1st October 2017 - Limerick Diocese Upcoming Events - WMoF2018 Diocesan Day 8th October

On this weeks programme, Noirin Lynch from LDPC joins John and Shane to discuss up coming events in the diocese over the next few months and especially the preparations being made in Limerick for the World Meeting of Families 2018 to be held in Dublin in August 2018. We have our regular visit to the saints of the week as well as our reflection on this weeks Sunday gospel and other odds and ends. 

You can listen to the podcast of this weeks full programme HERE.

Limerick Diocese Up coming Events

Noirin Lynch joins us on this weeks programme to fill us in on up coming events in Limerick diocese and resources that will be available to parishes over the coming months.

You can listen to the chat with Noirin excerpted from the main programme podcast HERE.

You can keep in touch with events via the weekly newsletter from LDPC HERE.

The immediate up coming events that were mentioned on the programme can be read about HERE.

WMoF2018 Limerick Launch 8th October 2017

This is a chance for every family to experience our diocesan family as a welcoming, joy-filled, prayerful community where they can feel at home. This is an opportunity to start a movement that might lead to families from your parish attending World Meeting of Families next year in Dublin. This is a moment that will not come again, so please don't wait to see how it turns out before you decide to participate! 

There will be face painting and a mobile farm, interactive science projects and water zorbs, teen activities with limerick youth service, tag archery and a Poc Fada, music and art, food stalls and prayer spaces - all brought together with a festive Mass with Bishop Leahy at 4pm.

Join us - as we celebrate our diocesan family!

Sunday, October 8th from 1-5pm.

Please get involved - we are all part of the one diocesan family, so this is an event for everyone, of every age, who wants to support good family ministry in our diocese

Join us - Bígí Linn!

Other WMoF2018 Events in Limerick over the next few months

Limerick Diocese WMoF2018 Facebook Page

Cycle of celebration to participate over the next few months which you should keep an eye out for and get involved. Ask around in your parish and make sure you take part.

• October - Family album around the missions
• November- Remembering our family dead
• December - Small pictures of the Holy Family for Christmas

Icon of the Holy Family
WMoF2018

• December 11 - 20th 2017 - Visit of WMoF2018 Icon to Limerick diocese in St John's Cathedral, Newcastle West and Killmallock

• January 2018 - National Catholic School Weeks
• Febuary 2018 - Celebration for couples marking special anniversaries
• March 2018 - Parish based workshops on reading and discussing Amoris Latetia
• May 2018 - Mass for families of priests & religious
• June 2018 - Diocesan Family Hike
• August 2018 - Days in the Diocese before the actual event of WMoF2018 in Dublin.
• Special cards/gifts for baptisms, First Holy Communions and weddings this year for those whole will receive these particular sacraments during the year of preparation leading up to WMoF2018.

Gospel - Matthew 21:28-32

‘What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” He answered, “I will not”; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, “I go, sir”; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax-collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

Reflections on this weeks gospel:

Word on Fire

Centre for Liturgy

Sunday Reflections

English Dominicans

Liturgical odds & ends

Liturgy of the Hours - Psalter week 2; 26th week in ordinary time

Saints of the Week

October 2nd - The Guardian Angels

October 3rd - St Columba Marmion 

October 4th - St Francis of Assisi

October 5th - St Faustina - Seer of the Divine Mercy

October 6th - St Bruno (First Friday)

October 7th - Our Lady of the Rosary (First Saturday)

24th September 2017 - A News Roundup from around the World

On this weeks  programme John and Shane take a quick spin around the Catholic world looking at various odds and ends. We have our regular reflection on this weeks Sunday gospel as well as a walk through the upcoming saints of the week plus other liturgical odds & ends and some local notices.

You can listen to the full podcast of this weeks programme HERE.

A News Roundup from around the World

Dominicans celebrate week of vocations 

Freed Indian priest Fr Tom meets Pope Francis 
Fr Tom thanks the world for their prayers 
Fr. Tom to Pope Francis: I offered my suffering for you and the Church 
Kidnapped priest recounts harrowing 18-month ordeal
Father Tom describes his experience in the hands of kidnappers

Pope Audience: Never lose hope, never lose heart

You can listen to this part of the programme excerpted from the main programme podcast HERE.

