PARISH BULLETIN

Sixth Sunday of Easter

10th May 2020

 

The church doors may still be closed at the moment but hopefully they will be reopening soon - see the note below about planning ahead.

 

In the meantime we can take encouragement from the words of Jesus in Sunday's Gospel-

"I will not leave you orphans;

I will come back to you.
In a short time the world will no longer see me;
but you will see me,
because I live and you will live."
 
May the Lord bless us all during these days and may we see him in the Eucharist very soon!
 
Fr Damian

 

WE PRAY FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DIED

 

Anniversaries:

Martha Cochrane, David Doran, Denis Irvine, James John Kelly, Robert Kelly, Eileen McKay, Paddy O’Sullivan.  

 

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord

 

THIS WEEK

Mass will be live streamed at 10am on Sunday on our Facebook page.

 

At 5pm on Sunday we will live stream evening devotions.  We will pray Vespers (evening prayer of the Church) followed by Benediction.

 

Mass will also be streamed on Monday and Wednesday at 10am and Friday at 7pm. 

 

PLANNING AHEAD

After the Northern Ireland Executive announced its Coronavirus Recovery Plan this week, we know that the reopening of churches for private prayer will come as part of the first step out of lockdown.  

 

We don’t yet have a date for this first step but the diocese and parish have begun planning ahead.  When permission is granted we hope to be able to open the doors of Our Lady & St Patrick’s church for private prayer at certain times during the week.  At first the hours of opening will be limited and there will be restrictions within the church building to allow people to visit in a safe way that minimises the possibility of infection.

 

We hope to have more information soon and we very much look forward to the church being open once again, even in a limited way.  Many thanks to the Parish Pastoral Council and our sacristan, Noel Burns, for their assistance with this issue.

 

COFFEE MORNING DONATION TO SVP

A huge thank you to everyone who supports the parish coffee morning.  £500 raised in donations from the Coffee Morning has been given to our St Vincent de Paul conference.  Congratulations to those who organise the coffee mornings and hopefully they will be back before too long!

 

ST VINCENT de PAUL

Our parish conference is still running and they are doing great work to help people in need of practical assistance at this time.  For confidential help contact their answerphone on 07860 455 549.

 

MAY, THE MONTH OF MARY

As we continue the month of May we encourage every family in the parish to set up a May altar in your home.  This lovely tradition encourages us to pray together and is a sign of our love for Jesus and Mary.  This year especially when we can’t come to the church it is good to have a space for prayer in our own homes.

 

Pope Francis has asked us to pray the rosary daily in May to ask Our Lady’s protection on the world during this time.

 

PARISH FINANCE

We know many people are worried about their own family finances at this time, so it means a great deal that some people are able to support the parish too. 

 

If you want to make an offering you can leave your envelope through the door of the Parochial House.  If you’re isolating at the moment just save your envelopes at home until we’re all out and about again!

 

You can also make a payment online to the parish account:

 

Parish of Ballymoney & Derrykeighan

Sort code: 95-06-79 

Account No: 10020192.  

 

(If you are someone who normally pays by envelope, please use your envelope number as a reference.)

 

CONFESSION

When confession isn’t possible we may seek God’s forgiveness by making an act of perfect contrition.

 

We should:

 

  • Prayerfully call to mind our own sins.
  • Tell God of our sorrow and desire for repentance.
  • Do what we can to make amends.
  • Promise to go to confession when it is possible.

 

We can then make the following prayer:

 

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.

 

If you urgently wish to go to confession, please contact Fr Damian to make arrangements.

 

SACRAMENT OF THE SICK (LAST RITES)

Regular visits to the sick by the priest or Minister of Holy Communion are suspended.  However emergency call outs are being carried out as normal.  Please contact the Parochial House (or if it’s for a hospital patient, ask the staff to contact the priest on call).

 

FUNERAL RITES

At this time only prayers at the graveside are allowed. Funeral Masses and prayers at the home are not possible. In the event of a death Fr Damian will offer Mass for the soul of the deceased privately.