SUNDAY 9 JANUARY 2022
BAPTISM OF THE LORD
GOSPEL: ST LUKE 3:15-16, 21-22
The Baptism of Jesus was a defining moment in His life, marking the start of His preaching, teaching and healing. Luke’s short account of the Baptism focuses not so much on the Baptism itself but on what happened afterwards – the descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus while He was at prayer. In doing this, Luke reminds us that, while the Sacrament of Baptism is a defining moment in our lives too, the focus is the life-long journey of faith that the sacrament ‘commissions’ – the responsibilities that go with growing as members of the family and mission of the Church, enriched by prayer, guided by the Holy Spirit and nourished by the Eucharist.
We pray God’s blessing on the children of our parish who were baptised in our parish in the past year and for their parents and Godparents: may their ears, eyes and hearts be open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
MASS SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK:
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: 10.00am
Tuesday: 9.30am
The Rosary will commence 20 minutes before Mass each weekday.
Sunday Masses: Vigil, 6.30pm, Morning, 9.00am and 11.00am
For those who are unable to come out to church, all our Masses continue to be available on our parish webcam:
and our 11.00am Mass is also broadcast live each Sunday on Finn Valley Radio, FM95.8.
PLEASE MAINTAIN SOCIAL DISTANCING AT ALL TIMES IN THE CHURCH AND ENSURE THAT SEATS ARE NOT OVER-CROWDED. PLEASE ALSO WEAR A FACE COVERING. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION.
†
Patrick Dooher, late of The Fields, Boyagh, Ballindrait
As a parish faith community, we offer our sympathy and our prayerful support to Jim and Mary, to Catherine, James and Lauren, to Shannon, and to the wider family circle and friends of Patrick, whose Funeral Mass took place in St Patrick’s last Sunday. May he rest in peace.
†
John Roulston, late of 3a St Eunan’s Terrace, Raphoe
As a parish faith community, we offer our sympathy and our prayerful support to the family and friends of John, whose ashes were buried in the family plot in our graveyard last Sunday. May he rest in peace.
MASS INTENTIONS THIS WEEK:
Monday 10 January, 10.00am: First Anniversary Mass for Annmarie Brennan, Finnside Close
Saturday 15 January, 6.30pm: First Anniversary Mass for Katty Gamble, Rossgier
Sunday 16 January, 11.00am: Patrick Woods, Ballymonaster.
ANNIVERSARIES:
We pray for the following, whose anniversaries occur at this time:
Jimmy Crawford, Block Five; Mary Burns, Lifford Common; Francis Devine, Liscooley
Josephine Colhoun, Beechwood; Alice McGhee, Castlefin; Leonard Friel, Rossgier
Caroline McBride, Coaghan Heights; Thomas Harte, Corner House; Annmarie Brennan, Finnside Close
Maureen and Hugh McDermott, Coneyburrow; Sr Gabriel Porter, The Common; Shaun Buchanan, Hazelwood.
May they rest in peace.
COLLECTION:
THANK YOU for your generosity to the collection in the last two weeks: Sunday 26 December 2021, €2,320, and Sunday 2 January 2002, €2,475. It is through the weekly collection that the day-to-day running costs of our parish are met and I am deeply appreciative of your constant attention and generosity to it, even during the time when our church was closed.
In due course the Income & Expenditure figures for our parish for the past year will be published.
SINCERE THANKS for a recent donation to the parish of €10,000. Your generosity is greatly appreciated. This donation will be used towards the cost of our graveyard extension project. Thank you so much!
All donations received will be acknowledged anonymously in the newsletter.
Download our Standing Order Form here.
You can also request envelopes by simply clicking on this link: ‘Get in Touch‘ and then select Parish Envelopes from the drop-down menu.
FOR ATTENTION OF PARENTS OF THE CHILDREN BAPTISED IN OUR CHURCH IN THE PAST YEAR:
Today, Sunday 9 January, the Church celebrates the Baptism of the Lord. During our Sunday Masses this weekend – Saturday Vigil, 6.30pm, and Sunday morning, 9.00am & 11.00am – I will carry out a short Blessing of the Babies ceremony, to pray God’s blessing and protection on each of the children baptised in our church in the past year. Parents will be invited to bring their child forward to the altar for this blessing.