Gospel - Matthew 20:1-16

Jesus told his disciples this parable:"The kingdom of heaven is like a landownerwho went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage,he sent them into his vineyard. Going out about nine o'clock,the landowner saw others standing idle in the marketplace,and he said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard,and I will give you what is just.'So they went off. And he went out again around noon,and around three o'clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o'clock,the landowner found others standing around, and said to them,'Why do you stand here idle all day?'They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.'He said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard.'When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman,'Summon the laborers and give them their pay,beginning with the last and ending with the first.'When those who had started about five o'clock came,each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more,but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying,'These last ones worked only one hour,and you have made them equal to us,who bore the day's burden and the heat.'He said to one of them in reply,'My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?'Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last."

Reflections on this weeks gospel:

Word on Fire
Centre for Liturgy
English Dominicans
Sunday Reflections

Liturgical odds & ends

Liturgy of the Hours - Psalter week 1; 25th week in ordinary time

Saints of the Week

September 25th - St Finbar of Cork
September 26th - Ss Cosmas & Damien
September 27th - St Vincent de Paul
September 28th - St Wenceslaus
September 29th - Feast of the Archangels Michael, Raphael & Gabriel
September 30th - St Jerome

Some web browsing............

Pioneering youth priest awarded Limerick Person of the Month - Fr Chris O’Donnell made national headlines when a campaign was launched by hundreds of young people appealing to Pope Francis to keep him in Limerick.

WMF2018 is a call to renew the Church – Archbishop Martin - Thousands pour into Knock as countdown to World Meeting of Families next year begins and preparatory programme is launched.

New WMF2018 icon to visit all 26 dioceses - The icon, which was written by Mihai Cucu, will be accompanied by petition boxes, and contemplative communities around Ireland have agreed to take petitions collected from families and to pray for them during the coming year.

Counting down to family congress - Mags Gargan speaks to the Secretary General of World Meeting of Families

Eighth Amendment is a beacon of hope thirty-four years on 

Pro life groups reject support by Dr Rhona Mahony for repeal of Eighth Amendment

Millennial and monastic: It doesn’t get more counter-cultural than that

Pope Francis in Colombia: True freedom is found in courageous discipleship

Why ‘Good Pope John’ fits as patron saint of Italian army

Catholic youth have something to say – and the Church is listening

This Bible Was Found Melted To A Piece Of Steel From 9/11 Ground Zero



Pope: The cross without Christ’s hope is ‘spiritual masochism’ 

A little bit of 'youthful euphoria' is healthy for Christian life, Pope says

Amid downpour, Bishops consecrate Scotland to Immaculate Heart of Mary

Epiphany, Ascension moved back to original dates in England and Wales

Reverend Trevor Sargent remains green

Memento Mori: How a skull on your desk will change your life

In new book, Pope Francis says he consulted a psychoanalyst, speaks about the women in his life

Freed Indian priest Fr Tom meets Pope Francis 
Fr Tom thanks the world for their prayers 
Fr. Tom to Pope Francis: I offered my suffering for you and the Church 
Kidnapped priest recounts harrowing 18-month ordeal
Father Tom describes his experience in the hands of kidnappers

Australian priest rips confession proposal as government 'intrusion'

From Catholic Herald - John Allen, Fr John Baldovin SJ, Rita Ferrone, Fr Hugh Somerville-Knapman, Archbishop Arthur Roche, Fr Michael Ryan, Joseph Shaw, John Thavis and Fr John Zuhlsdorf comment on the new Motu Proprio on liturgical translations.

A Controversial Restoration That Wipes Away the Past 

The Pope In Myanmar. The Violent Face of Buddhism

17th September 2017 - Sharing Vocation Stories: Fr JJ O'Riordan CSSp

On this weeks programme, John and Shane are joined by Fr JJ O'Riordan from the Redemptorist's in Limerick city who shares with us his vocation story. We have our regular run through of the celestial guides for the coming week, some local notices and a rather short reflection on this weeks Sunday gospel!

