creed likewise affirms that Jesus was “conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Thus, the Feast of the Annunciation is the beginning of Jesus’ miraculous life.

Mary’s response to the angel, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word,” (Latin: ecce ancilla Domini; fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum) is a statement of humble faith, and a model for how we are to respond when God calls us to do what seems impossible.

March 18, 2011;

The History of Mother’s Day

In the Roman religion the Hilaria festival was held in honour of the mother goddess Cybele and it took place during mid-March. As the Roman Empire and Europe converted to Christianity, this celebration became part of the liturgical calendar as Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent to honour the Virgin Mary and the “mother church”.

During the sixteenth century, people returned to their mother church for a service to be held on Laetare Sunday. This was either a large local church, or more often the nearest Cathedral. Anyone who did this was commonly said to have gone “a-mothering”. In later times, Mothering Sunday became a day when domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mothers and other family members. It was often the only time that whole families could gather together, since in other days they were prevented by conflicting working hours.

Nowadays Mothers Day is celebrated as a day that honours and pays tribute to mothers. It is customary to spoil your mum on this day with gifts and help with everyday chores.

March 24, 2012; 6:30 pm;

First Communion Preparation Mass for Gaelscoil Donncha Rua
in SS John & Paul Church
on Saturday 24th March
at 6.30pm

March 23, 2012;

Daffodil Day is on 23rd March and it is the Irish Cancer Society’s annual fundraising campaign raising vital funds for free cancer patient care and information services. It’s a day for everybody to join together, show support and give hope to people affected by cancer throughout Ireland. Buy a daffodil and give your support to a worthwhile cause!

For further information visit the Irish Cancer Society website at www.cancer.ie

March 19, 2012;

Everything we know about the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus comes from Scripture. We know he was a carpenter, a working man. He wasn’t rich for when he took Jesus to the Temple to be circumcised and Mary to be purified he offered the sacrifice of two turtledoves or a pair of pigeons, allowed only for those who could not afford a lamb.

Despite his humble work and means, Joseph came from a royal lineage descending from David, the greatest king of Israel. Indeed the angel who first tells Joseph about Jesus greets him as “son of David,” a royal title used also for Jesus.

We know Joseph was a compassionate, caring man. When he discovered Mary was pregnant after they had been betrothed, he knew the child was not his but was as yet unaware that she was carrying the Son of God. He planned to divorce Mary according to the law but he was concerned for her suffering and safety. He knew that women accused to adultery could be stoned to death, so he decided to divorce her quietly and not expose her to shame or cruelty.

We know Joseph was man of faith, obedient to whatever God asked of him without knowing the outcome. When the angel came to Joseph in a dream and told him the truth about the child Mary was carrying, Joseph immediately and without question or concern for gossip, took Mary as his wife. When the angel came again to tell him that his family was in danger, he immediately left everything he owned, all his family and friends, and fled to a strange country with his young wife and the baby. He waited in Egypt without question until the angel told him it was safe to go back.

We know Joseph loved Jesus. His one concern was for the safety of this child entrusted to him. Not only did he leave his home to protect Jesus, but upon his return settled in the obscure town of Nazareth out of fear for his life. When Jesus stayed in the Temple we are told Joseph (along with Mary) searched with great anxiety for three days for him. We also know that Joseph treated Jesus as his own son for over and over the people of Nazareth say of Jesus, “Is this not the son of Joseph?”

We know Joseph respected God. He followed God’s commands in handling the situation with Mary and going to Jerusalem to have Jesus circumcised and Mary purified after Jesus’ birth. We are told that he took his family to Jerusalem every year for Passover, something that could not have been easy for a working man.

Since Joseph does not appear in Jesus’ public life, at his death, or resurrection, many historians believe Joseph probably had died before Jesus entered public ministry.  Joseph is the patron of the dying because, assuming he died before Jesus’ public life, he died with Jesus and Mary close to him, the way we all would like to leave this earth.  Joseph is also patron of the universal Church, fathers, carpenters, and social justice.  We celebrate two feast days for Joseph: March 19 for Joseph the Husband of Mary and May 1 for Joseph the Worker.

There is much we wish we could know about Joseph — where and when he was born, how he spent his days, when and how he died. But Scripture has left us with the most important knowledge: who he was – “a righteous man.”

March 17, 2012;

Vigil Mass for the Feast of St. Patrick
in SS John & Paul Church
on Friday 16th March
at 6.30pm

St. Patrick’s Day – Mass times:
8.45am:           Airport Oratory
9am:                Mary Immaculate Church
10am:              Children’s Mass at 10am in SS John & Paul Church.
Blessing of shamrock before Mass with members of the 32^nd Infantry Battalion Reserve Defence Forces.
11am:              Mary Immaculate Church
12.15pm:         Aifreann as Gaeilge in SS John & Paul Church

6.30pm:         Vigil Mass for 4th Sunday in Lent in SS John & Paul Church

Lá shona Féile Pádraig do gach duine.

The Story of St. Patrick

There are many legends and stories of St. Patrick. He was born around near Dumbarton, in Scotland, in the year 387. His parents were Calpurnius and Conchessa, who were Romans living in Britian in charge of the colonies.

As a boy of fourteen or so, he was captured during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend sheep. Ireland at this time was a land of Druids and pagans. He learned the language and practices of the people who held him.

During his captivity, he turned to God in prayer. He wrote “The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did the faith, and my soul was rosed, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same.” “I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain.”

