Prayer During Lent in Preparation for Easter.
The theme of the International Eucharistic Congress due to be held in Dublin later in the year is:  The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with one another.  It is also the Lenten Theme that we have chosen in the parish for 2012.  The Eucharistic Congress is intended to make manifest ‘the central place of the Eucharist in the life of the Church and in her mission.’   The Sunday Eucharist gathers Christians together as God’s family round the table of the Word and the Bread of life.  It is the privileged place where communion is ceaselessly proclaimed and nurtured.  As a Eucharistic community we are acutely aware of the need to constantly deepen and renew our relationship with Christ and with one another. There is a long tradition in the Catholic Church of seeing Lent as a time for repentance and renewal.  In keeping with this tradition, the Parish Team is putting together a Lenten Programme designed to spiritually refresh and renew each one of us as we journey towards Easter.  A number of different activities will take place in the parish.  The Novena of Grace which has a long tradition in the parish will be led by the Augustinian Fathers and will offer parishioners an opportunity to participate in an intense period of prayer for their own needs and the needs of the wider community and world.  Father Michael will hold a series of Scripture Reflections on Tuesday evenings.  These will offer an opportunity for participants to encounter Christ in his Word. Gráinne Prior, (Parish Pastoral Worker) will hold her morning scripture reflections also. A new venture called a Neighbourhood Retreat will be introduced in the parish beginning on Ash Wednesday.  These Neighbourhood retreats have become popular throughout the country and to a great extent are replacing the traditional parish retreats.  They are based on Ignatian Spirituality, are specifically designed for small groups of lay people, (10 – 14) and are run by lay people. They are suitable for everybody.  The aim of such retreats is to help people understand the Gospels and to pray them in their own homes for fifteen minutes each day during lent.  The retreat offers an introduction to Scripture and to different ways of praying. In our busy lives, they help us to slow down, to listen and to pray.  They are for those who want to be able to use and understand the Word of God (the Bible) in their daily lives and who want a fuller life and relationship with God. The retreat will take place in the Parish Centre beginning on Ash Wednesday at 7.30pm and  will continue every Wednesday evening throughout Lent. Further details can be obtained from Sister Lucy O’Sullivan RSC. Tel. 087.6569179 or from Andrew Fanthom 086.3257413.
Fr Paul

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Feast of our Lady of Lourdes. The Feast occurs on Saturday next 11th February. Our Lady appeared on a number of occasions at the Grotto to St. Bernadette in the year 1858.  She was asked by people to ask the Lady who she was and Mary replied “I am the Immaculate Conception” . Lourdes brings together the greatest number of Pilgrims anywhere in the world and in particular the sick have a special place there.  Pope John Paul II declared the Feast of our Lady of Lourdes as World day for the Sick.

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