Thanks to our Editor Lilian Webb here is latest copy of parish magazine:
Issue
64 CSNL NEWS March/April, 2021
Parish Of Celbridge
& Straffan with Newcastle-Lyons
Church of Ireland
United Dioceses of Dublin & Glendalough
By the parishioners
- for the parishioners
From
Our Rector - Dear Friends ..
We are approaching another Easter in lockdown but this
time the Hope of a new beginning is much closer - there is no denying we have
lost much over this past year but perhaps we have also gained something? A new perspective on life and what is truly
important. As a Church we look forward
to the Resurrection which is not just about coming back to life and resuming
where we left off but rather being transformed and renewed and changed,
hopefully for the better. As things
slowly resume let us not simply seek to ‘get back to normal’ because we can do
better than that - we can be more ambitious than that! Let us try to be a church that brings out of
this time of suffering and challenge the awareness that we gained during the
various lockdowns of our need for each other of our dependence on each
other. And if we do we will make this
world a better place for more and more of those people who have lived for so
long on the precarious margins of
society. Suffering is never desired nor
welcome but we can use our experiences to give meaning and purpose to what we
have endured together and transform our new normal. May I wish you a very happy and hope-filled
Easter.
Yours Stephen
HeavEn
PeAce
Soul
SpiriT
BlEssings
Renewal
Services
- (all services until further notice on line only)
Sunday Newcastle 9 a.m. Straffan 10.15 a.m. Celbridge 11.30 a.m.
1st Holy
Communion Service of Word Holy Communion
2nd Service
of Word Holy Communion Service of Word
3rd Holy
Communion Morning Prayer Holy Communion
4th Morning
Prayer
Holy Communion Morning Prayer
On line services:
In accordance with government guidelines and until our Rector and
Select Vestries are happy that in person worship can resume all services remain
on line and can be accessed via links on the parish website or Facebook
page.
St. Patrick’s Day: Service will be released on line on the day
and will be a service of Holy Communion.
Mothering Sunday - 14th March: Again service will be on line and will be a
Holy Communion from Christ Church, Celbridge.
Holy Week: There will be
on line services from Tuesday of Holy Week through to Easter day. Easter: The service will be a service of Holy
Communion and will come from one of the three churches.
Zoom
Coffee Events - Sunday Mornings & Wednesday Evenings
Thanks to our Rector for hosting these over the
last few months. They are very informal
and an opportunity to see each other and talk face to face in these challenging
times. All are welcome. Contact Rev. Stephen for details if
you are not already getting the links.
Ash Wednesday &
Zoom Lenten Reflections
Ash Wednesday service was on line.
Reflections started on Thursday, 25th February at 8 p.m.,
when the evening starts and ends in prayer and discusses the Lenten Midweek
service. All are welcome. Sign up details on the parish WhatsApp or
contact our Rector.
Thanks
Thanks to all who participate in the services - reading, leading prayers
and especially to our Rector for the services for the past year, which
are greatly appreciated. Each service
takes a large amount of time to put together with readers and prayers and
lovely images and graphics as well as the service and sermon.
Bereavements
The parish was very saddened to hear of the death of Betty
Beattie of Newcastle and organist of the church for 58 years. Betty was the life and soul of the
parish and gave generously of her time and talents to support the work and
witness of our church. Her funeral in
St. Finian’s
Church was subject to Covid guidelines but those who stood in the graveyard and
those who watched on line were able to participate with the family in giving
thanks for her life and commending her to God’s eternal care. Betty was buried in Esker Graveyard,
Lucan alongside her beloved husband Alfie and her precious young son Stephen,
who had predeceased her. We pray for all
the family especially her loving children, Yvonne, Elaine, Wendy, Alfred,
Devon, Adele & David, her 12 devoted grandchildren, sons-in-law,
daughters-in-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces and extended
family.
Condolences to Willie Harris of Newcastle on
the death of his brother Jimmy Harris of Sandymount and formerly
Clondalkin. Jimmy was predeceased
by his wife Iris and siblings George, Emma, Gay, Irene, Neville &
Ronnie. We think especially of his
children Jennifer, Linda, Suzanne, Gail & Rachel and sons-in-law Billy,
Thomas, Richard, Rupert & Eamonn & grandchildren Zoe, Amy &
Alex, Andrew & Jessica, Oscar, Emily, Ben & Sam.
Our sympathy also to Martha Howard on the death
of her brother Joshua Rose of Donadea.
Joshua is also mourned by his other sister, Margaret and Jeffrey,
Jane, Sally, Joy, Helen, Fred, Charlotte & Graeme his nephews and
nieces and was predeceased by his sister Jean. His funeral took place in St. Peter’s Church, Donadea.
Christopher
Noonan who died suddenly
on 18th February, was a member of the Tidy Towns group and often
tidied the grounds of Christ Church on his rounds - a man who loved his town
and community and served us all and made this place a better one - may he rest
in peace. May God comfort all who mourn.
