Ara Coeli
Cathedral Road
ARMAGH BT61 7QY
Tel (028) 3752 2045
Fax (028) 3752 6182
Email: [email protected]
Administrative Staff:
Mrs Caroline Hicks
[email protected]
Mrs Donna Gray
[email protected]
Mrs Kathy Lennon
[email protected]
Chancellor:
Very Rev Michael Toner PP
[email protected]
Assistant Chancellor:
Rev Paul Murphy
[email protected]
Diocesan Secretary:
Rev Colm Hagan
[email protected]
Financial Administrator:
Mrs Brenda O’Hare
[email protected]
Human Resources Officer:
Mrs Mrs Orlagh McCullough
[email protected]
Media Queries:
Mr Martin Long – Tel: 01 5053010
Mobile: 086 1727 678
[email protected]
The GIFT1 programme, which runs over five weeks, explores self-development from a faith perspective for young people. The programme is designed to be delivered to young people aged 11-13 years who have been confirmed.
The Diocesan faith development and retreat team, Siolta, have developed a user friendly and modern version of GIFT1 as part of their youth initiatives throughout the diocese. One of the Coordinators of Siolta, Lynette Hughes, trained 22 young leaders who in turn delivered it to a group of 12/13 year olds in their parish.
Parish priest, Fr. Brian White welcomed the initiative to the area, pledging the church’s commitment to the ongoing faith development of young people in their parish. The programme is a valuable resource for parishes to tap into young people who have been confirmed in recent years.
Any parish wishing to know more about the GIFT programme content and training opportunities should contact Pierce or Kate on (028)37525592 (NI) or (048) 37525592 (RoI).
The four Masses will take place in:
All are welcome especially those who have lost a young family member or friend. Those attending are invited to join together for refreshments after Mass.
Christian Faith and Moral Character examines the formation of a person’s character, and how the Christian theological tradition reflects upon this reality. What Makes Us Catholic (Part 1) explores four of the essential aspects that makes us Catholic and how we are nourished by them and live them in our everyday lives.
They will introduce participants to the principles of liturgical renewal set out in the Second Vatican Council and in the documents that followed it. Attention will be given to the rites of Christian initiation, celebrating the Sunday liturgy, the liturgical year and the lectionary. All are welcome to one, some or all evenings.
For more information and booking contact the Office of Pastoral Renewal and Family Ministry on
+353 42 933 6649.
3 November: What is Liturgy? Introduction to the module
10 November: ‘Made not Born.’ The Rites of Christian Initiation
17 November: Celebrating the Sunday Eucharist – Liturgy of the Word
24 November: The Liturgical Year. Times and Seasons
1 December: Celebrating the Sunday Eucharist – Liturgy of the Eucharist
8 December: Advent, Christmas and Epiphany
One of those present was invited to read aloud the account of the Washing of the Feet from St John’s Gospel. As we listened our embarrassment was transformed. The presence of Christ in the Word served to highlight the reality of Christ’s presence in each other. Without compromise of doctrinal integrity or ecclesiastical discipline, our ‘inter-communion’ in the Word and our shared faith in its transforming power brought each one of us literally to our knees in an attitude of reverence and respect.
In this strong experience of ritual, with its Baptismal and Eucharistic resonances, we experienced the truth of the words of our Holy Father that: ‘To listen to the word of God together constitutes a path to be taken in order to achieve unity in the faith’(IL 54). We understood in a new way the words of St. Gregory the Great when he said: ‘Frequently, many things in the Sacred Writings, which I was unable to understand on my own, I came to grasp while in the presence of my brothers’ (Homiliae in Ezechielem, II,2, I: PL 76, 948-949).
Experience of the search for peace confirms the importance of acknowledging with gratitude the contribution of other Christians to our tradition. Here it is appropriate to acknowledge the immense contribution of the Protestant tradition to Biblical scholarship. It may also assist the healing of memory to affirm that certain emphases within the Reformation on improving access to the Scriptures were a good from which all Christian communities have benefited.
The Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum stated that preaching should be nourished by the Sacred Scriptures. Our ancestors heard the Word of God from zealous missionaries. Their zeal was rooted in a life of personal intimacy with Christ whom they came to know each day through total immersion in the Scriptures. They sought to imitate him by embodying his values and his attitudes – the Beatitudes.
Every preacher depends on this personal intimacy with the Lord in the Scriptures. Preachers also need adequate preparation and ongoing help for their task. This should be such that it will enable the preacher to connect ‘the joys and hopes, the grief and the anxieties’ of all human life to the passion, death and resurrection of Christ. Only in this way will they lead their hearers into communion with our Risen Lord. It is to be hoped that exegetes, theologians and liturgists will work together to help Ministers of the Word to say what the Holy Spirit wants the Church to say to the world at this time.
In the context of an increasingly technological environment, effective preaching may also demand courage and creativity in the means of presenting the Word to contemporary culture. The Word of God is for everybody and for every situation. A greater and more imaginative use of modern communications gives the Church wonderful possibilities to communicate its message to the ends of earth. It is to be hoped that the Synod will come up with practical proposals to enable the Church to take full advantage of this opportunity.
