Parish of St. Ultan BOHERMEEN CORTOWN

FIFTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 12TH JULY 2020

E-mail:[email protected] www.bohermeenparish.ie Office Tel: 046 907 3805 Fr. Andy Doyle. P.P. Mon-Fri 9.30-1.00

‘Jesus is our best friend, and we share God’s mystery and love with each other.’ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hello everyone, A Big Welcome to all of our online parishioners. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RETURN TO THE PUBLIC CELEBRATION OF MASS AND THE SACRAMENTS

Dear Parishioners,

We are delighted with the phased re-opening of our churches for public worship and we look forward to seeing our parishioners share in the public liturgies of our church.

Our parish quickly adapted to the impact of Covid-19 and our ‘virtual’ congregations showed true unity in prayer and communion with one another. The resumption of public worship is contingent on complying with the provisions of the Irish Bishops ‘Framework Document for a Return to the Public Celebration of Mass and the Sacraments’. We have a long way to go before we return to normal and our capacity will be limited. There will no doubt be challenges and frustrations – please be patient. In the interest of public health, it is important we do not create situations that force us to take steps back.

This is a critical time for our parish to reignite the faith of our community and celebrate the Mass as the summit of our faith and Christian worship. The way we respond to these guidelines will define our community in terms of our care for one another, our solidarity and ultimately our desire for everyone to draw close to the Lord in prayer and worship.

It is important that those who are vulnerable or unwell and especially those with any symptoms that might suggest COVID-19 infection, worship at home. We will continue to minister to you in the interim through our parish webcam.

We ask for your patience and understanding as we adjust to this new situation.

• Follow directions of the stewards. Social distancing is in place and seats have been cordoned off. This means the capacity in each church will be significantly reduced. Seats will be filled from the front of the Church to the back.

• All churches will have hand sanitising stations on entering and exiting the churches. All Churches will be cleaned before and after Masses.

• The dispensation from Sunday obligation is extended for the time being, therefore, parishioners are invited to come to Mass on any week morning as this will satisfy the Sunday obligation and will alleviate the high numbers at the weekend Masses. The vulnerable and unwell should continue to stay at home and participate via the webcam, radio, television or social media. There will be an evening Mass at 7.30pm in Boyerstown on Thursday and Cortown on Friday and this will also satisfy the Sunday obligation.

• All churches will have hand sanitising stations on entering and exiting the churches.

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• While not obligatory, the wearing of face coverings is encouraged.

• Holy Communion will be organised with the maximum of personal protection. Priests and Eucharistic Ministers will wear face coverings and will sanitise their hands before and after distribution of Communion. Stewards will guide the people to the Priest/Eucharistic Ministers for the reception of Holy Communion and then back to their seats and Communion will be place in the hand only.

• Collections will not be taken up at the Offertory. Instead parishioners may place their envelopes in the box marked ‘Envelopes’ and your offertory contribution in the box marked ‘Offertory’.

• Please arrive early to Church, at least 10-15 minutes.

(The above schedule will be reviewed as Government regulations ease). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today’s Gospel

In the parable of the Sower going out to sow in today’s Gospel, Jesus is reminding us that for the seed to grow and yield a rich harvest, the soil has to be receptive.

How receptive is the soil of my heart?

‘Some seed fell on the edge of the path’. Am I a reflective person or am I too busy, distracted by many things so I don’t really listen to God’s word? Do I really listen to others or have I one eye on the phone?

‘Some seed fell on rock’. Is my faith shallow? Do I follow the whims of culture and fashion? Do I give up when trials come or when I hear about the failures of Church personnel?

‘Some seed fell among thorns’. Do the thorns of attachment to money, pleasure or power choke God’s word? Do I hold on to unforgiveness, grudges or resentment?

‘Some seed fell on good soil and yields a rich harvest’. Am I a person of faith and prayers? Am I open to growing into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Am I generous to the poor?

Mass Intentions for the week 11th July to 19th July

Daily Mass will take place at 10.00am in Bohermeen Thursday 16th July at 7.30pm in Boyerstown Friday 17th July at 7.30pm in Cortown ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saturday 11th July at 6.00pm – Boyerstown – Mary Duffy-3rd Anniversary At 7.15pm – Bohermeen – Marcella, Colm & James Boylan- Ann. Mass Margo, Patrick, Kathleen, Oliver & Gary Travers – Ann. Mass

Sunday 12th July at 10.00am – Cortown – for the people of the parish 11.30am – Bohermeen – Jim Kavanagh-3rd Ann., Colm Kavanagh-20th Ann, & deceased members of the Kavanagh and Bell families ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saturday 18th July at 6.00pm – Cortown – 7.15pm – Bohermeen – ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sunday 19th July at 10.00am – Boyerstown – Henry & Mary Collins-Ann Mass ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 11.30am – Bohermeen – Molly & Owen Newman-Ann. Mass 2

Ministers of the Word-Bohermeen: Saturday 11th July: Dympna Herward. Sunday 12th July: Geraldine McHugh. Saturday 18th July: Kevin McCormack. Sunday 19th July: Lauren Finnegan Eucharistic Ministers: Jennifer Reilly, Kathleen Keating, Margaret Farrell, Julie Yore

Prayer Our faith is nourished and grows through the experience of our lives. It can also weaken and disappear. We need the support of our Church and fellow – Christians to strengthen and direct our growth when we lose our way.

