Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sat 19^th                  6:00 pm Gerry Davey & his parents

Margaret & Owen (A)

Sun 20^th                 10:00 am              Lil Conlon (M)

Mon 21^st                St Peter Damian (priest)

10:00 am        Margaret & Joe Johnston

& Joe Johnston Jnr. (M)

Tues 22^nd               The Chair of St Peter (apostle)

10:00 am        Pat, Mary, & Breda Scanlon (M)

Wed 23^rd               St Polycarp (bishop & martyr)

10:00 am        Nora & Johnny Dunleavy (A)

Thurs 24^th             10:00 am              Tom & Michael Hargadon (M)

Fri          25^th         10:00 am              Holy Souls (A) Padre Pio Devotions

Sat 26^th                  10:00 am                      Christy & Agnes O’Loughlin

& daughter Bridie (M)

Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sat 26^th                  6:00 pm Peter Smythe (A)

Sun 27^th                 10:00 am              Evelyn & Jimmy Joe Gannon (M)

7^th Sunday in Ordinary Time 20^th Feb: Focus: We are called to bear Christ’s merciful image. – The Lord delivers Saul into David’s hands, & yet David chooses not to kill but to show mercy. As followers of Christ, we are called to love even our enemies & treat them as we would want them to treat us. We are asked to ignore our natural inclinations toward revenge & recompense, & instead choose forgiveness & generosity – to conform ourselves to Christ.

Trócaire Boxes are available at the church door. Please support.

SYMPATHY: We remember in our prayers at this time: Kathleen McCarrick, Cloonacool, (sister of the late Johnny Johnston, Cloonarara).  

May the Souls of the faithful departed rest in peace

Exploring Priesthood – Zoom with Seminarians & Priests. On Tues 1^st March 8pm there will be an opportunity to join in on a Zoom to find out more about priesthood & to hear directly from two young men who are currently studying for the priesthood in Maynooth. The event is being run by the National Vocations Office. Further info & registration details at info@vocations.ie or by visiting vocations.ie/zoom or by contacting our Vocations Director Fr Paul Kivlehan 087-3683535  

         Parish Pastoral Council: Meeting in Parochial House on Tues 22^nd February at 8pm to discuss feedback for Synod 2023.

         Mass Times: From 1^st March the Vigil Mass will be at 8pm. It was at 6pm all winter but now with the brighter evenings we are moving back to the original time of 8:00pm.

SACRAMENTS

Ash Wednesday 2^nd March 8pm Mass & blessing of ashes. Also the Ceremony of Light for the Confirmation pupils.

Thurs 3^rd March 11:30am, Confessions for Confirmation Pupils.

Sun 13^th March 12noon, Confirmation in Mullinabreena Church.

Wed 16^th (Vigil Mass for Saint Patrick’s Day) March 8pm: Enrolment Ceremony for First Holy Communion Pupils.

Saturday 2^nd April 11:30am, First Holy Communion.

Enrolment forms for Achonry NS Sept. 2022 are available from the school please contact the school by phone or email info@achonryns.ie 0719184395 to arrange for one to be sent in the post. Forms are also available in Achonry & Mullinabreena churches. 

Mass Servers

Hopefully the pupils from 3^rd up to 6^th Class will soon be able to serve at Mass again. However, to have all regulations in place parents need to sign the consent form & return to me ASAP. The servers will have to get ready in the main body of the church unless some parents are prepared to get Garda Vetted & supervise them in the Sacristy before & after Mass.

Clothes Collection

Planning a spring clean? Achonry National School Parents Association will hold a clothes collection over the next 2 weekends.

·   On Saturdays 19^th & 26^th February you can leave clothes at Achonry Farmers Market between 10am & 1pm.

·   On Sunday 20^th February you can drop to St Nathy's Hall from 10.30 pm to 1pm.    All proceeds will go to the school.

Please contact Joann Hosey @ 087 9394499 if you have any questions. Thank you for your support.

Covid 19: The number of deaths worldwide is now at 5,828,044. That’s 77,386 deaths in the past week. Republic of Ireland deaths 6,291. That’s 63 deaths in Ireland last week. The number of positive cases in Ireland is 1,246,188, so 1 in every 4 has now tested positive.

NEW ROOF FOR MULLINABREENA CHURCH

The contract is now signed & work will begin in March for the roof costing €214,500. This is a big undertaking, but necessary. If you are in a position to help, please know that your support is welcome. This can be done by a once off gift contribution or by a little extra on occasion in the weekly offertory, or in any way that is convenient to you. The intention is not to burden you but, insofar as you can help, it would be appreciated. Thank you for your ongoing support & generosity. God bless you all. If you want to contribute direct the Bank details are: Mullinabreena Church  IBAN: IE20 BOFI 9054 9111 7571 99

BIC: BOFIIE2D. Thanks to those who have already responded to this appeal.

Excerpts from Bishop Dempsey’s article on Synodality

Pope Francis is well aware of the challenges we face. In order to try tackle them he has invited us into the process of Synodality. Perhaps the concept has not gained traction yet? However, it offers us a great opportunity as Church. Basically, it is an invitation from the Pope to hear from us. He wants to hear from those of us who are deeply involved in the Church but also those who have drifted away or deliberately walked away. It is something we will be working at in our diocese over the coming weeks. Our feedback will be collated with reports from other dioceses & then shared with Rome to inform the Synod in October 2023.

Synodality literally means “journeying together.” This model of being Church can be seen in Acts when the early Church grappled with difficult questions. But this model of synodality goes back to the very heart of our faith, the Trinity, where we have Father, Son & Spirit, journeying together as one. We are invited into that life, that love & to model it in the way we live our lives as a community of disciples.

On this journey together I need to hear from you, your thoughts & ideas. Over the next few weeks, I will be inviting members of each cluster area to Bishop’s House where we might take some time to explore these questions further. We can do this in a spirit of discernment. After meeting with the cluster areas, I will be inviting us to come together again in a plenary session to harvest what emerged in the cluster discussions to see what the next steps might be. But this is not just a clerical exercise. Our Pastoral Leadership Team & others must form part of this discussion also.

In order to help us with this process I invite you to pray & reflect about it. Perhaps you might ponder the following two questions: What is the Lord saying to you through his Word? What is the Lord saying to us as a diocese? In all of this I am reminded of what John F. Kennedy once said: “There are risks & costs involved in any programme of action, but they are far less than the long-term risks & costs of comfortable inaction.”

May the Spirit help us to avoid “comfortable inaction.” As we journey together may we be open to the possibilities the Lord is offering us in this moment & have the courage to respond.

“The Family that Prays together stays together”