Prayer for a New Year God, thank you for a new year. May everyone in our family be willing to begin anew with a clean slate. We know that you are always ready to forgive us. Help us to be willing to forgive ourselves and to forgive one another. As we begin a new year, remind us of our truest values and our deepest desires. Help us to live in the goodness that comes from doing what you want us to do. Help us to put aside anxiety about the future and the past, so that we might live in […]

Dates of Sacramental Celebrations for 2016 are as follows First Reconciliation Tues 1 March  7.30pm    Mercy PS & Crinkill NS Wed 2 March  7.30pm  St Brendan’s PS, Killeen NS &  Parish Preparation Programme Thurs 3 March  7.30pm  Carrig NS First Holy Communion all at 11am Sat     23 April   Mercy PS & Crinkill NS Sat     7 May      St Brendan’s PS, Killeen NS &  Parish Preparation Programme Sun     29 May    Carrig NS Confirmation  2016 both at 11am Sat     14 May     Mercy PS, Crinkill NS & Carrig NS Sat     21 May     St Brendan’s PS, Killeen NS &  Parish Preparation […]

Today we remember our faithful departed. Mass in St Brendan’s Birr will be at 10am & 7.30pm and in the Church of the Annunciation Carrig will be at 9.30am. During the month of November there will be an extra weekday Mass at 7.30am in St Brendan’s Birr, this will commence on Tuesday 3 November. The Blessing of Graves will take place on Sunday 8 November after the 9.30am Mass in Carrig and at 2pm in Clonoghill.   Remember, remember, remember those who’ve died, with peace and rest may they be blessed May God be close beside. May God be close […]

This is the final section of reflection questions on the letter of Pope Francis on the Environment – Laudato Si’ Chapter 6. Final chapter. Ecology education and spirituality. Throughout this encyclical, Francis links concern for the poor with the environment. Why does he do that?  Francis is critical of a consumerist lifestyle (204). Why? What would a new lifestyle look like?  What could be the political and economic impact of a widespread change in lifestyles (2006)  What does Francis see as the role of environmental education in increasing awareness and changing habits(210-211)?  What does Francis mean by an ecological spirituality, […]

Chapter.4: Integral Ecology Why does Francis argue that “we are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental”? What would it mean to have “an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature?” (139) Why does Francis think it is important for us to understand ecosystems and our relationship to them (140)? Why do we “urgently need a humanism capable of bringing together the different fields of knowledge, including economics, in the service of a […]

Continuing our series of reflection questions on Laudato Si’ – Care for our Common Home, Pope Francis’ letter on our environment. For the full text of his letter see part three of the summaries on our home page. Chapter 2: The Gospel of creation According to Francis, the Bible teaches that the harmony between the creator, humanity, and creation was disrupted by our presuming to take the place of God and refusing to acknowledge our creature-ly limitations (66) What does it mean to presume to take the place of God? 2.  How Francis interpret Genesis 1:28, which grants humankind dominion […]

To help us in reflecting 0n Pope Francis Care for our Common Home, look again at his introduction where he says :” Sister Earth “ cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods which God has endowed her.” Questions: 1.Where have you seen harm inflicted on Sister Earth (Paragraph 2?) 2.St. Francis of Assisi has been called the patron saint of the environment. What is so attractive about him(10-12)? 3.Pope Francis concludes his introduction with an appeal (13-16) What is your response? Chapter 1. This chapter […]

Click here for the text of Laudato Si’ In summary Popes Francis sees that Revelation and Creation is respecting and sharing God’s gift. The theory that gives man total domination over creation Francis rejects. The whole of the Bible is filled with reflections on the relationship between God and nature, and the role of humans in the world. “there has  been a  distorted interpretation of Genesis !:28 during the 19th century to promote the industrial revolution and its desire to use the earth as malleable clay that man could pound and shape into whatever he wants. “Today we must forcefully […]

Here is a link to the English text of Laudato Si – the Pope’s letter on Care for Our Common Home   Chapter 3: The human roots of the ecological crisis. Although science and technology can produce important means of improving the quality of human life they also  given those with the knowledge, and especially the economic resources to use them, an impressive dominance over the whole of humanity and the entire world. Francis says we are enthralled with a technocratic paradigm, which promises unlimited growth. But this paradigm “is based on the lie that there is an infinite supply […]

If you pick up a copy of Pope Francis encyclical I invite you as a family or in small groups to  look at Chapter 1. where he presents the scientific consensus on climate change along with a description of other threats to the environment, including threats to water supplies and biodiversity. He also looks at how environmental degradation has affected human life and society.   In Chapter 2, he reflects on The Gospel of Creation..Faith confictions can motivate Christians to care for nature and for the most vulnerable  of their brothers and sisters. He begins  with the biblical account of […]