Patrick’s captivity lasted until he was twenty, when he escaped after having a dream from God in which he was told to leave Ireland by going to the coast. There he found some sailors who took him back to Britian, where he reunited with his family. He had another dream in which the people of Ireland were calling out to him “We beg you, holy youth, to come and walk among us once more.” He began his studies for the priesthood. He was ordained by St. Germanus, the Bishop of Auxerre, whom he had studied under for years.

Later, Patrick was ordained a bishop, and was sent to take the Gospel to Ireland. He arrived in Ireland March 25, 433, at Slane. One legend says that he met a chieftain of one of the tribes, who tried to kill Patrick. Patrick converted Dichu (the chieftain) after he was unable to move his arm until he became friendly to Patrick. Patrick began preaching the Gospel throughout Ireland, converting many. He and his disciples preached and converted thousands and began building churches all over the country. Kings, their families, and entire kingdoms converted to Christianity when hearing Patrick’s message.

Patrick preached and converted all of Ireland for 40 years. He worked many miracles and wrote of his love for God in Confessions. After years of living in poverty, traveling and enduring much suffering, he died at Saul, Downpatrick, where he had built the first church on 17th March, 461.

March 11, 2012; 10:00 am;

Confirmation Preparation Mass for St. Aidan’s
in SS John & Paul Church
on Sunday 11th March
at 10am

March 11, 2012; 3:00 pm;

Women’s World Day of Prayer was held on 1st March around the globe with International Women’s Day taking place on 8th March. Our Women’s World Day of Prayer Celebration in Shannon Parish will take place

in the Jubilee Chapel on 11th March in Mary Immaculate Church at 3pm.

All are welcome!

March 8, 2012;

Senan’s reputed birth-place is Moylough about four miles east of Kilrush, Co. Clare. He received his first monastic formation locally on peninsula of West Clare from the abbot Cassidan. He then went him to the monastery of St Natalis at Kilnamanagh in Ossory to continue his preparations for the religious life. There he was credited with the performance of many miracles. He is next heard of having established a church at Enniscorthy. The Book of Lismore states that Senan went to Rome and from there to Tours, which was at that time, the great monastic establishment in West Europe. Returning to Ireland, St. Senan established a church and monastery at Inniscarra, in Cork. He then moved back to his native district. He began his work on the islands of the Fergus. He crossed to Mutton Island, then to Bishop’s Island, south of Kilkee. Finally, about 534, he established himself at Scattery, the low green island about a mile off the coast from Kilrush.

Before Senan arrived on Scattery, also called Inis Cathaig, a legendary monster called “The Cathach” inhabited the island and terrorised people who were afraid to approach the island.  When Senan arrived on the island, the Archangel Michael led him to the highest hill where Senan was able to locate the Cathach. He faced the monster and ordered it to depart from the island, which it did, but not without a struggle. A local chief hired a druid to put a spell on the saint, but when the druid landed on a nearby island, a tidal wave enveloped him and swept him to his death. That smaller island is still pointed out as Carraig an Draoi or The Druid’s Rock, which can still be seen at low tide.

Little is known of the Saint’s life in Scattery beyond the miracles recorded and the fact that the rule of his monastery was austere in the extreme however  Senan’s reputation spread far and wide. Brendan of Birr and Kieran of Clonmacnois came to visit him  for spiritual direction. And from far-away Bantry St. Cainir, a relation of St. Senans who had a convent to the West of Ballylongford, resolved to visit this holy spot and, if possible end her days there. When she arrived she found that no woman was allowed to live in or even land on the island so despite her appeals she had to stay by the shore. Some say she languished there and died: others that she spoke up to Senan and said: ‘Women can enter the kingdom of heaven no less than men’ and he let her stay and she was buried at high water mark.

St. Senan is said to have died on March 8th, 544. The river Shannon is believed to be named after him. His patron day on March 8th was an important day of pilgrimage to Inis Cathaig. He is buried on Scattery Island, probably in Temple Senan. The grave is supposed to be the site of miraculous cures. Stones from St. Senan’s Bed were regarded as relics and a protection against diseases and especially drowning. In the folklore of West Clare the cult of Senan still survives.

Information courtesy of Clare County Library and CatholicIreland.net

March 5, 2012; 7:30 pm;

St. Joseph’s Young Priests’ Society Meeting will take place on Monday 5th March after the 7pm Mass in SS John & Paul Church.

March 4, 2012; 11:00 am;

Bishop Kieran will visit our parish again on Sunday 4th March when he will celebrate the 11am Mass in Mary Immaculate Church on the Golden Jubilee of St. Senan’s School. Everyone is welcome to this Mass and for refreshments afterwards in the School. On Saturday 3rd March, the School will launch its Commemorative Book in The GAA Goalpost.

March 4, 2012; 10:00 am;

First Communion Preparation Mass for St. Aidan’s
on Sunday 4th March
in SS John & Paul Church
at 10am

March 2, 2012;

‘LET JUSTICE PREVAIL’

On Friday 2nd March over 3 million people worldwide will be praying and worshipping together during an annual day of prayer, using a service prepared by Christian

women in Malaysia. Celebrations in Shannon will take place on Sunday 11th March at 3pm in the Jubilee Chapel, Mary Immaculate Church.

For more details about Malaysia and the lives of the women who prepared the service visit www.wwdp-natcomm.org

February 29, 2012; 7:45 pm;

The First Confession Ceremony for St. Conaire’s School will take place in SS John & Paul Church on Wednesday 29th February at 7.45pm.

February 27, 2012; 8:00 pm;