You can listen to the podcast of this weeks full programme HERE.

Sharing Vocation Stories: Fr JJ O'Riordan CSSp

On this weeks programme we have another interview in our multi-annual series of sharing vocations stories. This week Fr JJ O'Riordan who is a Redemptorist currently in ministry at Mt St Alphonsus in Limerick shares with us his vocation story. 

You can listen to Fr O'Riordan's interview excerpted from the main programme HERE.

Gospel - Matthew 18:21-35

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,"Lord, if my brother sins against me,how often must I forgive?As many as seven times?" Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a kingwho decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting,a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back,his master ordered him to be sold,along with his wife, his children, and all his property,in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.'Moved with compassion the master of that servantlet him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servantswho owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,'Pay back what you owe.'Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'But he refused. Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prisonuntil he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,they were deeply disturbed, and went to their masterand reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,as I had pity on you?'Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturersuntil he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you,unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart."

Reflections on this weeks gospel:

Word on Fire
Sunday Reflections
English Dominicans
Centre for Liturgy

Liturgical odds & ends

Liturgy of the Hours: Psalter week IV, twenty-fourth week in ordinary time

Saints of the Week

September 18th - St Joseph of Cupertino
September 19th - St Januarius
September 20th - St Andew Kim Teagon & Companions
September 21st - St Matthew
September 22nd - St Maurice
September 23rd - St Padre Pio

14th September - Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Homily for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Fr Martin Browne OSB

Glenstal Abbey

14th September 2017

On Good Friday each year, after we have listened to the account of the Lord’s Passion according to John and prayed for the needs of the whole world, the Holy Cross is carried through the church. It is unveiled in stages. All are invited to come and adore. And then that is what we do. One by one… What some traditions used to call ‘creeping to the Cross’… Genuflecting… Kissing the Cross. … Or simply touching it with our hands or our foreheads. It’s solemn and slow. Identifying with Christ in his sufferings and joining our sorrows to his in a special and very holy ‘communion’.

Yet, in the midst of our meditations on the sufferings of Christ, our hearts are turned to praise. In one of the oldest of all Christian acclamations we cry, in Greek: ‘Hagios o Theos! Hagios ischyros! Hagios athanatos, eleison imas!’ (‘Holy God! Holy Mighty One! Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us!’) Even as we mourn with him, we praise the One who was lifted up for our salvation. We praise him because we recognise that because the Son of Man was lifted up, we who believe in him have eternal life.

And that is the tone of today’s celebration too. The opening chant said that ‘We should glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’. And that is what we do. We ‘glory’ in the Cross, not because we have some fixation with misery and torture. We ‘glory’ in the Cross, not because we are stuck at Christ’s death and aren’t able to appreciate his Resurrection. No. We ‘glory’ in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ because in him ‘is our salvation, life and resurrection, and through [him] we are saved and delivered’.

St Ephrem said that the ‘suffering of the Gracious One is the key of his treasures’. The Wood of the Cross is the real Tree of Knowledge. It is the Tree of Life that overcomes the tree of Adam’s sin in Eden. As we sing on Good Friday: ‘By the wood of a tree we were made slaves, and by the Holy Cross we have been set free. The fruit of the tree ensnared us; the Son of God redeemed us.’

Similarly, Byzantine Christians sing today: ‘He who deceived Adam by a Tree is caught by the lure of the Cross. .. It was fitting that the Tree should be healed by a Tree’.

And so we ‘glory’ in the Cross. We celebrate it. We sing its praises. We even address it directly – Ave Crux, spes unica! (‘Hail, O Cross, our only hope!’) We lift it up – exalt it – not only believing, but knowing, that all who look on it in faith, will live. On this day our brothers and sisters of the Byzantine Churches lift up the Cross to each of the four cardinal points, singing ‘Kyrie eleison’ (‘Lord, have mercy’) a hundred times over each time. They recognise that the Cross is healing not just for the pious few gathered to worship, but for the whole earth and the entire cosmos. It is, to quote St Ephrem again, ‘the great key by which the treasures of mercies are opened’.

