Presider’s Page for Friday 1 November (All Saints) Opening Comment Today and tomorrow we remember all the dead, those in heaven and those still be on the way there: God alone knows where each soul is. Today’s feast celebrates the saints in heaven, the holy men and women of every time and place: we hope…
31 Oct 2024 – Thursday of Week 30 Feast – Cloyne: Bl Dominic Collins, born c 1566 in Youghal, became a Jesuit, travelled abroad, returned home, hanged by the English because of his faith on 31 Oct 1602. 1st Reading: Ephesians 6:10-20 Putting on the armour of God, for the struggle of life Be strong…
Presider’s Page for 3 November (Ordinary Time 31) What is asked of us is simple – to love God and our neighbour. But without God’s grace, even these simple demands can seem beyond our grasp. Penitential Rite We gather here to rejoice in God’s compassion and to ask for the strength we need : (pause) You…
30 Oct 2024 – Wednesday of Week 30 1st Reading: Ephesians 6:1-9 Practical advice for parents and children, masters and servants Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “honour your father and mother”. This is the first commandment accompanied with a promise: “so that it may be well with you and…
29 Oct 2024 – Tuesday of Week 30 Optional Memorial: St Colman, 7th century, from Kilmacduagh, Co Galway, also founded two churches on Áran in Galway Bay. 1st Reading: Ephesians 5:21-33 Love between spouses mirrors Christ’s love for the church Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, be subject to your…
28 Oct 2024 – Ss Simon and Jude, Apostles 1st Reading: Ephesians 2:19-22 God has appointed apostles so that his people’s needs will be served So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the…
27 Oct 2024 – 30th Sunday (Year B) (1) Jeremiah 31:7-9 God promises to lead back the remnant of Israel Thus says the Lord: “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, “Save, O Lord, your people, the remnant of Israel.” See, I…
26 Oct 2024 – Saturday of Week 29 1st Reading: Ephesians 4:7-16 The church led by apostles and evangelists, to teach and unify its members Each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave…
25 Oct 2024 – Friday of Week 29 Memorials (Cork & Ross, Cloyne): Bl Thaddeus MacCarthy, born in 1455, died in 1492 in Italy. 1st Reading: Ephesians 4:1-6 One body and one spirit, a warm ideal of church unity I, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling…
24 Oct 2024 – Thursday of Week 29 Optional memorial: St Anthony Mary Claret, 1807-70, founded the Claretians in Spain. 1st Reading: Ephesians 3:14-21 May you grasp the depth of Christ’s love, beyond all knowledge I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name, praying…
23 Oct 2024 – Wednesday of Week 29 Optional memorial: St John of Capistrano, 1386-1456, served under four popes. Patron of jurists and military chaplains. 1st Reading: Ephesians 3:2-12 Paul preaches to the gentiles the rich mystery of Christ Surely you have already heard of the commission of God’s grace that was given me for…
Presider’s Page for 27 October (Ordinary Time 30) We come to God, who gives the blind new sight. We praise our creator for the gracious care we receive and ask for the strength to continue on our pilgrim journey to the Father’s house. Penitential Rite Christ heals souls, bodies and spirits, so to Christ we…
22 Oct 2024 – Tuesday of Week 29 Optional memorial: St John Paul II, pope, from 1978-2005. Visited Ireland in 1979. 1st Reading: Ephesians 2:12-22 God has broken down all barriers, to form one new people Remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to…
21 Oct 2024 – Monday of Week 29 1st Reading: Ephesians 2:1-10 We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work…
20 Oct 2024 – 29th Sunday (Year B) – Mission Sunday (1) Isaiah 53:10-11 God’s faithful Servant bears the world’s sins and sorrow; but he will prosper in the end It was the will of the Lord to crush his servant with pain. When he make his life an offering for sin, he shall see…
19 Oct 2024 – Saturday of Week 28 Optional Memorials: Ss John de Brébeuf, Isaac Jagues, priests, and Companions, martyrs – all Jesuits, slain by the Huron and Iroquois Indians in 1647/8. St Paul of the Cross, 1694-1775, founded the Passionists in Rome. 1st Reading: Ephesians 1:15-23 May God enlighten your vision to see the hope you…
18 Oct 2024 – St Luke, Evangelist 1st Reading: 2 Timothy 4:10-17 Only Luke is with Paul, at this final stage in his imprisonment Do your best to come to me soon, for Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia….
17 Oct 2024 – Thursday of Week 28 Memorial: St Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr, died at Rome circa 107. 1st Reading: Ephesians 1:1-10 God chose us in Christ before the world began, to be holy in his sight Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who…
16 Oct 2024 – Wednesday of Week 28 Optional Memorials: St Hedwig, 1174-1243, devoted to charitable works; St Margaret Mary, 1647-90, visionary who revived devotion to the Sacred Heart; St Gall, monk of Bangor who accompanied Columbanus to the continent, lived in a hermitage which later became the monastery of St Gallen. He died circa 630. 1st Reading: Galatians…
Presider’s Page for 20 Oct 2024, 29th Sunday, Mission Sunday This year’s Mission Sunday theme is a reminder of our duty to “Go and invite everyone to the banquet”. The theme, from the parable of the Wedding Feast in Matthew 22:9, is given to us by Pope Francis, who reminds us that the least of…