A further challenge is to fill the families of today with enthusiasm for the presence of a Bible in their home. The Word of God is itself a reality imbued with the presence of God. Like the Eucharist the Word too is viaticum – food for the journey of life, food for the journey of married life. Given the particular challenges which face the family in our time one of the things we could profitably learn from the Protestant tradition is the custom of having a Bible in the home and reading it often as a family.
The Word of God is a word of hope offered to a world often in dire need of hope, as the present global financial turmoil indicates. But as the prophet Isaiah reminds us, God’s word does not return to Him empty. This is the source of our hope.
At a conference in Maynooth on Saturday 5th October Fr Eamonn Treanor told the delegates, ‘We were invited by the national coordinator to form a group in Kilsaran parish, which would look at the area of drugs and alcohol and discuss what might be done to address these issues. A group was readily formed because of the perceived level of alcohol abuse and the probable use of illegal substances. We drew together a number of key people who had an interest in working on the issues and, under the direction of the IBDI coordinator, began to think about the whole area of drug/alcohol abuse and what a parish might do about it.
‘Having conducted an assessment of the local situation, the group set about identifying some of the needs, how it might meet those needs, gave itself a name and came up with a mission statement which reads:
CLICKS is a group of local people whose purpose is to help raise awareness and inform all sectors of the community, especially the youth, of the dangers associated with drugs, alcohol and other kinds of addiction.
Since then the group have established an alternative gathering place to the local licensed premises. ‘The members of CLICKS became aware of the need for information, and so the group has been engaged in ongoing formation to raise its own awareness, skills and knowledge. Best practice suggests not to take anything on without the necessary skills and qualifications; in this way a parish group can act as a conduit for statutory and voluntary agencies and promote the dissemination of information. Work has been carried out in Kilsaran, thanks to FÁS, on the old school, which has now been restored. Activities taking place in this venue include: coffee mornings, a bridge club, a youth club and various meetings, including a new Community Alert group. Al-Anon also plan to hold a regular group in this venue.’
‘Some achievements to date have been:
– Production and distribution of information leaflets.
– Organising Parent to Parent programmes.
– Making the premises available for alternate activities.
– Ongoing training in addiction in collaboration with the HSE addiction service.
– Needs assessment survey conducted in the area.
– Ongoing training in related areas: suicide and brief intervention etc.
– Promotion of the project at a local level.
– Regular meetings to assess progress and engage in planning.
– Building links with the Regional Drugs Task Force (RDTF) at regional cluster group level.
Current plans include:
It is the intention of the Irish Bishops to develop the success of the pilot project and a manual has been developed to guide other parishes wanting to address the issue of drugs and alcohol in their local community. If you want any further information on the developments in Kilsaran you can contact Fr Eamonn or the CLICKS Group at the Parochial House.
Bishop Clifford will celebrate Sunday Mass on October 12th in St Peter’s Church Drogheda, the Memorial Church of Saint Oliver Plunkett. The St. Peter’s Male Voice Choir will sing. All are welcome.
Obviously, as the priest in the parish is the focus of the celebration, it’s important that others step up to lead and co-ordinate the celebrations surrounding Priesthood Sunday; Resources including a suggested Liturgy with prayers a
nd a reflection which you might use on Sunday 28th, at the major Mass in your parish, and other resources which you might use to help prepare a social activity or gathering in your parish, can be found at www.yourvocation.ie or www.vocations.ie.
It doesn’t matter what you decide to do – the most important thing is to mark the occasion; Please try and invite as many as possible, young and old; those at the heart of the Church, and those on the edges – indeed, the whole parish to celebrate this occasion, for in celebrating your priest’s vocation, you are celebrating a vital component of ‘the Church’ which you hold dear.
Hopefully together we can bring priesthood great encouragement at this time, and also have an eye for those in our parish who might feel called to this vocation. By inviting your priest to tell his vocation story, and to share the joy of his ministry – there is no doubt that others will be moved to hear God’s call in their own life.
Finally, everything we do throughout the Year of Vocation must be rooted in Prayer, and so may I ask you to keep praying the vocation prayer daily; With the help of God, this year will bring great blessings to us all, and from this year onward, on the last Sunday of September, we will celebrate Priesthood Sunday;
CONCERT INFORMATION
Drumcree Parish
St John the Baptist Church, Portadown, Co. Armagh
Friday 10th October 2008 @ 8.00pm
Ticket information: (028) 3835 0610
Termonfechin Parish
Church of the Immaculate Conception, Termonfeckin, Co. Louth
Wednesday 15th October 2008 @ 8.00pm
Ticket information: (041) 980 2752 or E-Mail: [email protected]
Check out the official website, www.johnmichaeltalbot.com for more information about JMT, his ministry, and a chance to listen to some of his songs. Maybe this is your year to experience the peace and joy of God through the voice and the lyric of this humble Troubadour for the Lord. Drumcree Parish are asking £7 donation per ticket; Termonfechin Parish are asking €10 donation per ticket. For further information on ticket availability please contact the two hosts.
See you there?