Today the Cross is lifted high and the world is sanctified. For you, O Christ, who are enthroned with the Father and the Holy Spirit, have stretched your arms upon it and have drawn the world to the knowledge of God! Make us, who have placed our trust in you, worthy of your divine glory.

Hail, O Cross, our only hope!

Triduum in honour of St Padre Pio

10th September 2017 - Triduum in Honour of St. Padre Pio

On this weeks programme, John has a discussion with Fr John Mockler about the upcoming tridumm in honour of St Padre Pio. We have our weekly reflection on the Sunday gospel as well as a quick visit to our celestial guides of the week and other liturgical odds and ends.

You can listen to the podcast of this weeks programme HERE.

Healing with St Padre Pio


Fr. John Mockler joins John on this weeks progamme and begins by explaining why he has organised a triduum in honour of St. Pio and why St. Pio is the saint for our times. St. Pio, who was the first priest who had the stigmata (the wounds of Christ), is the saint for our times, because in bearing the wounds of Jesus, he witnessed to the fact of the Resurrection in his wounds.

St. Pio also participated in the redemptive suffering of Jesus, as St. Paul says: "completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church" (Col 1:24). By uniting his suffering with that of Christ he was able to bring many people back to Christ in the confessional. Fr. John speaks to us about the spirituality of St. Pio and what message he has both for young people and those who are not so young.

The triduum will take place in Newcastle West church on 20th, 21st and 22nd September 7-9pm each evening. It will include an opportunity for the Sacrament of Reconciliation as St. Pio is the saint of the confessional, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the rosary and veneration of and blessing with the first class relic of St. Pio.

You can listen to the interview with Fr John excerpted from the main programme podcast here.

Gospel - Matthew 18:15-20

 

‘If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’

Reflections on this weeks gospel:

Word on Fire

Sunday Reflections

Centre for Liturgy

English Dominicans

Liturgical odds & ends

Liturgy of the Hours - Psalter week 3; 23rd week in ordinary time.

Saints of the Week

September 11th - St Deiniol

September 12th - The Most Holy Name of Mary

September 13th - St John Chrysostom 

September 14th - The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

September 15th - Our Lady of Sorrows

September 16th - St Cornelius & St Cyprian

Notices

Limerick Diocesan Pastoral Centre (LDPC) reopens this weeks after their summer break in August. As such please make sure you check out the detailed news letter issued this week from Noirin Lynch with up coming courses and other information on the diocesan website HERE.

SS102fm Podcasts Technical Issues

Regular readers and visitors to the blog will be aware that each week we post links to the podcasts of our weekly programmes which are also available on our archive pages. 

To date the SS102fm team has been using the facility provided by Dropbox public folders but from 1st September 2017, this facility has been changed by Dropbox so all of the historic links are no longer valid.

As you can appreciate with almost 6 years of programmes online, the updating and amendment of these links on the blog is going to take us some time so we would appreciate your patience as we figure out what we are going to do.

However, the programmes from August 2017 forward should continue to be available for you to listen back to and we will keep you updated as we sort out the remainder of our archive on the programme.

Regards
SS102fm Team 

3rd September 2017 - Fr Willie Doyle SJ - One of Ireland's forgotten saints?

On this weeks programme John and Shane are joined by Pat Kenny to discuss the life and contribution of Fr Willie Doyle SJ, one of the Irish Jesuit chaplains during WWI. We have our regular reflection on this weeks Sunday gospel as well as a look at this weeks celestial guides plus other odds and ends.

You can listen to the podcast of this weeks full programme HERE.

Fr Willie Doyle SJ - One of Ireland's forgotten saints?

Available from Veritas Publications

On this weeks programme, Pat Kenny introduces us to Fr Willie Doyle SJ - one of the Irish Jesuit chaplains who served (and in his case died) during WWI.

Fr Willie was born in Dalkey, Co Dublin on March 3, 1873. He was the youngest of seven children, four boys and three girls, out of which two boys became Jesuits, another died a few days before his priestly ordination and one of the three girls became a Sister of Mercy: four vocations out of seven children.

