Holy Trinity Church, Ratoath

2 March 2014

Opening hours for the Parish Office: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday from 9.30am– 4.00pm

Priest on Duty: Fr. Gerry

Please pray for Billy Murrihy (Castlebar) brother in law of Margaret Murrihy (Brownstown) who died during the week. May he rest in peace.

Congratulations to Aodhan Milne (Clonkeen) Eva Kelly (Somerville) Cian O’Rourke (Mooretown)

Odhran Phelan (Steeplechase Green) Robyn Peake ( Steepelchase Green)  who were baptised recently.  

Lent begins on Wednesday. There will be a Mass at 9.45am and 7.30pm. The blessing and distribution of ashes will take place at both Masses.

First Confessions for Rathbeggan National School will be held on Thursday evening at 7.30pm 

Envelope Collection for week ending 16th & 23rd February €2432.11 

Standing Orders for January €5291.40. Many thanks for your continued support. 

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The sick and the housebound will be attended to in their homes on Thursday and Friday

Next Sunday the 11.00am Mass will be broadcast by RTE Radio on medium wave. If you are a 

attending this Mass we ask you to come a few minutes early, so as not to interfere with the recording.

Ratoath College Uniform: Fitting for girls uniforms takes place in Blondells on Monday 

10th -14th March. For boys from 19th-22nd March. Current students requiring skirts or trousers can order at this time. Phone 825711

The Venue Players present “The Seduction of Eddie Flynn’s Father” by Eileen Kavanagh at The Venue Theatre on March 20th, 21st and 22nd at 8pm. Also featuring “The Book Club” by Angela Lyons.   Tickets €12 from www.venuetheatre.ie or from Box Office – 01/6895600.

Ratoath Community Text Alert. A public meeting to form a text alert system in conjunction with the Garda for Ratoath residents will take place on Tuesday March 11th at 8pm in the Ratoath Inn. Guest speaker: Sergeant Dean Kerins , Meath Crime Prevention Officer. For further details contact Nick Killian at 087 2596753

Ratoath GAA Annual Dinner Dance on Friday 7th March Tickets €25 each available from Monica O Brien 087 6493639.  Lotto numbers for this week 5.8.11.14. No winner.

                 Are you interested in deepening your understanding the Catholic faith?                                         In CATHOLICISM Fr Robert Barron through the DVD presentations gives us a vision of the Catholic Faith as has never been seen before.  Why not attend our Lenten series?                   MONDAYS at 7:30pm in the Parish Pastoral Centre. Begining this Monday March 3rd at 7:30.            Each session lasts for 1 hour and is open to everyone!

Monday      Special Intention                  Tuesday      Joe Dolan         Ash Wednesday  Masses at 9.45am & 7.30pm  

Thursday    Lily Maguire                         Friday         Mass for all those on the Parish List of the Dead           

 Saturday    Morning Mass in the Nursing Home at 11.00am

Excerpt from the Lenten Message of Pope Francis                                                                                            He became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich (2 Cor 8:9)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,                                                                                       As Lent draws near, I would like to offer some helpful thoughts on our path of conversion as individuals and as a community. These insights are inspired by the words of Saint Paul: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich" (2 Cor 8:9). The Apostle was writing to the Christians of Corinth to encourage them to be generous in helping the faithful in Jerusalem who were in need. What do these words of Saint Paul mean for us Christians today? What does this invitation to poverty, a life of evangelical poverty, mean for us today?.........

First of all, it shows us how God works. He does not reveal himself cloaked in worldly power and wealth but rather in weakness and poverty: "though He was rich, yet for your sake he became poor …". Christ, the eternal Son of God, one with the Father in power and glory, chose to be poor; he came amongst us and drew near to each of us; he set aside his glory and emptied himself so that he could be like us in all things. ....

By making himself poor, Jesus did not seek poverty for its own sake but, as Saint Paul says "that by his poverty you might become rich". In imitation of our Master, we Christians are called to confront the poverty of our brothers and sisters, to touch it, to make it our own and to take practical steps to alleviate it. ...In the poor and outcast we see Christ’s face; by loving and helping the poor, we love and serve Christ. Our efforts are also directed to ending violations of human dignity, discrimination and abuse in the world, for these are so often the cause of destitution. When power, luxury and money become idols, they take priority over the need for a fair distribution of wealth. Our consciences thus need to be converted to justice, equality, simplicity and sharing......

Dear brothers and sisters, may this Lenten season find the whole Church ready to bear witness to all those who live in material, moral and spiritual destitution the Gospel message of the merciful love of God our Father, who is ready to embrace everyone in Christ. We can do this to the extent that we imitate Christ who became poor and enriched us by his poverty. Lent is a fitting time for self-denial; we would do well to ask ourselves what we can give up in order to help and enrich others by our own poverty. Let us not forget that real poverty hurts: no self-denial is real without this dimension of penance. I distrust a charity that costs nothing and does not hurt.

May the Holy Spirit sustain us in our resolutions and increase our concern and responsibility for human destitution, so that we can become merciful and act with mercy. In expressing this hope, I likewise pray that each individual member of the faithful and every Church community will undertake a fruitful Lenten journey. I ask all of you to pray for me. May the Lord bless you and Our Lady keep you safe.