14th September 2014

Newsletter for the Parishes of Saggart - Rathcoole - Brittas & Newcastle Parish Team Fr. Enda Cunningham PP St Mary’s Parochial House Saggart. Tel: 4589209 Mob: 087-1380695 Fr. Aidan Kieran CC 1 The Glebe Peamount Road Newcastle. Tel: 4589230 Mob: 087-6397744 Fr. Aloysius Zuribo C.C. 2 Carrigmore Place Saggart, Co. Dublin Tel. 01-4589209 Parish Pastoral Worker Mr Sean O’Rourke c/o The Parish Office St. Mary’s Parochial House Tel: 4589209 Mob:087-0540695 Fr. Michael Shortall PC 87 Beechwood Lawns Rathcoole Tel: 4587187 Mob: 087 -2861765 Fr. Michael McGowan PC 7 St. Patrick’s Crescent, Rathcoole Tel: 4589210 Parish Secretary Martina Hopkins The Parish Office St. Mary’s Parochial House Opening Hours: 9.30-1.30 Monday to Friday Tel: 4589209 www.saggartparish.com [email protected]

Eucharistic Adoration Holy Family Church Rathcoole Every Friday 7.30 – 8.30pm Items for Newsletter If you have any items for the newsletter, please contact the Parish Office or email to the addresses given below. Please indicate clearly that the items are for inclusion in the Parish Newsletter. Many thanks. [email protected] or

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Annual Crosscare Collection September 20/21 The annual collection for Crosscare, the social support agency of the Archdiocese of Dublin will be taken up at all Masses next weekend, Sept 20/21. It will be 2nd collection at Mass, and will replace the usual SHARE collection. Inspired by the example and teachings of Jesus, Crosscare has: A VISION of a society where all people have the opportunity to fulfil their potential A MISSION to provide innovation and relevant services to those most in need. Holy Family Kids Choir New Members Needed New members are needed for Holy Family Church Kids Choir. Children aged 7—12 years should apply. Practise every Saturday. Contact Heidi 086-3084657

Triumph of the Holy Cross

Mass Schedule Saggart: Sunday: 9 am & 11.30 am Weekday: 9.30 am Rathcoole: Saturday Vigil: 6.30 p.m. Sunday: 10 am & 12.00 pm Weekday: 9.30 am Saturday: 10.00 am Brittas: Sunday: 10.30 am Newcastle: Saturday Vigil: 7.00 p.m. Sunday: 10.30 am Weekday: 10.00am Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri. Confession

Mass with Anointing of the Sick Newcastle, Saturday 27th September, 2.00pm The Sacrament of the Sick will be offered in Newcastle Church on Saturday 27th September. There will be a celebration of Mass at 2.00pm, during which the Anointing of the Sick will be available. You can receive the Sacrament of the Sick: 1) if you have a medical diagnosis; 2) if you are going to hospital in the near future; or 3) if you are over 65 years of age. The sacrament may be received once a month.

Saggart: Friday, after 9.30am Mass Rathcoole: Saturday after 10.00am Mass Newcastle: Saturday after 7.00pm Mass Baptism

Pope Francis Prayer Intentions September 2014 Universal Intention: That the mentally disabled may receive the love and help they need for a dignified life. Evangelisation Intention: His intention for evangelisation is: That Christians, inspired by the Word of God, may serve the poor and suffering. Newcastle Parish Pastoral Council Newcastle Parish Pastoral Council will meet on Monday 15th September at 7.30pm. If you wish to bring any item to the attention of the Parish Council, please contact Fr. Aidan at 0876397744 or speak to a member of the Parish Pastoral Council

Saggart 2.00pm Sunday Rathcoole 4.00 pm Saturday Newcastle 2nd Saturday 4pm Last Sunday 2pm Please contact the Parish Office Marriage Please contact the Parish Office

St. Finian’s Church Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament Monday 22nd September, 7.00-9.00pm There will be adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in St. Finian’s Church, Newcastle from 7.00 - 9.00pm on Monday 22nd September. The time of adoration will finish with an informal benediction. All welcome, whether you can come for ten minutes or two hours!

