06 November 2023 – All the Saints of Ireland 1st Reading: Hebrews 11:2 12:1-4, 15, 13:1 Celebrate the faith of our ancestors It was by faith our ancestors received approval. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so…
05 Nov 2023 – 31st Sunday, (A) Today’s Scripture calls us to examine our conscience about the sincerity of our words and of our lives. We should rid ourselves of all hypocrisy and respect the truth about ourselves, in God’s sight. Bishops and others in a leadership role, have special need to be self-critical, for…
Presider’s Page for 5 November (31st Sunday in Ordinary Time) God’s message is still a living power among us, so we gather to listen and be challenged by it Penitential Rite Confident of God’s care and mercy, let us call to mind our sins: (pause) You were sent to heal the contrite of heart: Lord, have…
04 Nov 2023 – Saturday of Week 30 Optional Memorial; St Charles Borromeo, 1538-84, bishop of Milan, drafted the catechism of the Council of Trent. Patron of catechists and seminarians. 1st Reading: Romans 11:1-2, 11-12, 25-29 The paradoxical status of God’s people, when they reject Him I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By…
03 Nov 2023 – Friday of Week 30 Feast (Armagh, Down & Connor): St Malachy, 1094-1148, Bishop of Down, later Armagh, reformer, founded Cistercian monastery at Mellifont (1142). Died at Clairvaux in the arms of St Bernard en route to meet the Pope. 1st Reading: Romans 9:1-5 Paul would endure anything to win his fellow-Jews…
02 November 2023 – All The Faithful Departed (Any Readings from the Masses for the Dead, Lectionary, vol. 4) 1st Reading: Isaiah 25:6-9 A vision of hope for the future, when God will restore his people to happiness On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food,…
01 November 2023 – Feast of All Saints 1st Reading: Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14 Vast numbers were sealed with the sign of the Living God I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had…
31 Oct 2023 – Tuesday of Week 30 Optional Memorial: Bl Dominic Collins, martyr, born c 1566 in Youghal, Cork. Hanged by the English after he refused to renounce his faith in Youghal 31 Oct 1602. 1st Reading: Romans 8:18-25 Eternal life is already begun within us, like a seed waiting to flower I consider…
30 Oct 2023 – Monday of Week 30 1st Reading: Romans 8:12-17 In the Spirit, we are God’s children; he is our “Aba–Father” So then, my brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh–for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by…
29 Oct 2023 – 30th Sunday, (A) Our Gospel celebrates the great commandment of love. To love our neighbour as God does, prejudices based on race, religion or colour have to go. The revelation at Mount Sinai prompted a sense of fairness towards others, deeper than specific commandments. Jesus demonstrates a life of utterly unselfish…
Presider’s Page for 29 October (30th Sunday in Ordinary Time) There’s a reminder of the two great commandments in today’s celebration: we are called to love God and our neighbour: friend, visitor and stranger alike. Penitential Rite Let us call to mind times we have failed to show love, remembering that God never fails to love…
28 Oct 2023 – Saints 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 2023 – Friday of Week 29 Feast – Waterford: St Otteran, identified as Odhran who preceded Columba to Iona. Patron Waterford City and diocese. 1st Reading: Romans 7:18-25 Who can resolve my inner conflict? Only God, through Jesus Christ For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh….
26 Oct 2023 – Thursday of Week 29 1st Reading: Romans 6:19-23 Freed from sin and now serving God, and destined for eternal life If I may speak in human terms because of your natural limitations, just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now…
25 Oct 2023 – Wednesday of Week 29 Cloyne, Cork & Ross Memorial: Bl Thaddeus MacCarthy, bishop, born in 1455, died in 1492 at Ivrea in Italy. 1st Reading: Romans 6:12-18 Serve God and you will come from death to life Do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey…
24 Oct 2023 – Tuesday of Week 29 Optional Memorial: St Anthony Mary Claret, bishop, 1807-70, founded the Claretians in Spain. 1st Reading: Romans 5:12, 17-21 Through Adam, sin and death came to us all; through Jesus Christ, grace far surpasses all sin Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death…
23 Oct 2023 – Monday of Week 29 Optional Memorial: St John of Capistrano, priest, 1386-1456, Franciscan, patron of jurists and military chaplains. 1st Reading: Romans 4:20-25 Like Abraham’s faith, our faith will be credited to us by God No distrust made Abraham waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his…
22 Oct 2023 – 29th Sunday, (A) Today’s Christians are called to live in a very pluralist world, that presents us with huge challenges. Only the grace of God and the depth of our convictions will enable our faith to survive and to thrive in a secular society. But then, throughout history the life of…
21 Oct 2023 – Saturday of Week 28 1st Reading: Romans 4:13, 16-18 Hoping against hope, Abraham became the father of many nations The promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For this reason it depends on…
Presider’s Page for Mission Sunday, 22 October (29th Sunday in Ordinary Time) As God’s family in this place, we gather to worship. God is our king, we heed his Word and share the Bread of Life • Today is Mission Sunday. [A collection will be taken up to support missionaries.] Penitential Rite Let us call to…
