Aghaviller Parish Newsletter
Hugginstown, Newmarket and Stoneyford.
2nd. and 3rd. January 2021.
“Second Sunday of Christmas”
Priests Living within the Parish:
- Liam Cassin (Parish Priest)
- Telephone: 056 776 8693 or
- Mobile 087 231 2354
- Peter Hoyne (Retired)
- Telephone: 056 776 8678 or
- Mobile 086 373 8492
Please do not hesitate to ring if you need assistance.
- Wednesday 6th. Feast of The Epiphany of Our Lord. Holy Day (No Public Masses)
Covid-19:
All Religious Services are suspended from Saturday 26th. December until further notice. No Public Masses on Saturday or Sunday this weekend. Mass will continue to be celebrated privately each day in Hugginstown until further notice and will be offered for your intentions
Places of Worship may remain open for private prayer.
Attendance at Funeral Masses are limited to 10people; observing social distance.
We are required to:
a. Wash our hands properly and often:
b. Practice social distancing.
c. Cover coughs and sneezes:
d. Wear a face mask in Churches, Shops and crowded outdoor settings.
Lotto:
Aghaviller Parish and Carrickshock G. A. A.
The Lotto is suspended until further notice. Your support is appreciated.
Collections:
Collections: The “Church Door” Collection on last weekend amounted to €1,315.00. Thank You.
(To donate directly.) For Aghaviller Parish Funds: Use IBAN: IE74 AIBK 9330 9000 0610 47 (BIC: AIBKIE2D)
For the support of the Clergy: Use IBAN: IE19 AIBK 9330 9000 0561 20 (BIC: AIBKIE2D).
All Parish Property and Accounts are registered under the (Diocese of Ossory, Reg. Charity No. 20015831)
Christmas Offerings 2020:
Many, many thanks for your very generous contributions to the Christmas Offerings over the Christmas period. These Offerings are for the support of the priests working and retired within the Diocese of Ossory. Extra Envelopes for the Offerings can be collected in the Church Porch, and your contributions may be handed in during the coming weeks.
Many thanks for all your support and contributions during the past year.
St. Brendan’s Conference – St. Vincent de Paul:
Please note the change of Number to their Helpline: 087 616 4621.
Safeguarding Contacts:
Diocesan Designated Liaison Person:
Mr. Cathal Cullen Tel: 087 100 0232 or dlp@ossory.ie.
Aghaviller Parish Representatives are:
Teresa Broderick and Carmel O’Toole
Be Safe:
Let’s do everything we can to protect others and ourselves from the Covid -19 Virus over the next few weeks. These weeks will determine the kind of Spring and Summer we will have this year. Be extra careful on the roads during these frosty mornings and do show care for others. Safe Driving! With the local ‘Text Alert’ in operation please be vigilant and always be aware there is always a Garda there to help.
Thanks:
Many thanks to all who helped in the planning and preparation to celebrate Christmas this year:
- To all who followed the arrangements put in place to restrict numbers in our Churches:
- to the stewards inside and outside the Churches: all helped to keep us safe.
- Thanks to our Readers; Eucharistic Ministers and those who arranged the rota.
- Thanks to all who cleaned/sanitised the Churches: who decorated the Churches: thanks to all who erected the Cribs; donated flowers and Christmas trees etc.
- A sincere thank you and appreciation to all.
Bishop Dermot Farrell to be Archbishop of Dublin:
Pope Francis appoints Bishop Dermot Farrell as the new Archbishop of Dublin. Archbishop-elect Dermot Farrell replaces the Most Reverend Archbishop Diarmuid Martin whose request for retirement has been accepted by Pope Francis, and becomes effective from Tuesday 29th. December.
Dermot will be installation as the new Archbishop on 2nd. February.
Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Martin by Decree as Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Dublin with all the rights of a diocesan bishop. Bishop Farrell becomes Archbishop-elect of Dublin and continues in the capacity of the Administrator of the Diocese of Ossory.
As Bishop Dermot leaves us we are disappointed to see him go,but we wish him well and thank him for his leadership and guidance while with us.
May the Lord guide and bless him each day.
Reflection for the New Year:
“A New Year is unfolding – like a blossom with petals curled tightly concealing the beauty within. Lord, let this year be filled with the things that are truly good – with the comfort of warmth in our relationships, with the strength to help those who need our help and the humility and openness to accept help from others. As we make our resolutions for the year ahead, let us go forward with great hope that all things can be possible – with Your help and guidance.”
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord uncover his face to you and bring you peace.”
Newsletter:
If you wish to receive the weekly Newsletter by email, please drop your email address to liamcassin@ossory.ie.
The Newsletter is available on the Stoneyford Website every weekend. (https://stoneyford.ie/news)
It can also be collected in Fitzgerald’s Shop.
All notices for the Newsletter to be left in by Thursdays at 5.00p.m. please.
Contact: Telephone: 056 776 8693 or email liamcassin@ossory.ie.
A VERY HAPPY AND PEACEFUL NEW YEAR TO ALL:
Sunday 3rd. January 2021
First Reading:
A Reading from the Book Ecclesiasticus
Wisdom speaks her own praises, in the midst of her people she glories in herself.
She opens her mouth in the assembly of the Most High,she glories in herself in the presence of the Mighty One;
‘Then the creator of all things instructed me, and he who created me fixed a place for my tent.
He said, “Pitch your tent in Jacob, make Israel your inheritance.”
From eternity, in the beginning, he created me, and for eternity I shall remain.
I ministered before him in the holy tabernacle, and thus was I established on Zion.
In the beloved city he has given me rest, and in Jerusalem I wield my authority.
I have taken root in a privileged people, in the Lord’s property, in his inheritance.’
The Word of the Lord:
Responsorial Psalm:
Response: The Word was made flesh, and lived among us.
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem! Zion, praise your God!
He has strengthened the bars of your gates he has blessed the children within you. R.
He established peace on your borders, he feeds you with finest wheat.
He sends out his word to the earth and swiftly runs his command. R.
He makes his word known to Jacob, to Israel his laws and decrees.
He has not dealt thus with other nations; he has not taught them his decrees. R.
Second Reading:
A Reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians:
Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ. Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ, to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence, determining that we should become his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ for his own kind purposes, to make us praise the glory of his grace, his free gift to us in the Beloved.
That will explain why I, having once heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus, and the love that you show towards all the saints, have never failed to remember you in my prayers and to thank God for you. May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him. May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints will inherit.
The Word of the Lord:
Gospel Acclamation:
Alleluia, alleluia!
Glory be to you, O Christ, proclaimed to the pagans.
Glory be to you, O Christ, believed in by the world.
Alleluia!
Gospel
A Reading from the Holy Gospel of St. John:
In the beginning was the Word: and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things came to be, not one thing had its being but through him.
All that came to be had life in him and that life was the light of men,
a light that shines in the dark,
a light that darkness could not overpower.
The Word was the true light that enlightens all men; and he was coming into the world.
He was in the world that had its being through him, and the world did not know him.
He came to his own domain and his own people did not accept him. But to all who did accept himhe gave power to become children of God, to all who believe in the name of him who was born not out of human stock or urge of the flesh or will of man but of God himself.
The Word was made flesh, he lived among us, and we saw his glory,
the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Gospel of the Lord.
