| Fr. Kevin Sullivan (087) 6277638 Email: castlemaine@dioceseofkerry.ie Castlemaine Presbytery: 066 9767322 Parish Office hours: Tues & Thurs 9:30am – 12:30pm Safeguarding ChildrenContact: (087) 6362780 |
Weekend Mass Intentions
Sunday, June 28th Keel 10:00 a.m. Denis Foley, Fybough
Brendan & Paddy O’Connor, Lisnanoul
Mary Crean, Aughills & UK
Saturday, July 4th Keel 7:30 p.m. George Flaherty & family,
Killeen, Keel
Sunday, July 5th Kiltallagh 10.00 a.m. No Intention
Please note: First Friday July 3rd Mass in Keel at 6:00p.m.
Weekday Masses
Tuesday Keel 10:00 a.m.
Wednesday Keel 10:00 a.m.
Weekday Masses begin on Tuesday 7th July. The change in the weekday Mass schedule is temporary. When the Bishop appoints another priest to take over in Killorglin, we will revert back to the normal schedule.
Parishioners are asked to attend Mass on a weekday, if it is possible for them, in order to reduce the number who will wish to attend on the weekend.
Helpful Contact Numbers
COVID-19 Community Response: Freephone 1800 807 009 Text 50555
Alone: Monday- Friday 8am-8pm 0818 222 024
AWARE Depression Support 1890 303 302 www.aware.ie
Pieta House 01 6010000 www.pieta.ie
Samaritans 066 7122566 Lo Call 24hr: 1850 609 090
Senior Help Line: Call 1850 440 444 10:00am-1:00 p.m.
7: 00 p.m. -10:00 p.m.
Getting Ready to Return
Things are moving quickly in the country as we take measures to live with the presence of Covid-19. And the same goes for our churches. Our primary concern is to ensure the safety and well-being of all who come to church. With that in mind, the churches will be thoroughly cleaned and sanitised. This will take place on Wednesday/Thursday this week so the churches might be closed while this is taking place
At present, no more than 100 people are allowed to attend Mass indoors in the country. However, both parish churches will not be able to accommodate this number with the two metre social distancing rule in place. In order to facilitate a greater number of people at a weekend Mass, we will begin to celebrate Mass outdoors. Obviously this is weather dependent but it gives up to 200 people the opportunity to attend.
Weekend Mass Schedule for the coming weeks:
Keel Sat. July 4th 7:30 p.m. Church grounds/Church
Sat. July 11th 7:30 p.m. Church grounds/Church
Sat. July 18th 7:30 p.m. Graveyard Mass
Sat. July 25th 7:30 p.m. Church (and every Saturday)
Kiltallagh Sun. July 5th 10:00 a.m. Church grounds/Church
Sun. July 12th 10:00 a.m. Graveyard Mass
Sun. July 19th 10:00 a.m. Church (and every Sunday)
The altar for the outdoor Mass will be positioned near the main door. For the safety of all on the grounds, and the space needed for those who are attending, you are asked not to park in the church grounds unless it is absolutely necessary.
For those attending the outdoor Masses who would like to sit down, you are asked to bring your own seats.
If the weather does not cooperate, then the Mass will be celebrated in the church with limited access.
Face coverings should be worn inside the church but are completely optional when Mass is celebrated outdoors.
When we return full time to the churches, numbers will be reduced. Closer to the dates, we will outline the system we propose to put in place.
| Castlemaine Parish 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time 27th/28th June 2020 |
Hope in Christ as we return to Mass
It is a source of great joy that from Monday 29th June we can have congregations again in our churches. Praying together as a community, gathering for Sunday Mass is basic to our lives as Christians. Rejoice the day will soon come when we can gather around the altar in our communities:
- to hear God speak to us in the Gospel
- to offer our lives in union with Christ’s offering of his
- to receive Holy Communion, food for life’s journey
- to pray together in worship and thanksgiving
- to pray with the bereaved for the deceased
We all need to be calm, careful and patient as we begin to gather again around the altar. Limited congregations due to the demand of social distancing could mean that not all will be able to enter the church for a particular Mass.
Because the Sunday Mass obligation will continue to be dispensed for some time yet, why not join in a weekday Mass rather than Sunday?
For safety from the virus, most important for all is that each of us takes personal responsibility for:
- hand-washing on leaving home and returning
- hand- sanitizing on entry to church and exit
- in church social distancing at all time
- when to wear a face cover
The coronavirus has given is a new appreciation of our interdependence, as family, neighbours, community and an entire country. It has been brought home to us that our communities have an abundance of selfless, generous, joy-filled capable people. It gives fresh meaning to our realising that we are one family under God Our Father. With Covid-19 we are all on a difficult journey. We do not journey alone, God journeys with us. If the journey has been difficult, it also has been at time uplifting as we have witnessed so much goodness all around us.
Bishop Ray Browne
The Worthy Disciple
Jesus speaks of the worthy disciple in the Gospel. There is a difference between a worthy disciple and someone who merely bears the name Christian. So what criterion does Jesus give to be a worthy disciple?
He does not say that the worthy disciple was:
- the one who was merely baptised
- the one who merely keeps the commandments, who does not speak evil of anyone, does not harm anyone
The criterion he gives is not an easy one for us: ‘The one who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and the one who loves daughter or son more than me is not worthy of me. The one who does not take up his cross to follow me is not worthy of me.’
In other words, to be a worthy disciple of Jesus means two things: first, to love Him above all other loves, or, as he said on another occasion, with all our mind, heart, soul and strength; and second, to love him so much that we will be willing to suffer for Him, taking up our cross to follow Him.
These are demanding standards, and they call us to examine our lives to see whether we are really worthy disciples of Christ.
Therefore, to love God above everyone and everything, we have to give ourselves to God more than to anyone else. We have to make sure that God is not just’ important’ in our lives but the ‘most important’ and, in fact, ‘all-important.’
This type of love that God demands of us is not easy. Jesus never pretended that it would be so. Loving God means sacrifice, just like his love of us demanded a sacrifice, the gift of himself. But God can strengthen us and will strengthen us.
Dear God, it is time for self refection.
Let me examine my deeds clearly,
Look closely at myself,
And improve my ways.
I turn to you in repentence.
May I be a better human being
In the future
Than I am right now.
Amen.