He entered the Jesuit Novitiate at the age of 18. Soon after his ordination in 1907, his superiors appointed him on the mission staff for five years. From 1908 to 1915, he gave no less than 152 missions and retreats. His fame as preacher, confessor and spiritual director spread wide and far, and he had a special gift to hunt out the most hardened and neglected sinners and to bring them back with him to the church for confession.

He was finally appointed during World War I chaplain of the 16th Irish Division, serving with 8th Royal Irish Fusiliers, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, 9th Royal Dublin Fusiliers, 6th Royal Irish Rifles and the 7th Royal Irish Rifles. Having fulfilled his priestly duties in an outstanding fashion for almost two years, he was killed in the Battle of Ypres on August 16, 1917, having run “all day hither and thither over the battlefield like an angel of mercy.” This good shepherd truly gave his life for his sheep.

Fr Doyle’s body was never recovered.

In To Raise the Fallen, Patrick Kenny introduces readers to this remarkable figure from Irish Catholicism whose faith, courage and generosity in the face of untold devastation continues to inspire Christians and non-Christians alike.

To Raise the Fallen comprises a selection of Willie Doyle’s rich and vivid letters from the front, alongside diary entries, prayers, spiritual writings and extracts from pamphlets on the vocational life that made him a publishing sensation across Europe in the early years of the twentieth century. Father Doyle’s compassion, cheerfulness and humility, alongside his great valour in wartime, are testament to his commitment to Gospel values, while his final act of bravery truly epitomises Christ’s edict that there ‘is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends’.

You can listen to the interview with Pat excerpted from the main programme podcast HERE.

Pat's blog/website about Fr Willie Doyle is available HERE.

• Irish Jesuits website tag
• Dublin Fusiliers
• Fr. Willie Doyle, SJ: Ireland’s Forgotten Saint?  

Gospel - Matthew 16: 21-27

Jesus began to show his disciplesthat he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly
from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.
Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him,
"God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you."
He turned and said to Peter,
"Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."
Then Jesus said to his disciples,
"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory,
and then he will repay all according to his conduct."

Reflections on this weeks gospel:

Word on Fire

English Dominicans

Centre for Liturgy

Sunday Reflections

Liturgical odds & ends

Liturgy of the Hours: Psalter week 2; 22nd week in Ordinary time

Saints of the Week

September 4th - St Mac Nissi

September 5th - St Teresa of Calcutta

September 6th -St Bega

September 7th - St Cloud

September 8th - Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary

September 9th - St Kieran the Younger

World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation - September 1st - "Show mercy to our common home"

In 2015, Pope Francis established September 1 as the annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in the Catholic Church. In doing so, he acknowledged his debt to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, which has observed September 1, the beginning of its liturgical year, as a similar day of prayer since 1989.

“As Christians we wish to contribute to resolving the ecological crisis which humanity is presently experiencing,” Pope Francis said in his August 2015 letter announcing the day of prayer. “In doing so, we must first rediscover in our own rich spiritual patrimony the deepest motivations for our concern for the care of creation.”

He added:

The annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation will offer individual believers and communities a fitting opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live. The celebration of this Day, on the same date as the Orthodox Church, will be a valuable opportunity to bear witness to our growing communion with our Orthodox brothers and sisters.

The third World Day of Prayer for the Care of All Creation takes place today on 1 September 2017. Many local Church communities around the world also are preparing to mark Creation Time, which also begins today and continues until 4 October, the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi. Creation Time celebrates the joy of creation and encourages awareness-raising initiatives to protect the natural environment.

A joint message was released this morning from Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who for the first time are writing together on themes of the day, inviting all the faithful and men of good will to prayer and to reflect on how to live in a simple and solid manner, responsibly using earthly goods.

Pope Francis appeals for World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation - Vatican Radio

You can read more about the day here from the Irish bishops conference including resources and prayers.

Crux - Pope, Patriarch: ‘Cry of the earth’ and cry of the poor are one voice

Crux - Pope and Patriarch: A common declaration for a shared world - Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis