Parish of the Assumption

Area Code: 057 Tel: 93 21587 - 93 22415 Fax: 93 51510
www.tullamoreparish.ie  
E-mail Parish Secretary:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph
~
27th December 2020

Fr. Joseph Gallaghar P.P
Rt Rev Sean Heaney CC VG
Fr Kevin Fleming SSC
Fr. Luke Ohiemi C.C.
Fr. Fergal Cummins C.C.
Sr. Genny Hassey
Sr. Margaret Burke  

GET IN TOUCH

St Mary’s Parish Centre, Benburb St, Tullamore

Phone: 0579321587

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Web: www.tullamoreparish.ie

Office Hours: Mon-Fri 8.30am-5pm; Sat 2.00pm to 4.00pm to book Holy Mass tickets, weddings, baptisms, certs, etc;  

Priest available for emergencies 24 hours daily.

Parish Support Services:  Bereavement Listening, etc.  For appointment, ph 0579326604, Monday-Thursday 9.30am-1.00pm; Wednesday & Thursday 6.00-8.00pm.

WEEKEND MASSES

Church of the Assumption: (Vigil) 6.00pm, Sunday 9.00am, 11.00am & 1.00pm. 

All Masses can be viewed on the webcam.

Durrow: Sunday 11.30am

MASS TIMES FOR NEXT WEEK

There will be Mass at 10.00am from Monday to Saturday next week.  No 7.45am.

You can join us on the webcam www.tullamoreparish.ie

CONFESSIONS

Saturday 2.00-3.00pm in Day Chapel

PARISH CENTRE WILL REOPEN ON MONDAY 4TH JAN 2020

THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE

Simeon and Anna welcome Mary, Joseph and Jesus to the Temple.  They have been waiting for this moment.  What kind of Messiah were they expecting?  Simeon welcomes this family who must have seemed ‘ordinary’ and poor.  He can see that this child will be ‘a light…for the glory of your people’.  Already there is a note of reversal; of boundaries being stretched.  Mary is told that this child ‘is destined for the fall and the rising of many’.  There will be challenging times ahead for this family.  Simeon knows that many thoughts will be exposed for God’s invitation and welcome has no boundaries and this radical hospitality might not sit well with everyone.  Anna rejoices for all those who were looking for a change, for hope, she knows that this child will overturn systems of oppression and exclusion.

Luke is interested in how humanity responds to the Gospel.  If Jesus’ message is really good news, then this requires a shakeup; a shakeup which challenges comfortable assumptions about the way God works.  God’s abundant invitation to all may not sit comfortably with many.  While Anna prays and fasts for a change of heart in the way Jerusalem operates, Simeon warns Mary that this will not be an easy road.

Many situations in our own world today need a shake-up, especially in our church.  This can be uncomfortable as we have to let go of certain things and invite freshness.  What situations in our own society and in our church require a shake-up; an uncomfortable but necessary change so that God’s love and welcome can shine through? Jesus came to show us how to live. We must constantly look back at his example.

‘We often make do with looking at the ground…I wonder if we still know how to look up at the sky? Do we know how to dream, to long for God, to expect the newness he brings, or do we let ourselves be swept along by life, like dry branches before the wind?’  Pope Francis

Jane Mellett, Intercom Dec 2020

SEEING YOUR LIFE THROUGH THE LENS OF THE GOSPEL

Luke 2:22-40

What started out as an ordinary day for Joseph and Mary turned out to be a day with an encounter they would remember for a long time.  Perhaps you too have had significant encounters on what you expected to be just an ordinary day?

Simeon gave thanks because his eyes saw the salvation God had prepared.  In what ways have you experienced God’s salvation in your life: an experience of being loved, or discovering a sense of purpose in life, or being touched by the wonders of creation?  Give thanks for those memories.

We are at the end of a year in which many family occasions, both sad and joyful, were disrupted by restrictions.  A sword of sorrow has pierced the hearts of many.  Remember what has helped your family to recover from disappointment or loss and find hope and life again.

The final sentence speaks of Jesus as one who grew and became strong and was filled with wisdom.  What has helped you to grow in wisdom?  Have you seen others grow in wisdom through the experience of life?  Recall times when you had a sense of growing up in some way.  What brought that about? Think also of how you have seen growth in another person.

John Byrne osa, Intercom Dec 2020

PARISH COLLECTIONS

Plate:  Tullamore €1372; Durrow €238

Envelopes €4421

Thank you for your continued support.

ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Blessed Sacrament, I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul.  Since I now cannot receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart, I embrace you and unite myself to you; 

Permit not that I should ever be separated from You. Amen.

SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM

Contact the Parish Secretary to arrange Baptism.

SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE

To book the Church for weddings, contact the Parish Secretary.

NB:  NOTICES FOR THE BULLETIN MUST BE IN THE PARISH CENTRE BY 9.30AM WEDNESDAY.

Only notices from parish groups, non-profit making organisations & clubs included

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR FIONA PENDER, OUR PARISHONER WHO HAS BEEN MISSING SINCE 22nd AUGUST 19

MASS INTENTIONS

Mon 28 10.00 Elizabeth Doyle

Tues 29 10.00 Liam Duffy

Wed 30 10.00  Marcus & Mary Byrne, 32 O’Molloy St

Thurs 31 10.00 Kathleen Cassidy & her daughter, Barbara

Sat 2 10.00  Lar & Mary Byrne & Family O’Brien St; Margaret & Billy O’Neill & Manuel & Jesus Castineira

Sun 3        9.00  Emer Champ Bracken

               11.00 Kathleen Lynam, 1st Ann

                 1.00 Jackie Lynam, Mon Mem

Durrow Shared Mass Sun 3rd, 11.30am: Laurence, Elizabeth, Laurence & Mary Ann Keegan; Michael, Rose & Eugene Walsh; Michael Costello, Thomas & Mary Delaney & John & Mary Costello; Julia Weir; Vera & baby Arthur Waters; Michael & Agnes Wyer; Ciss & Bernard Clavin; Ger Roe.

All Masses, both in Tullamore and Durrow can be viewed on the webcam.  Go to www.tullamoreparish.ie

DEATHS

We offer our sympathy to the families of Eileen Murray, Paul Merriman, Eileen Dunne, Philomena Boland & Billy Flynn.

BAPTISMS

Welcome to God’s family Isla Rose Bermingham, Oisín Colin Kearns, Méabh Andrea Brigid O’Leary & Luka David Fox who were baptised recently.

COMMUNITY NOTICES

MABS: Helpline 0761 07 2000 Mon to Fri 9am - 8pm.

ALONE: COVID support line for older people.  Ph 0818 222 024, 8am-8pm daily.

AA: Offaly House, Offaly St, Mon, Wed, Thur, Sat &  Sun 8.15pm, Tues, Wed, Fri & Sun, 1pm.

TULLAMORE RAPE CRISIS CENTRE:  Opening times Mon-Fri 9.30am-5pm.  Ph 0579322500; Freephone 1800323232; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it