Clonmacnois Parish Newsletter
Sunday 20th Dec 2009 – 4th Adv C
Tel (090) 9674125 Fax (090) 9674267
Mass times: Shannonbridge: Weekend, 8pm (Sat), & 12 noon, Sun;
Weekdays, 10am. Clonfanlough – Sunday, 10.30am


Shannonbridge
Masses: Mon to Thurs @ 10am; Christmas Eve @ 9pm
On Christmas Day & St Stephen’s Day @ 12 noon.
Last Sunday's Offertory collection: €520. Many Thanks
Church Cleaners: M.Murphy, M.McManus
Eucharistic ministers: Group 2
Readers for next Weekend: Group as arranged
Altar Servers for this week: Michaela, Oisín, Andrea
Mass on next Sat eve for the late Pat Joe Kenny

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Clonfanlough
Christmas Masses: Thurs eve @ 7pm, Friday @ 10.30am
Last Sunday's Offertory collection: €284. Many Thanks
Church Cleaners: N.Egan, A.Rohan
Readers for next Sunday: as arranged
Altar Servers for next Sunday: Groups as arranged
Eucharistic minister for next Sunday: D.McEvoy
Mass on Christmas Day for the late Michael Kelly (Lakefield)
Sacrament of Reconciliation on Mon 21st Dec, in Clonfanlough @ 7pm, & Shannonbridge @ 8pm, preceded by a Carol Service.

In Clonfanlough Church on Mon 21st Dec some children from the Primary School are participating in a Carol Service @ 7.pm.
The children have been practising very hard for some weeks, so they would appreciate your support – and this is a good way to begin the Christmas season. This Service is not just for the children, so all are invited.
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Shannonbridge Community Library
This will be closed on Christmas Eve & New year’s Eve. It will reopen on Thurs 7th Jan. ‘A happy & peaceful Christmas to all our customers.’
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Questions people askQ. Why was 25 December chosen for the birthday of Jesus?A. The conception of Jesus at the Annunciation to Mary, nine months earlier, was an older celebration than his birthday. 25 March was a very important date, regarded as the first day of creation and the day of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Thus the conception of Jesus was linked with creation and the cross. Another reason for choosing 25 December was that this date was decreed by the Emperor Aurelian as a feast for the return of the Unconquered Sun after the mid-winter solstice. Christians put their own spin on the feast by celebrating the coming of Christ, the light of the world. (Fr O’Flynn – Intercom)
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Meaning of Christmas (Fr Andrew Greeley)
"It might be easy to run away to a monastery, away from the commercialization, the hectic hustle, the demanding family responsibilities of Christmas-time. Then we would have a holy Christmas. But we would forget the lesson of the Incarnation, of the enfleshing of God—the lesson that we who are followers of Jesus do not run from the secular; rather we try to transform it. It is our mission to make holy the secular aspects of Christmas just as the early Christians baptized the Christmas tree. And we do this by being holy people—kind, patient, generous, loving, laughing people—no matter how maddening is the Christmas rush…"