SUNDAY 11th February 2024:
SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
MASS SCHEDULE THIS WEEK:
Monday, Thursday & Friday, 10.00am
Tuesday, 9.30am
Ash Wednesday, 7.00am and 10.00am: Ashes will be distributed at both Masses.
(The Rosary is normally recited by the congregation 20 minutes prior to the midweek morning Mass). As always, you are invited to come along to this special time of parish prayer
and blessing in our church.
Saturday: Vigil Mass, 6.30pm.
Sunday: Mass at 10.00am
All Masses are livestreamed on our webcam; 10.00am Mass on Sunday is broadcast by Finn Valley Radio, 95.8FM
†
We pray for the happy repose of the souls of those recently enrolled in the Derry Diocesan Society:
Don Porter, St Columba’s Grove; Sadie Russell, Ballyduff Park; Anne Stewart, Croaghan Heights;
Claire Devine, Birmingham; Betty McColgan, The Common; Rose Peoples, Strabane
May they rest in peace.
ANNIVERSARIES:
We pray for those whose anniversaries occur at this time. May they rest in peace:
Tony Crotty, Gallows Lane; Conal McGill, Cavan; Peggy Quinn, Letterkenny Road; Bridie Canny, Galway;
Brendan Brolly, Cloughfin; Phonsie Brolly, Wales; Gertie McDaid, Letterkenny Road; Patrick Kelly, Braide;
Frances McGinley, Ballindrait; Michael McCloskey, Dungiven; Elizabeth Harte, Corner House;
Mary Crawford, Grotto House.
MASS INTENTIONS:
Saturday 17 February, 6.30pm:
Molly McElhinney, Coneyburrow; Madeline McMenamin, Cloughfin; Marie Laird, Cloughfin
Sunday 19 February, 10.00am: Kieran Given, Rossgier – Month’s Mind Mass.
TODAY, 11 FEBRUARY, WE CELEBRATE FEAST DAY OF OUR LADY OF LOURDES
AND WORLD DAY OF THE SICK.
All of us know people who are in need of prayer for healing at this time. Please include them in your prayers today. We remember especially our own family members and the members of our parish family who need our prayerful support at this time. We remember those who are visited as part of the Pastoral Visitation of the Sick and Housebound in our parish each month. At our last Do This In Memory Mass, the children, brought forward the names of people they know who is sick – we remember them in our prayer today as well.
Pope Francis has chosen the theme, “It is not good that man should be alone” –
Healing the Sick by Healing Relationships – for this year’s World Day of the Sick. The pope says in his Message for today: “Our lives, reflecting on the image of the Trinity, are meant to attain fulfilment through a network of relationships, friendships, and love, both given and received. We were created to be together, not alone.……The sick, the vulnerable and the poor are at the heart of the Church; they must also be at the heart of our human concern and pastoral attention. May we never forget this! Let us commend ourselves to Mary Most Holy, Health of the Sick, that she may intercede for us and help us to be artisans of closeness and fraternal relationships.”
If there is someone you know who might appreciate a telephone call, a message or a visit, you might take the time today to make that contact.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. St Bernadette, pray for us.
ASH WEDNESDAY is on Wednesday of this week, 14 February. It is a day of fast and abstinence.
Mass in St Patrick’s at 7.00am and 10.00am, with distribution of Ashes at both Masses.
Ash Wednesday is, of course, the first day of Lent. In your homes, you are encouraged to create a Sacred (Prayer) Space for family prayer and focus on the Sacred Season of Lent. Parents, in particular, are encouraged to help their children in creating a Sacred Space and to pray with them at this prayer space each morning or night. The Trocaire Lenten Box could form part of your Sacred Space, along with a crucifix and some holy water.
Almsgiving is one of the three traditional pillars of Lenten observance (prayer, fasting and almsgiving). The main focus of our almsgiving during Lent is the Trócaire Lenten Campaign. The First Holy Communion children attending Mass today will receive a Trócaire box to take home and, parents, you are asked to help your child in creating the Sacred Space (Prayer Corner) in your home, of which the Trócaire box will be a part.
This year, the focus is on Malawi. ‘Water stress’ is a major issue in Malawi, which is vulnerable to drought and extreme weather events; these are increasing in frequency and intensity due to climate crisis. Over one third of Malawi’s population does not have access to clean water.
The Trócaire Lenten Box features Malita with two of her six children, 12-year-old twins, Patricia and Patrick, at their home in Malawi. Their story is unfortunately one that is typical in Malawi as they struggle every day with the many problems relating to access to water – going from drought to flooding. They have no direct access to clean water for the household. You are encouraged, during Lent, to read Malita’s remarkable story of what she does to ensure her family survives. Again, parents, please share Malita’s story with your children. Trócaire’s work in Malawi is focused on supporting communities, particularly women like Malita, to adapt their livelihoods to cope with the impact of climate change or ensuring families like hers can continue to survive.
