CLONMACNOIS PARISH BULLETIN JAN 28th 2018

.ACTIVE RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION A.G.M. on Tuesday 30th Jan 2018 at 10:45a.m.  (after 10 Mass) in Shannonbridge Hall.

FIRST SATURDAY Healing Day – Emmanuel House of Providence on the 3rd of February

WORLD MEETING OF FAMILIES  2018 from 21st—26th August 2018. included is the Festival of Families on Saturday 25th August 2018 and the final Mass on Sunday 26th August 2018. Registration is required for the weekday events. The organisers seek volunteers, There is a wonderful website where you will find the latest information on all the events taking place information on all the events taking place in preparation for and during the world meeting of families. The website is: http://www.worldmeeting2018.ie

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SEWING CLASSES / WORKSHOPS AT BELMONT MILLS - Learn how to use your sewing machine and basic stitching. Workshops on Saturday 27th January, 11am-1pm and Tuesday 30th January, 6pm-8pm. Beginners and advanced sewing classes starting in February. Early booking is advised. Limited places. Contact Sandra on 086 3769459.

 ST. CIARAN’S, SHANNONBRIDGE

Sat 27th  8p.m.  Kathleen Lantry (Anniv)

Mon 29th   7:00p.m. Mass (Fr. Cox morn. Appt)

Tues 30th 10:00a.m. Mass

Wed 31st 10:00a.m. Mass

Thurs 1st Feb 10:00a.m. Mass

Fri 2nd. Feb 10:00a.m. Mass 1st Friday (adoration to 11am. )

Saturday 3rd Feb 10:00a.m. Mass [Traditional Blessing of Throats: St. Blaise]

Saturday 3rd February 8p.m. Edel Anderson (1st A.)

ST. CIARAN’S, CLONFANLOUGH

Sun 28th 10:30a.m. Mary, Jack & Pat Maloney

Fri 2nd February 7:00p.m. First Fri Mass [eve of St. Blaise & blessing of Throats]

Sun 4th February 10:30a.m. Patrick (Paddy ) Dolan 1st Anniv

CLUAIN CHIARAIN mass Wed, Jan 31st  @7:30pa.m.

MINISTRIES

Shannonbridge: Sat 3rd Feb 2018@8p.m.

Altar Servers: Group 4 Darragh, Lauren & Isobel

Reader:  Anderson  Family (Edel’s 1st Anniv.)

Euch. Minister: Martha Murphy

Church Cleaners Shannonbridge (weeklyDympna Fitzpatrick, Dympna O’Carroll, Geraldine Darcy

Clonfanlough:Sun 4th Feb ‘18 @  10:30

Altar Servers:Group 2 Tadgh T, Charlie G.

Reader: Mary Kelly

Min. of Eucharist: Ann Guinan

Monthly Cleaning Rota  (Feb) Bridie Coughlan..

Note if anyone would like to help in Church care, contact me 086 8319500

SIGN OF PEACE is suspended for the present because of the flu and on the advice of +Francis.

ST. PAUL’S SUNDAY MISSAL : Free to our parish readers. This Missal contains all the Readings and Prayers of the Mass for 2018. There are some extra copies available at €5 each. If you would like a copy, please contact me

GOD’S WORD 2018 I also have copies of the Daily readings with a short reflection for €6

SAINTS  OF THE WEEK Mon 29th St. Gildas the Wise Tues 30th St. Hyacinthe Mariscotti Wed 31st St. John Bosco   Thurs 1st Feb St. Brigid, Secondary Patron of Ireland  Fri 2nd   February Presentation of the Lord Sat 3rd Feb St. Blaise

PILATES CLASS   Mondays 11a.m. €8 per class  Shannonbridge Hall

EXERCISE CLASS  Tuesdays @ 8p.m.  Shannonbridge Hall

EXERCISE CLASS  Tuesdays @ 8p.m.  Shannonbridge Hall

CONGRATULATIONS   to the East Galway & Midlands Cancer Support new Bus Service which will serve our local communities in transporting 8 patients per day to the University Hospital Galway for their treatment .  This was only possible through fundraising & donations. The hope is to have 3 vehicles along with this initial vehicle.

A Word in Your Ear.....

It’s the late 4th century. You’re aBritish monk named Pelagius. You travel to

Rome and you’re appalled by how much the

Romans eat and drink, by their low moral

standards. You attribute the general air of

laxity to St Augustine, who believed man can

attain perfection only through divine grace,

not human effort. This just sounds to you like

an excuse not to try. You believe free will

means that we are free to make good choices,

and that we should be severely punished if we

don’t. So you track down Augustine in North Africa, where he tells you to ‘lighten up’, to chill out! A guy can strive for perfection but that will only get you so far. Perfection is a killer in fact! Did you notice the significant increase in those taking exercise on our roads since New Year’s Day, cycling, running and power-walking! All in search of the perfect body, all Pelagians.

       My friend has a Smart Watch that displays his pulse rate, how many steps he’s taken that day, and hours he’s slept. It’s all about maximising his fitness. As he shows it to me he starts saying

how, during a very stressful meeting, his heart rate tripled. Even as he is recalling this story his pulse rate starts rising. I wonder if the app is a help or a hindrance to his achieving physical perfection.

At the start of the year, many of us experience an inner battle, between the self that has over-indulged and feels dissatisfied, and the self that wants to be, as Radiohead’s song puts it, ‘Fitter, happier, more productive, not drinking too much, taking

regular exercise.’ And by now many of us have embarked on self-help strategies to achieve that

lower pulse, deeper sleep and greater fitness. Or, what Americans call ‘self-optimising’.

Authors - Andre Spicer and Carl Cederstrom - have explored this desire to be ‘the best me I can be,’ as well as the pressures that self-improvement puts on people; and they suggest that the punishing ideals of this culture are unhelpful - even detrimental to our well-being. Their own experiment of trying to improve a particular area of their life each month ends with them discovering what we all know: that

saying is easier than doing. But this desire to be a better version of ourselves is more

than faddish; it’s fundamental and it raises important questions: ‘What is the best I can be?’ ‘Can I do it on my own?’ My annual attempt at self-optimising usually involves negotiations around bread, beer, watching sport, taking exercise and a resolve to feed the soul. The latter is always the one I find hardest. And the reasons are not hard to find. A pithy proverb in the Old Testament sums up the problem somewhat elegantly: ‘Habit is the ballast that chains the dog to its vomit!’

Curiously, it’s this failure that can lead back to the source of the perfection being sought. The Benjamin Franklin quote that ‘God helps those who help themselves’, often mistakenly attributed

to the Bible, is really the opposite of what scripture is saying. Scripture has much to say on self-help and its pitfalls. Real success is found in forgetting the self rather than in relying on the self. Trying to be the best version of ourselves is a worthy aim, but it involves more than achieving a low pulse rate and higher productivity. It requires a trust that people find their best selves when they give up the self-help and look, instead, to the source of the perfection they desire.-Dick Lyng.

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