TIME WASTED OR WELL SPENT?
We often express how time flies! Have you ever reflected on
how you spend your time? Time at work, play or worship of God
are one thing but consider the following-.
Time
we spend Eating. If we spend 10 minutes at breakfast, 20 minutes at lunch
and 20 minutes at tea and for many 10 at supper all adds up to 60 minutes or
1 hour a day, 7 hours a week. This means we spend one twenty fourth part of
our time eating. That is every year we spend the equivalent of 15 days doing
nothing but eat. In a life of 70 years we will have spent 3 years eating.
Time
we spend sleeping. If we spend 8 hours asleep every night it means we spend
one third of our time sleeping. That is to say in a life of 70 years we
shall have spent 24 years asleep.
Time
we spend Learning. In a year of 365 days with no school on Saturdays or
Sundays means we deduct 104 days for a start. For holidays with 14 days at
Christmas, 14 at Easter and 60 in the Summer not to mention the odd days or
strike days we get here and there. That means another 88 come off leaving
173 days. But we do not go to school for the whole day but rather about 6
hours which is a quarter of a day. One quarter of 173 is about 43. So you
only go to school for the equivalent of 43 full days in the year.
Remember
one third of our time that is 122 days in each year is spent asleep which is
to say that when we are young we spend almost three times as long sleeping
as we do learning.
There
are three things we should always remember about time –
We only get so much time, and when that is finished
we cannot get any more.
None
of us knows how much we are going to get.
If
there is something to be learned, we must learn it now; for the longer we
put it off the harder it will be to learn it.
GETTING MARRIED
Couples
considering marriage are reminded that they must give at least three months
notice to the priest in the parish of both parties. It is also necessary to
give three months notice to the Civil Registrar. Couples who may have
weddings booked with any of the priests of the parish for during the coming
year are asked to confirm their arrangements as soon as possible if they
have not recently done so. Pre-Marriage Courses should be booked direct with
the Diocesan Marriage Agency ACCORD at 01-4784400.
APPRECIATION
Sincere thanks for the
many favourable comments and compliments regarding our Church and Ceremonies
over Christmas. Your encouragement is very much appreciated. Indeed
compliments were also received from many visitors. Some of our Altar Servers
busied themselves counting candles totalling over 50. One visitor commented
that her PP would never allow so many candles in their Church and when asked
was it because of the wax replied no, because of the cost!! Some parishes do
have ‘em!
PILGRIMAGES 2001
While
last year was a Year for Pilgrimages and it is only early January there have
been many enquiries regarding Pilgrimages this coming year. While no prices
or exact details are as yet available plans at present are as follows- In May
- The Shrines of France. August - Lourdes
as usual. October our First trip to Fatima. The
proposed pilgrimages to Shrines of France and Fatima will of course be
dependent on numbers and the availability of dates and may have to be
reversed if dates do not suit. As usual I expect Lourdes in August to fill
very fast. Further details on all three in February when bookings will be
taken. No bookings until then.
OH, IT’S GONE
This
is a comment I remember hearing from a small child who visited the Church
not long after the Crib was removed one year. Yours may also be gone but the
traditional date for removing the Crib is 2nd February the Feast of the
Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple also known as Candlemas. Sadly
many Churches now remove their Crib earlier each year. Our Church Crib will
remain in place until 2nd February.
GET WELL
Our
Prayers and Good Wishes are sent to all who are sick at home or in hospital
at this time. Remember if you have a family member who is housebound and who
would like to receive Holy Communion this can be arranged. Please let me
know. Also Mass can be celebrated in your home at any time.
PLANNED GIVING
Our
boxes for the New Year will soon be available to you.
LISTENING IN
One
of the themes we have tried to follow over the last few years in preparation
for the Jubilee and beyond was that of ‘Reaching Out’. Towards the end
of the Jubilee Year we reflected on the topic of ‘Inclusion’. One group
of people ‘excluded’ from our Sunday or Weekday Worship of God and to
whom we should ‘Reach Out’ are the ‘housebound’. Some long term and
others short term but never the less ‘excluded’. As we begin this New
Year we do so with the intention of ‘Inclusion’. With this in mind a
Radio Link System is to be installed at the Church. This is in use in many
other parishes and found to be most valuable to the sick and housebound. By
the simple flick of a switch before Weekday, Sunday Mass, Benediction or
indeed any Church Service those at home can ‘Listen In’. This system
while it may appear expensive at the start will prove invaluable before
long. Those wishing to ‘listen in’ will require a Radio Receiver just
like a transistor specially tuned for our frequency. They can then switch on
as they please when Masses or other Church Services are being transmitted.