Trócaire boxes are available at the back of the church. You are asked to pick one up today, please.
Fast: We are asked to abstain from some favourite food or drink during Lent. Again, parents, you are asked to encourage your children to participate in some form of abstinence. Fasting does not just apply to food and drink – it could apply to other things, eg, ‘fasting’ from / reducing the time we spend on social media platforms. Engage in conversation with your child(ren) about what form of ‘fast’ they might take up for Lent. A little basket could form part of your Sacred Space, containing a note of what the family members might abstain from during Lent.
LOURDES COLLECTION:
The Diocesan Lourdes Hospitalité collection goes towards the costs attached to taking the sick to Lourdes on the diocesan pilgrimage in July. If you picked up an envelope last week and have it with you today, you can drop it in to the collection basket. If you haven’t yet picked up an envelope, you can pick one up at the back of the church today and return it next weekend. Thank you for your generosity.
THANK YOU for your generosity in last week’s collection, which amounted to £1,966. Thank you, as always, to those who contribute by Standing Order.
THANK YOU: On behalf of all of us, I wish to wish to say a huge thank you to Grace Kelly and Rachael, who led our parish choir in music and song for the last time last Sunday morning. The Kelly family, as you all know, have had a very long association with the parish choir and we very much appreciate that this is indeed the end of an era for Grace and Rachael as much as it is for our parish. We wish them both good health, peace and happiness in the days and years ahead. Grace and Rachael will not just be missed from the choir but, indeed, from all the other aspects of parish and community life in which they have been involved. Thank you both for your great witness.
Please keep in touch with us and know that you will always be welcome in Clonleigh when you make return visits. Thank you, once again, on behalf of all of us.
KATH AND QUMEN are very excited for the children, now that First Holy Communion is less than three months away and, of course, in no time at all they will receive the Sacrament of First Penance.
Kath and Qumen are also anxious to hear what ideas the children will come up with about making little sacrifices this Lent. They have shared their own ideas with us:
Kath always looks forward to getting some money from her grandma every Saturday for sweets but, during Lent, she is going to put the money her gran gives her into the Trócaire box in her house, to help give some joy to children who live in poor countries.
Qumen is going to do something that he doesn’t usually like doing – he is going to share his games and toys with his little brother without causing a fuss and, as well, he is only going to eat sweets on Sundays.
JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS 2024:
The key moments for our celebrations this Jubilee year in our parish are as follows:
St Patrick’s Day, Sunday 17 March: This is the official launch of our Year of Jubilee;
Sunday 5 May: To celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of the Church, Bishop McKeown will celebrate Mass,
and will join us for refreshments in the school afterwards;
Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes, 1 – 5 July: Hopefully a number of parishioners will join with me on for the Lourdes pilgrimage, during which we can have our own parish times of prayer and celebration;
Saturday 3 August: Parish Jubilee Pilgrimage to Knock;
Sunday 11th August: Parish Family Jubilee Picnic and Barbecue;
Sunday 25 August: Mass to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of our parish. Mass will be celebrated by Archbishop Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland; refreshments afterwards;
Saturday 2 November, All Souls Day – 12.00noon Mass for all the deceased our parish, with special remembrance throughout the month of those who died in the sixty years since our church was opened;
Sunday 15 December: Jubilee Nativity Celebrations, with Carol Service;
Dates to be confirmed:
School celebrations
Mass for Defence Forces to mark their service in Lifford and Overseas.
SACRAMENTAL DATES – CONFIRMATION AND FIRST HOLY COMMUNION:
Confirmation: Lifford N S and Murlog N S: Saturday 20 April 2024, at 11.00am
First Holy Communion: Cloughfin N S and Lifford N S: Saturday 11 May 2024, at 11.00am
Murlog N S: Saturday 18 May 2024, at 11.00am
Please keep the children and their families in your prayer as they prepare
to receive the sacraments.
Access the Readings on our parish website:
The Daily Mass Readings are also on our website: https://clonleighparish.com/todays-mass-readings/ . Alternatively, just google Clonleigh Parish readings.
The Daily Mass Readings are also on our website: https://clonleighparish.com/todays-mass-readings/ . Alternatively, just google Clonleigh Parish readings.
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 X: @clonleighparish
Find us on Facebook:. Clonleigh Parish
SAFEGUARDING NOTICE:
If you have any concerns about safeguarding children or adults in need of protection within the Church, please contact Marie Gormley, the Diocesan Designated Liaison Person, on 07596 500793 or by email on marie.gormley@derrydiocese.org