This short prayer was written by a Protestant theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr, and makes a lot of sense.

God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, and The wisdom to know the difference

Difficulties, Challenges, Problems, Prayers not answered?

Let me introduce you to this fellow. He has been adopted by the Chicago Police Department, by a football team in Rio de Janeiro Brazil, by a GAA club in and another in England. A number of hospitals have been named after him. He has helped those who are in grave trouble, who have so called incurable diseases and who are down on their luck. In his day, he travelled through Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran and southern Russia. Wherever he went, he talked to people about the love and teachings of Jesus. Because his name was similar to Judas (the betrayer of Jesus) people did not like to associate with him, and he was ignored. For this reason, he supposedly became quite eager to assist anyone who sought his help, to the point of interceding in the most dire of circumstances. 3

His name is Saint Jude. He was one of Jesus’ twelve apostles. He is the patron saint of “Lost Causes”. Like Peter and Paul, Jude was also executed- by axe, by the Roman government of the day in Beirut. Interestingly St Jude is attributed by tradition to being a vegetarian.

If you have a lost cause, have a conversation with St. Jude.

Remember successful prayer always includes ……. total belief, consistency and confidence. Prayer is like having a conversation with your best friend – easy, natural, and at any time. Lift the phone and have a conversation to St Jude in your mind. He’s all ears and would love to hear from you.

Laughter the best medicine

Are you keeping an eye on your line?

In the 1960’s Esso petrol used to have a marketing slogan “Put a tiger in your tank”. It inspired a song called “Catch a tiger by the tail”. This video (link below) takes, catching a tiger by the tail to a whole new level. It’s called “living dangerously”. It’s true. It’s fact. It’s real. It’s fun.

Hold on to your seats and enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRyGzlf6SpQ

Please share this with your family and friends. See more in the young people’s section below.

Tip of the week

Research from John Hopkins Research University, USA shows the possibility of transmission of the Covid-19 virus for two people in close proximity as per the table below. The clear advice is to wear a face mask to protect family and friends. This is especially important if you are close to a vulnerable person or if you frequent closed places where people are present i.e. public transport, poorly ventilated shops etc.

Person with virus Possibility of transmission Healthy person When people are in close proximity No mask 70% Wearing a mask Wearing a mask 5% No mask Wearing a mask 1.5% Wearing a mask

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Young people (and for the young in heart and mind!)

You have to watch this! Yes, feel sorry for some of these poor victims. Nevertheless, this is the best laugh I’ve had this week. You must watch this video. It’s true. It’s fact. It happened. Not once but many times. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZMtWIkJLyQ

Show it to your friends.

Alpha Our next Alpha starts in the Autumn. You can register your interest now. Simply email [email protected] with the word “Alpha” and your phone number. We will contact you before the launch. Finances-Thank You We wish to acknowledge and thank all those who have sent in their Offerings and weekly envelopes and all those who pay by standing order. This really helps our finances.

Offerings can be made by • leaving your weekly envelope into the Parish Centre or post box • continue using your weekly envelopes, keep them safe and then drop them off at the centre when we can return to daily/weekly Masses • or better still if you can go online and do a weekly / monthly direct debit to Bank of , , IBAN IE04 9035 0980 5974 24 • or finally going on the parish website www.bohermeenparish.ie and contributing through the “DONATE” button

Thank you for your help. It is greatly appreciated. Building Fund €1362.00 Priests Offerings €355.00. Offertory Collections: Bohermeen: €212.47 Cortown: € 47.50 Boyerstown: € 111.90

To all our contributors and readers

We say a Big Thank You for all the pictures, ideas and content ….. whether gifted, borrowed or begged, hopefully not stolen! To all our readers, we say we’d love your feedback, and welcome your content. Simply email [email protected]

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Can you help to circulate this bulletin by passing it on to some of your family members and friends. Getting it to each person in the parish is our aim. Better still ask your friends to simply email the parish office [email protected] with the word “Bulletin”.

It will be emailed each Friday. Currently over 600 families receive this bulletin each week. It is also available in the 3 churches and in McHughs, Greetiagh and Gala Stores, Allenstown.

Final thought As this is the 12th of July, we say a Big Hello to our Protestant neighbours in Northern Ireland. We are all Christians. As a friend of mine says “One God, different faces”

To all our readers.

Make your weekend great. Make it happy.

Take care and God bless.

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