Receivers cost about £30 each. These receivers have a reception covering a
few miles from the Church. In many parishes it is not only the housebound
who purchase them but many families who may on occasions like to ‘listen
in’ if not able to physically ‘join in’. It will be necessary in
advance to have some idea of how many wish to have a receiver so as to check
out the areas involved regarding reception. More information shortly as the
work of installation begins.
THE POWER OF TOUCH
New
York University studies show that when nurses lay hands on patients with the
intention of healing them, the patients’ recovery accelerates. This leads
some doctors to believe that there is a natural power of life in loving
people which is communicated in a special way through the power of touch and
that the patient absorbs much of this life or energy in such a way that the
sick body can build up its own life building forces.
Lord,
help me to realise that one warm embrace or one loving touch of the hand may
be able to release more healing than a bucketful of pills or medicine.
PRAYER TO START THE DAY
Lord, that I may see you today-
In every circumstance in which I am placed.
In everyone with whom I come in contact
Or with whom I have to deal,
In every disappointment,
In every contradiction;
That I may see you, acknowledge you
and honour you. Amen.
PRAYERS
Our
Prayers and Sympathy are extended to the family of the late Maureen Quinn,
Ticknock Close who died recently. May she rest in peace.
CHURCH
CLEANERS
Church
Cleaners this week are Group A.
IN
REMEMBRANCE
Our
Masses next weekend 20th/21st January will be offered in remembrance of-
Saturday
7p.m. Michael Allen Anniv.
Sunday
9a.m. Private Intention.
Sunday
11.30a.m. Mary Ryan Anniv.
ANTHONY
KEARNS
In
Concert at the Arklow Bay Hotel
On
Sunday 28th January at 8p.m.
In
aid of Arklow Maritime Museum
Tickets
£13 available at the Hotel, from Committee Members or 32249/31513
MUSIC
CLASSES
The
Irish Music Classes on Saturdays at 11a.m. in the school hall. New members
always welcome. Contact 0402-39242.
IRISH
WHEELCHAIR ASSOCIATION
The
Annual Church Gate Collection will take place in East Wicklow on next
weekend 20th/21st January. Your support will be appreciated.
ear that continued to see loss of life on our roads, at sea, in the air and
from floods and natural disasters. Pope John Paul visited the Holy Land and
we visited him in Rome. House prices continued to rise and the value of the
Punt continued to fall. There were more 00 registered cars in Dublin than
the number plates could hold. Industrial disputes continued with the Taxi
men almost closing Dublin Airport, the Railway men closed IFI and the
Teachers closed the schools. The Health Services worsened with waiting lists
getting longer and the hospitals left without nurses. The Woodworm continued
to come out with the Tribunals and plenty more to come. They say the higher
you climb, the harder you fall.
During
the year we all got a year older, Coronation Street celebrated its 40th and
young and old became obsessed with ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’.
France won the Euro 2000 and Kerry won the All Ireland. There was snow in
Skerries in August and the floods destroyed many homes in our own community.
The year ended with Snow last week which claimed the life of an old lady in
Donegal, a teenager in Swords and two young cousins were drowned in a lake
in Monaghan. A sad ending to a Millennium Year. A further trip down memory
lane of Y2K reminds us of the following:
JANUARY
32
people were killed in Norway Train crash. 7 Scottish fishermen drowned in
the Irish Sea and 88 killed in Alaskan airline crash. Our Pantomime ‘Jack
and the Beanstalk’ packed the house.
FEBRUARY
An
Afghan aeroplane was hijacked at Stansted. The Northern Ireland Assembly
failed and direct rule was imposed after only 72 days. Four Irish Soldiers
were killed in a road accident in the Lebanon on Valentine’s Day. Three
women were killed in an accident in Co. Laois and four people in Waterford.
MARCH
Floods
in Africa and Mozambique killed 500 and left 650,000 homeless. 80 Miners
were killed in a mine collapse in Ukraine. Three young Irish women were
killed in an accident in Bolivia, South America. 500 members of a doomsday
cult committed mass suicide in Uganda. Pope John Paul made historic visit to
the Holy Land. There was a three day bus and rail strike.
APRIL
Easter came late with a live lamb and Easter Eggs for all.
