Limerick Diocesen Pastoral Centre Resource Email - 16th March 2011

Each week Noirin Lynch from Limerick Diocesan Pastoral Centre sends around an pastoral resource email for use of parishes within Limerick diocese. Below we have some of the items from this weeks email but if you would like to be included on Noirin's distribution list drop her a line to NLynch@ldpc.:

A Lenten retreat day:  Sat, 2^nd April.  Glenstal Abbey. All welcome.

“One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!(Jn 9:25b)”

An afternoon of reflection and prayer in the lovely setting of Glenstal monastery. Participants can choose to participate in some or all of the day. Booking in advance would be appreciated (Call 061 400133).

12.10   Glenstal Abbey midday Mass

1-2pm  Lunch available in local restaurants (e.g. Croker Bar in Murroe)

 2:15 – 4:45pm “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!(Jn 9:25b)”

Speaker: Noirin Lynch. (2 x 40 minute reflections on scripture with time for personal and, if desired, group reflection.)

4:45 – 5:30pm Tour of the Icon Chapel

6:00pm Glenstal Abbey Vespers, all welcome.

Seder Meal:    Tues, 5^th April. 8-10pm. Pastoral Centre. 12 places only

"I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer" Lk 22:15

The Passover Dinner, with all of its symbolism, was used by Jesus to explain his ministry one last time. And, at the end of this dinner, Jesus asked his disciples to “Do this in remembrance of me”. The early Church took this request seriously. The Seder Dinner was the basis of their Christian Lord's Day Service for the next 300 years. More and more Christians are including the Seder Dinner into their Holy Week activities, in order to learn the significance of this ceremony and the connection we all have with our Jewish heritage.  This Seder Meal is being offered to those who would like to learn about, and experience it, with a view to then offering it in their parish during Holy Week this year.

Lent on Line: A talks series free to watch on your computer

Is there any reason to hope?’ ‘Can the Church govern itself?’ ‘Is God to be found in suffering?’ ‘Can we avoid suffering?’ ‘How do we speak to God in the midst of dark recessionary times?’  ‘How can we make sense of all that is happening?’

Congratulation to the NOSTRA team at Mary Immaculate College for developing this  free series of talks for Lent 2011. These 15 minute talks tackle serious topics and would be great discussion starters for a group, or points of reflection for an individual.

Lectures are posted every Monday on the web link beginning on the 14^th of March 2011. Interested? – to find out more, please e-mail mary.t.martin@mic.ul.ie or see http://www.nostra.ie/news/lol-lent-on-line

Lenten talks series in Limerick – a reminder

Glenstal Abbey – March 20^th : Second Sunday in Lent

Abbot Patrick Hederman OSB, Abbot of Glenstal.

Presentation 4.30pm followed by Vespers at 6.00pm.

Dominican Biblical institute  - Tuesday 22 March

The Hope that is in You: Donagh O’Shea (There are no hopeless situations, only hopeless people) Donagh is a Dominican, writer and Director of the Dominican Retreat Centre in Tallaght.

Daffodil Day

Most people know and love Daffodil day. If you would like to get involved, to organise a parish event or to have posters to display, go to this website for lots of information and opportunities: http://www.cancer.ie/fundraising/daffodil.php

Mary Immaculate Summer School – Irish Studies

If you are interested in Irish studies, the following may be of interest:

Old Irish language (beginners)            6th June —17th June 2011

Modern Irish language (beginners)       6th June—17th June 2011

Celtic liturgical music                          6th June—17th June 2011

Georgian Ireland/ Protestant Ascendancy        6th July—17thth July 2011

Old Irish language (intermediate)         20th June—1st July 2011

Irish folklore                                        20th June —1st July 2011

Celtic spirituality and pilgrimage          20th June – 1st July 2011

Irish genealogy and genetics                20th June—1 July 2011

Anglo-Irish literature and the Celtic revival     4th July—15th July 2011

Each week costs 350 euro’s, and further information is available from iss@mic.ul.ie

Solemnity of St Joseph

March 19th is the Solemnity of St Joseph, the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster-father of Jesus.
 
From Catholicculture.org:
He was probably born in Bethlehem and probably died in Nazareth. His important mission in God's plan of salvation was "to legally insert Jesus Christ into the line of David from whom, according to the prophets, the Messiah would be born, and to act as his father and guardian (Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy)." Most of our information about St. Joseph comes from the opening two chapters of St. Matthew's Gospel. No words of his are recorded in the Gospels; he was the "silent" man. We find no devotion to St. Joseph in the early Church. It was the will of God that the Virgin Birth of Our Lord be first firmly impressed upon the minds of the faithful. He was later venerated by the great saints of the Middle Ages. Pius IX (1870) declared him patron and protector of the universal family of the Church.

The darkest hours of his life may well have been those when he first learned of Mary's pregnancy; but precisely in this time of trial Joseph showed himself great. His suffering, which likewise formed a part of the work of the redemption, was not without great providential import: Joseph was to be, for all times, the trustworthy witness of the Messiah's virgin birth. After this, he modestly retires into the background of holy Scripture.

 

Of St. Joseph's death the Bible tells us nothing. There are indications, however, that he died before the beginning of Christ's public life. His was the most beautiful death that one could have, in the arms of Jesus and Mary. Humbly and unknown, he passed his years at Nazareth, silent and almost forgotten he remained in the background through centuries of Church history. Only in more recent times has he been accorded greater honor.

Liturgical veneration of St. Joseph began in the fifteenth century, fostered by Sts. Brigid of Sweden and Bernadine of Siena. St. Teresa, too, did much to further his cult.

At present there are two major feasts in his honor. On March 19 our veneration is directed to him personally and to his part in the work of redemption, while on May 1 we honor him as the patron of workmen throughout the world and as our guide in the difficult matter of establishing equitable norms regarding obligations and rights in the social order.

Further reflection on the readings of the day - Godzdogz, Deacon Greg. 

Lenten Reflections (No. 7) - Lord Jesus think on me