Discipleship today : How do we know if we are true followers of Jesus? Is it a long time at prayer, obeying a lot of rules, fasting and alms giving? Sometimes, but the real test is in the last few lines of today’s gospel, about loving one another. Love is the mark of a disciple; love that reaches out in compassion, care, listening, service. Love that influences how I treat the ºpeople I meet every day, One way of growing in love is to be grateful for love in our lives. A prayer each night can be to think back over the day and thank God for love we received in the day, in small and big ways. We can thank God also for love we have been able to offer ourselves to others.
The love within us is God’s gift to us. This is the glory of God living inside every man, woman and child of us. Good words from Pope Francis: ‘“The first criterion: to love with deeds, not words. Words are taken away by the wind! The second criterion of concreteness is: in love it is more important to give than to receive. The one who loves, gives to God and to others’
Congratulations: to the Girls and Boys of Bunscoil Chriost Ri who were confirmed on Tuesday Our thanks to Bishop John who was with us. Our congratulations to Parents and Teachers for their great efforts in preparing the children for the Sacrament. We had a lovely ceremony a truly memorable occasion.
Congratulations: We send our good wishes prayers and congratulations to three important ladies of our Parish. To Mary Barry, Friars Rd. who has just celebrated her 104th birthday and to Kitty Walsh, St. Patrick’s Rd. and Joan O’Connor, Capwell Rd., who both have celebrated their 100th birthdays in recent weeks.
Welcome: This Sunday we welcome to sing at our 12 Mass, the Choir of St. Patrick’s Lower Rd. Our own Parish Choir are singing in the Church of the Real Presence Curraheen this weekend. These visits are part of a series of Church Choir interchanges that have been arranged as part of the Cork International Choral Festival. Next Sunday 1st of May, at the 12 Mass we will welcome the Totshhavnor Karmaror Choir from the Faroe Islands.
Our Students are remembered in our Shared Mass every Friday at 10am. Special Cards are available in the Sacristy for those doing and preparing for exams.
The Coeliac Society Cork Support Group meeting on Tuesday10th May at SMA Centre Wilton 8pm. Topic: Summer party, Cooking demo and dietician in attendance.
Mission Awareness: We welcome to our Parish this weekend The Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles (known to us in Cork as the Ardfoyle Sisters) more than 750 Sisters work in nineteen countries across three continents. They serve where the Gospel has yet to be rooted and where human need is greatest.
Death: We remember in our prayers Mossie Kickham, Friars Rd. who died recently. We extend our sympathy to his family.
Weekly Gospel Reflection: On Fridays after ten o’clock Mass we will read the gospel for the following Sunday in the Parish Centre, reflect on it and discuss it among friends. Join us for tea or coffee after Mass on Friday (no charge). All welcome.
Society of St. Vincent de Paul: The Easter Church Gate collection amounted to €1,477. Since that collection date the conference has expended that amount of money plus some more in the parish. The Society thanks you for your generosity and looks forward to your support with the May Collection next weekend.
Cork and Ross Vocations Commission: We would like to thank all who supported and encouraged those who attended our Vocation’s Information Afternoon last Sunday. We ask you to continue to pray for vocations in our diocese.
Christ King Secondary School 50th Anniversary Celebration: Past Pupils, Friends and Neighbours are invited to visit the school on Friday May 6th from 5.30 – 8.00 pm for an evening of music and memories
The Bible and The Mass The Liturgy of the Word is a core part of our Mass as our minds and hearts are nourished by Sacred Scripture. Pope John Paul II commented that the reason “the words of God…are like human language is so that they may be understood by all, they must not remain distant.”
Familiarity with Scripture helps us appreciate biblical references in the Mass prayers, to understand for example that in the New Covenant in Jesus’ blood we become God’s family, each becoming a beloved daughter or son. All the promises of the Old Testament are fulfilled in the New Covenant of Jesus’ blood. May our hearts be open to the Word of God when we hear it proclaimed at Mass so that we may be truly prepared to participate in our Sunday Eucharist. And may the “word of God” referred to by Pope John Paul become more and more familiar to us as we begin or continue to read our own Bibles at home.
The annual 1916 Mass of Remembrance in the Church of the Sacred Heart – the church of the Defence Forces – in Arbour Hill, Dublin at 10.00am this Sunday, 24 April, the centenary date of the 1916 Easter Rising. RTÉ live broadcast coverage from 9.45am Archbishop Eamon Martin will be principal celebrant at the Mass. Archbishop Diarmuid Martin will preside and preach the homily. The President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, as well as members of the Government, will be in attendance at the Mass, joined by relatives of those executed following the Rising.
Ten steps to happiness by Pope Francis
- Live and let live.
- Give yourself to others.
- Go about your life calmly.
- Enjoy your free time.
- Spend Sundays with your family.
- Show mercy and forgiveness to others.
- Look after nature.
- Quickly forget negative things.
- Respect the ‘beliefs’ of others.
- Work for peace.