During the past year, as you may know, we placed a Baptism Tree in the sanctuary, which is adorned with leaves bearing the name of each child baptised in 2021, and the date of baptism. You are invited to take the ‘leaf’ for your child home, as a keep-safe. One suggestion is that it is hung on your Christmas tree each year.
The 9.00am Mass today (Sunday 9 January) is being offered
for the children baptised in our church in the past year and their families.
FAMILY PRAYER BOOKLET:
As you leave the church today, there will be a Prayers for my Family booklet available for each family. A family member is asked to pick one up. Also, if you have relatives or neighbours who are not able to be out at Mass, you are invited to take a booklet for them. This is a straightforward little prayer leaflet, with suitable prayers for a variety of family situations.
As we start this new year, I encourage you to make family prayer a daily routine in your homes. In particular, parents are asked to encourage some form of family prayer. It can be as simple as family members blessing themselves together with holy water in the morning, asking God to keep the family safe, praying the Hail Mary together in the car on the way to school, praying Grace before Meals together at dinner-time, praying the Angelus together, praying the Rosary together, saying a short prayer together at bed-time and, now, praying a prayer from the Prayers for my Family booklet.
We ask the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph to watch over and protect all our families.
“UNLOCKING THE MYSTERIES OF THE BIBLE” – Eight-week online course, with Jeff Cavins:
For many of us, the Bible may not appear to be particularly relevant to our everyday lives and, yet, it is the gift and guide of Sacred Scripture, the Word of God, that is at the heart of all we believe and do.
This eight-week programme – Unlocking the Mysteries of the Bible – is being offered by the Living Church Office (Down & Connor Diocese). It is offered as a great opportunity for those interested in deepening their knowledge of their faith, understanding the bible and its timeline, and learning how to approach reading it. Three separate times are being offered:
Wednesday Morning, 11.00am, starting Wednesday 12 January
Wednesday Evening, 7.00pm, starting Wednesday 12 January
Monday Evening, 7.00pm, starting Monday 17 January
To register for any one of these, please complete an online form https://forms.office.com/r/g3FWFK5x8w or, if you have any queries, please e-mail a.steen@downandconnor.org . Course participants will receive a resource pack and connect online for a time of teaching, discussion and prayerful reflection.
Please continue to pray our Parish Prayer:
God our Father, pour forth Your Holy Spirit on our parish.
Guide us in Your ways, grant us Your vision.
Be our wisdom.
Open our hearts and minds to Your Holy Word,
strengthen us with the Holy Eucharist, our food for the journey.
Help us to be people of prayer, trusting in Your constant presence in the challenges that we face.
With Your help, may our parish always be a place where Your love is known, Your light shines
and our parish families grow together in faith and mission. We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.
St Patrick, pray for us.
SACRAMENTAL DATES – 2022:
The proposed Confirmation and First Holy Communion dates for the coming year are:
Sacrament of Confirmation – Saturday 26 March 2022
Sacrament of First Holy Communion – Saturday 21 May 2022
God willing, we will be able to adhere to the proposed dates in 2022. I will be working closely with our three schools in the coming weeks and months as the children prepare for these important steps in their faith. Please keep the children, their teachers and their families in your prayer.
You can access the Readings on our parish website:
I hope that having the Readings available on our parish website is also helpful to our Scripture readers, for the purpose of checking them out in advance. The Daily Mass Readings are also on our website: https://clonleighparish.com/todays-mass-readings/ . Alternatively, just google Clonleigh Parish readings.
CHURCH CONTRIBUTIONS:
You can donate to the Church via The Parish Envelopes or by Standing Order. Download this easy to fill form: Standing Order Form – & send to or email the Parish Office: clonleighparish@derrydiocese.org
Parish Contact Details:
Parish Priest: Fr Colm O’Doherty Parochial House: 074-9142022
Mobile: 0833665530
Parish Office – Secretary: Lorna Porter @ 074-9142001
Email: clonleighparish@derrydiocese.org
Parish website: www.clonleighparish.com
Follow us on Twitter: @clonleighparish
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Join our free Clonleigh Parish Text Service on WhatsApp. We will text you when we update our website with the Parish Newsletter etc. And you can link in to read the latest updates.