What in this weeks newsletter?
- Reflections 24th Sunday or ordinary time.
- Letter from Monsignor O”Mahony
- Prayer for Parish Feast Day
- Recent deaths and anniversaries in our parish
Dear friends,
We are delighted with the positive response so far with regard to Mass attendance since public Masses resumed in late June. It is a sign of your continued commitment to your faith and especially to the celebration of the Eucharist, which the Second Vatican Council called the ‘source and summit’ of our Christian faith. Our volunteers have worked exceptionally hard to ensure people are seated and that the church is sanitised after each Mass, and we thank them for their efforts.
Unfortunately, in recent weeks, there haven’t been places available for some people who came to the 10.30am Sunday Mass. The number attending the 10.30 Sunday Mass is now very large. Given the fact that we only have a limited number of seats available, we are asking people to consider attending one of our other weekend Masses, i.e. 7.30pm vigil on Saturday, 8.30am or 12pm Sunday, as there are plenty of seats available at those. Due to health and safety regulations, we cannot have people standing at the back or in the porches. So, if you are in a position to attend one of our other weekend Masses, we invite you to consider this option.
Overall, our changes are working very well, and we thank you, dear parishioners, for your patience and understanding, and for your generous co-operation with the new routines in place.
God bless,
Mgr. O’Mahony
TRAMORE PARISH FEAST DAY – MONDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER EXALTING THE HOLY CROSS
STATIONS OF THE CROSS WILL TAKE PLACE AFTER 10.00AM MASS
O Sweet Love, you have killed your Beloved,
I beg of you, let me die of Love!
Love, you who led your Lover to such a hard death,
why have you done this?
Was it that you did not want me to perish?
Do not spare me, let me die in Love’s embrace.
2. You did not spare him whom you loved so dearly;
Why then be indulgent with me?
Catch me on your hook, like fish that cannot get away-
That will be a sign that you love me.
Do not spare me: I long to die drowned in Love.
Love is fixed to the cross-
The cross has taken him and will not let him go.
3. I run and cling to that cross.
That my anguish may not drive me mad.
To flee would lead me to despair;
For my name would be cancelled from the book
of Love.
O cross, I fix myself to you and cling to you,
That as I die, I may taste Life!
For you are adorned with honeyed Death
And I am wretched not to have tasted you!
O daring soul, impatient for wounds,
May I die heartbroken with Love!
4. I run to the cross and read
Its blood-stained pages-
That is the book that makes me a doctor
of natural philosophy and theology.
O book inscribed with golden letters
And all a bloom with Love!
5. O Love of the Lamb, vaster than any sea,
Who can dare to speak of you?
He who has drowned in you,
and no longer knows where he is;
He whom folly seems that right path,
Who goes about crazed by Love.
Those who have died recently:John Kehoe
Those whose Months mind Occurs:
Terry McNeill, Paul Hallahan
Those whose’ Anniversary Occurs:
Jamie Walsh (1st Ann),Celia O’Connor
John, Margaret & John Jnr O’Keeffe,Declan & Margaret Power,Marion Beaver,Nicky O’Connor
Those who were baptised recently:
Mila Harper Smith,Aoibhe Gray,Isabella Walsh,Grace Mary Rush
Congratulations to their parents and godparents.
Reflection for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Forgiveness
We are called to forgive; and that can be really difficult. You have been defrauded by the banks of your life’s savings – can you forgive? You were abused as a child – can you forgive? You were done out of a job because another lied to get it – can you forgive? The answer is maybe ‘no’. What then does God want? He asks us to open our hearts to the other so that we may forgive. Forgive¬ness is the deepest of God’s desires on our behalf, and he hopes that we can forgive each other.
Our hurts and burdens are heavy to carry through life. To for¬give can release some of that weight. The person who hurt us may be dead, or may not even know (or care) that we are hurt¬ing. When we desire to forgive but don’t know how, one way of looking for this strength is to pray for it. We often pray, ‘Lord, make my heart like yours’. When we pray that we are praying to be forgiving people!
Another way is to pray for the person. When we realise that as God loves me, he also loves everyone, we may find a spark or light of forgiveness in our souls.
Out of this we may find the will to meet the other and talk to him or her, and find the grace of forgiveness between us.
Forgiveness sometimes comes slowly. When God sees us want¬ing to be on the road to forgiveness, he gives us the graces we need to unburden ourselves and be able to love like him.
Sit in silence for a while, and send a blessing or prayer
to someone you need to forgive.
Lord, I ask – make my heart like yours.
Fr Donal Neary, S.J