Weekly Bulletin 2nd May 2021

Today is the Fifth Sunday of Easter. Jesus speaks of Himself in the Gospel (John 15:1-8) being the Vine and we are the branches. “Make your home in me as I make mine in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself but must remain part of the vine, neither can you unless your remain in me” (John 15:4) An attractive feature of St. John’s Gospel is his sensitivity to centrality of love and friendship in our lives. He uses a Greek word meneim.(remain). It occurs some 40 times in his Gospel and it carries such a depth of meaning. In various different versions of the New Testament it is translated in various ways: abide, stay, remain, rest, dwell. He is telling us that Christian spirituality is relational.  Jesus spoke in John’s Gospel Chapter six of being the Bread of Life. “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them” (John 6:56).  There is a mutuality, a shared aliveness, a reciprocal indwelling. We live in Him and He lives in us. We are caught up in a communion which exists between the Father and Son. Jesus is both the giver and the gift. Jesus promises us that this relationship transcends the power of death and continues forever. The Father and Jesus are bound together in a dynamic unity, now they MAKE THE JOURNEY INTO THE HEART AND BEING OF THE LOVING AND FAITHFUL DISCIPLES AND MAKE THEIR HOME (ABIDING PLACE) THERE. “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John,14:23). Surveys say that eight out of ten young people in our schools think that being a celebrity is the way to peace and contentment. There is some truth in it, but it won’t and can’t bring lasting peace. We need a truth that inspires our living. Half-truths won’t do that. Archbishop Timothy Dolan the Archbishop of New York said: “Maybe the greatest threat to the church is not heresy, nor dissent, not secularism, not even moral relativism, but this sanitised, feel-good, boutique, therapeutic spirituality that makes no demands, calls for no sacrifices, asks for no conversion, entails no battle against sin, but only soothes and affirms” G. K. Chesterton once lamented that some people die with all the music inside them, that they never really lived, never noticing the wonder of their transformation by the Lord, nor alert to what the Eucharistic Prayer 111 says –  “may He (i.e. Jesus) make of us an eternal offering to you”.   Each of us is an eternal offering and an everlasting gift to God. Are we not truly blessed by our Risen Saviour who has brought us all into the very life of God? Our only response can be thankfulness. 

Bank Holiday Monday: We will have Mass at 11am only. There will be no Evening Mass @ 7pm. The shop will be open until 12NOON.         

Re – Opened: Our Shop is open  Mon to Sat: 9.30am – 7pm. Sunday – 9.30am – 4pm. 

First Friday: Friday 7^th May is the First Friday in the month.

The May Rosary will be held at Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto here at the Graan each evening at 6pm. All welcome.

Feasts of the Week: Monday: Saints Philip & St. James: Both apostles. Philip was formerly a disciple of John the Baptist from Bethsaida. James was a relative of Jesus and he was pastor in the early Church at Jerusalem. He was martyred in 62 A.D. Tuesday: St. Conleth – was bishop and abbot for St. Brigid’s community in Kildare.

Wednesday: Blessed Edmund Rice (1762 -1844) from Callan Co. Kilkenny. Founder of the Christian and Presentation Brothers. Saturday: Blessed John Sullivan (1861 -1933) a Dublin man, educated at Portora College Enniskillen became a Jesuit priest. Renowned for his holiness of life and was always available for the sick, the poor and anyone in need. Was beatified in Dublin on 13 May 2017 in St. Francis Xavier Church

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Thanks for the generous contributions to last weekend’s Sunday collection. Thanks also to our ushers who with great courtesy and gentleness are taking care of our seating arrangements. Thank you for following their instructions and for wearing your masks. We follow these instructions so that we can be safe when we gather to worship God.   A word of gratitude – to our Ministers of the Eucharist who bring communion to the side aisles of our Church. Communion is received on the hand.  

Exposition: Each Friday 10am – 2pm.

Confessions: Bank Holiday Monday (No confessions). Mon (3^rd May) – Mass @ 11am only – Charles.    

Confessions 2 – 5pm: Tues: Charles Wed: Arthur. Thurs – Charles. Fri – Anthony & Sat – 5pm -6pm – Anthony.