Pages for presiders (including bidding prayers for the Sundays and holydays of August) have now been published on the ACP website. This is to facilitate those who prepare the liturgy, who may be planning several Sunday liturgies in advance due to key personnel taking summer vacations. Topical needs can be added by prayer ministers at the Mass time.
You can access the August presiders pages here
The Virgin Mary was already venerated as Mother of God when, in 431, the Council of Ephesus acclaimed her Theotokos (God-bearer). Her role in the mystery of the incarnation was…
Sean McDonagh reminds us that climate change is a moral problem for all Christians. Promoting the Christian message and its implications for climate change connects in real ways with people of all ages and backgrounds.
“Deirdre Duff, a student who spoke about climate change at the end of Mass, believes that Laudato Si is an incredible document which could not only help save our planet but which could also bring young people back to the Church. ‘I’ll admit that I used to be pretty bad for going to Mass, I’d only go once or twice a month. Then I went to Mass the Sunday after ‘Laudato Si’ was released and I haven’t missed Sunday Mass since. I realised that the Church did actually had an awful lot to teach me…I realised how awful I’d been to God’s creation and to His poorest people who were suffering from my actions in other parts of the world…it just woke me up! Then I simultaneously got to know and love both God and God’s creation in a way I had never had done before.”
Today’s readings remind us that God is on the side of the poor, defending their rights. Providentially, today is also the World Day of Migrants and Refugees.Penitential RiteWe gather to…
We gather for Mass to praise God’s faithfulness, and to ask for grace in the work we’re called to do.
Now that the great feasts of Easter and the Sundays following it are behind us, we return to Ordinary Time and reflect on the challenges to disciples found in the Gospel of Luke. At today’s gathering, we’re challenged us to look carefully at our commitment to our faith. We worship God who gives us the grace we need.
Seamus Ahearne, in thinking of the late Des Connell, asks that when he was appointed “Who thought about the man? Who worried about the suitability of this person? Could this man face the burden of leadership of a Church in Dublin at that time? Was he flexible in his thinking; was he adaptable; was he good humoured; was he strong enough to cope; had he the personality to bend and laugh and mix and take the arrows and stones that could be thrown at him? Was he a team worker? “
Questions as relevant for the appointment of a bishop today.
In relation to weekly Prayers of the Faithful, Sean O’Conaill recently queried whether the handing down of these from the diocesan authorities, as in the Dublin Archdiocese, was another form of episcopal control. One would hope that this is not so but a recognition that many parishes do not have active Pastoral Councils or groups that could create these on the regular basis they are required. The ACP, by augmenting these is undoubtedly providing a welcome service to hard pressed PPs and curates. A further resource, where topical needs are added weekly, is to be found on the Association of Catholics in Ireland website under Resources – Liturgy. Reference is http://www.acireland.ie/category/liturgy/. To ensure these are relevant to the weekend masses, these are only uploaded each Friday evening.