Dublin Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes, September 2014 Homily of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin at the Opening Mass Lourdes is a remarkable place. There is something very special about being here at the Grotto early in the morning, in whatever weather. There is the freshness of the early morning and that special sense of peace and calm which you rarely find elsewhere. We gather here this morning for the opening of this 65th Dublin Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes. Over these years obviously much has changed here in Lourdes and yet nothing has changed. In a world of constant change, the experience of Lourdes remains constant. There has been change and extension and improvement in buildings and facilities, but the fundamentals of the experience of Lourdes have remained constant in a world where we are always seeking something novel and updated. We gather after a long journey here. For those who are sick the journey, although full of hope and expectation, it is a journey marked by fatigue. All of us only yesterday were caught up in a frenzy of last minute preparations for our pilgrimage. This morning all of that is irrelevant. Lourdes is a place where hectic is set aside, even by the busiest of helpers. The peace of Lourdes makes us see that there are many things in life which are more important than the hectic lives which we tend to create around ourselves. All of us have a real need to learn to live in peace with ourselves. My first wish then is that everyone who is here with us today: the sick, medical staff and helpers, parish groups and individual pilgrims, priests, school groups, musicians and liturgists: that each of us will experience true moments of the peace of Lourdes as we enjoy the opportunity of solitude, of prayer and of being together. That peace will help us to focus on what our lives are really about. Lourdes turns the tables on how we think and act. Healthy and sick interact as friends. Here in Lourdes the sick are privileged as they experience genuine care which consoles them and encourages them; the helpers encounter in the sick a sense of how life can be fulfilled and be happy without many of the consumerist supports we all too often convince ourselves - or allow ourselves to be convinced - are essential. Young and old encounter each other. The young are encouraged by the experience and care and wisdom of those veterans of the pilgrimage. The veterans find renewed encouragement from the idealism and the freshness of the young people. We all realise that there is something special about Lourdes because it tells us something of what is truly essential in life. The inexplicable character of Lourdes, its simplicity, its serenity, its joyfulness and its real care for each other remind us also of what society should be like. Each year at the end of the pilgrimage I ask myself why are we not able to translate this experience here in Lourdes into the way we live when we return home. I ask why our society in many areas is uncaring. I ask why we cannot be in the forefront of fostering at home the different life style we encounter here in our interaction. What is the secret of Lourdes? I have said before that not even Walt Disney would be capable of creating an artificial Lourdes elsewhere. A business enterprise could get the best experts to identify and to analyse and try to replicate various aspects which make up the Lourdes experience, but the end product would be something completely different. The secret of Lourdes is the secret of Mary, the Mother of God and the Mother of the Church who appeared here to Bernadette, but whose protecting mantle still embraces this sacred place and each of us today. Curiously, as the variety of travel offers and opportunities increases, as the attractions of consumerist holidays flourish, the numbers coming to Lourdes hold their own. Our Dublin Diocesan Pilgrimage is larger than it was last year. I wish to express my own and your appreciation to those who have been involved in its preparation. Lourdes then can give us a vision of what society should be like. In doing that it also gives us an image of what the Church is like and should be like. We often talk about the Church in terms of institution. Curiously those who criticize what they call “the institutional Church” are often more than willing to use the institutional aspects of the Church to voice their criticism. Pope Francis has constantly talked about the Church in different terms. He speaks of the Church as a mother. He addressed his General Audience last week precisely on this theme. What does Pope Francis mean when he talks of the Church as mother? Mary is the one who teaches us what that the motherhood of the Church should mean. The Pope said that Mary’s maternity is unique, but that the maternity of the Church is the continuation in history of the motherhood of Mary. The Church, through baptism generates new sons and daughters of God, and then nourishes them and cares for them. Just as Mary, in her Motherhood, watched over and protected her divine son, the Church is called to nurture us throughout our lives, to enlighten our paths, to protect us from the spirit of evil, and to give us courage and hope to follow Jesus in the challenges of our lives. In Lourdes we gain an experience of the protective care of Mary for each of us, sick or healthy, young or ageing. All of us have within our hearts our doubts, our anxieties, and our fears. Mary followed the will of the Lord fully in her life. She lived a life of simplicity and humility, just as Bernadette in her life. The word of God can enter into our hearts and change us only when we live a life of simplicity. It is only though simplicity of life that we realise that our lives are not just in our own hands, but that we are always accompanied and supported in every aspect of our lies – even in our darkest difficulties - by Jesus the Lord. In Lourdes we come to understand more how we are called to build a Church marked not by external signs of institution or power, but by an avalanche of supporting and welcoming and inspiring trust and hope. In the complex and often superficial culture of our world it is the simplicity of Mary and Bernadette which we should be embracing in our lives as an antidote to the world of compromise that exists around us.