MAY
Two
of the Children of Fatima were beatified. More than 20 killed in a
Netherlands Fireworks Factory fire and five in a similar fire in Spain. Tow
young Gardai killed in a car crash in Finglas. The ‘darling buds of May’
received their First Holy Communion and the older buds their Confirmation.
JUNE
Children
held hostage in Luxembourg Kindergarten. Exam time for many. Irish Tenor
Frank Patterson died. Rioting at Euro 2000 football game in Belgium. 58
Chinese people found dead in container at Dover. 220 die in Plane and Ferry
disasters in Chine. 15 backpackers including one Irish died in hostel fire
in Australia. 8 people killed in crush at Rock Concert in Denmark.
JULY
France
won the Euro 2000. 20 Spanish Students killed in Bus Crash. Four women found
dead in house in Leixlip. IFI closed because of Rail strike. 59 die in
Indian Air Crash. Youth Fun enjoyed sunshine all the way. 113 died in
Concorde Crash in Paris en route to New York. Three Irish women died in car
crash in Australia.
AUGUST
97
killed in India flash floods. 11 killed in Moscow bomb. Bombs in Spain.
Millions homeless in India floods. Forest fires in US from Canada to Mexico.
118 Russian Sailors killed in submarine. WE travelled on our Pilgrimage to
Lourdes. 143 killed in Gulfair Crash in Bahrain. Murders in the North. 10
week train drivers dispute ended. Snow in Skerries despite the good weather.
Four members of English family died in car crash in Cork.
SEPTEMBER
Three
members of one family died in fire in Roscommon. Truckers blockaded because
of fuel prices. Over 70 died in ferry disaster off Greece. Family of four
killed in tragic circumstances in Kilkenny.
OCTOBER
Eight
fishermen died off Kerry coast on French trawler and 12 on Spanish trawler
off Connemara. Israelis and Palestinians clash over coming months with over
250 killed. People of Yugoslavia took to the streets to overcome Melosovich
in Belgrade. Kerry won the All Ireland replay against Galway. Train Crash in
London killed 4 and injured 25. 81 killed in Taiwan air crash with Irish
woman among the survivors.
NOVEMBER
Floods
in England which soon hit here. We travelled on our Jubilee Year Pilgrimage
to Rome and Assisi. Four fishermen lost off the Cork coast. Teachers, Taxi
men and Railway men on strike.
DECEMBER
Bill
Clinton visited while the Americans tried to sort out the next President.
The Winds came again on Christmas Eve. Santa came and went. Over 300 died in
fire in China and the snow and ice brought tragedy.
The year is past; what did we give?
What did you gain, and what regret?
Was it a year you’d like to live
Right through again, or just forget?
Were there mistakes? Did you cause pain?
Withhold your love from someone dear?
Did all your efforts seem in vain
And every hope turn into fear?
Remember you can start anew,
Resolve to live a better way,
Forget past errors, sadness, too.
Tomorrow is another day!
A THOUGHT FOR THE NEW YEAR
I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown”
And
he replied,
“Go
out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be
to you better than light and safer than a known way”.
THE BLESSING OF AARON
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May he look upon you with kindness and give you his peace.
(Numbers 6:24-26)
HAPPY
BIRTHDAY
To Darragh De Courcy who was 11 years old on 1st January
Love from Dad, Mam, Claire, Eimear & Sooty.
DID
YOU NOTICE?
That
the first day of the New Year was dated in abbreviated form as 01/01/01. How
long will it be until we have a repeat?
SYMPATHY
Our
Prayers and Sympathy are extended to the family of the late Doney Dempsey,
St. Patrick’s Terrace who died before Christmas
and
to the family of the late John Kavanagh,
Johnstown North who died during the week.
May
they Rest in Peace.
IN
REMEMBRANCE
Our
Masses next weekend 13th/14th January will be offered in
remembrance of:
Saturday
7p.m. - Breda Clancy Anniv.
Sunday
9a.m. - Edward and Dora Kelly Anniv.
Sunday
11.30a.m. - Mary Waldron Anniv.
CHURCH
CLEANERS
Church
Cleaners this week are Group G.
ANTHONY
KEARNS
In
Concert at the Arklow Bay Hotel
On
Sunday 28th January at 8p.m.
In
aid of Arklow Maritime Museum
Tickets
£13 available at the Hotel, from Committee Members or 32249/31513
MUSIC
CLASSES
The
Irish Music Classes will resume after the Christmas break on Saturday
13th January at 11a.m. in the school hall. New members always
welcome.
Contact
0402-39242.
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