Easter General Vestries - Via Zoom
Dates and links
will be published on the website and social media.
Lasting Legacies - Bishops’ Appeal
Like
many, Bishops’ Appeal saw a sharp drop in
donations and in its ability to fund vital supports for struggling communities
around the world since the beginning of the Pandemic and the closing of church
buildings. However, due to the continued
generosity of parishes and individuals combined with the receipt of two
generous legacies, the Committee was recently able to fund multiple
transformative projects. Added to these our Mother and Child Advent Appeal was
also partially funded by these legacies, which is supporting:
· emergency food for lactating mothers and malnourished children
in Nepal,
· adequate shelter for families fleeing conflict in DR Congo,
· training supports for emergency foster parents for children with
trauma or disabilities in Cambodia and
· rehabilitation of health clinics for pregnant women in Sierra
Leone.
One
such legacy donation was from a lifelong advocate of education so it was our
privilege and our honour to direct those funds to support quality education for
vulnerable children in Uganda; access to education and inclusive
extra-curricular activities for children with disabilities in Kenya; and to
Literacy Circles in Burundi for women who never before had the opportunity to
access education.
Anyone
gifting a donation in their Will can direct their giving based on their life’s passions.
Bishops’ Appeal will identify
carefully vetted projects to ensure they not only meet with best practises, are
sustainable and are properly monitored, but that the people who are most in
need are targeted to access the supports.
Your legacy could fund vocational training for Self Help Group members
who learn basic numeracy, accountancy and business skills to help them grow
their small enterprises. Your legacy
could support ante-natal and post-natal care in countries where it is dangerous
to have a baby or to refurbish health clinics that currently have no water or
electricity. Your legacy could fund
emergency responses after natural disasters as well as the longer term response
of rebuilding the communities again.
Your legacy could support access to drought resistant seeds and training
in conservation farming methods for entire communities where erratic weather
patterns are causing hunger, desperation and migration. Your legacy could support the provision of a
clean water source, the protection of people being trafficked, access to
sanitary protects for young women, the safeguarding of creation through the
protection of a tribal group or forests and soil. Through our global partners we have the
capacity to direct legacies to the causes closest to your heart and for those
funds to reach the people who need it most.
Our
legacies can be extraordinary. Our life’s passion can have an impact on the world’s poorest people.
Thank you for your support and consideration of the work of the Bishops’ Appeal.
Diocesan
Representative for Bishops’ Appeal - Geoffrey McMaster
World Day Of Prayer
2021 From Vanuatu
Unfortunately,
this had to be deferred. The service was
due to be held on Friday, 5th March.
We hope to get together later in the year to worship in spirit with
them. The host church this year will be
St. Brigid’s Roman Catholic Church in
Straffan. We will keep you informed when
a date is decided. The Republic of
Vanuatu is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and
west of Fiji. The South Pacific Ocean is
prone to earthquakes, cyclones, volcanic eruptions and rising sea levels and
the theme the women chose for their service is ‘Build on a strong foundation’. In Mathew’s Gospel, chapter 7: 24-37 Jesus tells a story of the wisdom of the
builder of the house that comes from hearing and acting on the word of God,
which is the word of love. This is the
foundation on which our sisters call us to build our homes, our nations and the
world. A call of faith to be earnestly
considered when responding to the prayer of commitment: “What is the house that you would build?“ The symbol for
World Day of Prayer was developed by the women of Ireland and adopted as the
international logo in 1982. Its design
is made up of arrows converging from the four points of the compass, persons
kneeling in prayer, the Celtic cross, and the circle, representing the world
and our unity through all our diversity.
RTE broadcast the service on 28th February, with
representatives from several churches taking part.
Creation Sunday - 7th
February, 2021
Thanks to our Rector for putting together an excellent service on
the theme of creation. He had asked
parishioners and school children for any paintings, drawings, photographs,
poems, ideas for hymns etc., and he got these in abundance from all corners of
the parish as well as a video clip from Geoffrey McMaster. Thanks to all who sent in fabulous paintings
and drawings from the school children - amazing talent - and for those who sent
in photographs of all creatures great and small and landscapes, for those who
read and did the prayers session. The
finale was the “Hallelujah Chorus”!
Knitting/Crochet
Opportunities!
Knitting for the Mendicity Institution - providing services for the homeless. Plain
subdued coloured warm woolly hats are required.
Further information from Rev. Abigail Sines, The Dean’s Vicar, Christ
Church Cathedral, Dublin. Update on
Newborn knitting - 4 boxes of donations were sent to Greece. They received a very generous financial
contribution from a sponsor in the USA and numerous people have been in touch
to arrange drop-offs of their knitted items.
With the arrival of the vaccine, they anticipate being able to resume
sending donations to the refugee camp on the island of Samos when lockdown is
lifted
Primrose Hill
School
Congratulations to Caroline Flood and her husband Richard on
the birth of baby Holly, a sister for Charlie. While Caroline is on leave Ms.
Niamh Manning is the Acting Principal and we thank her for stepping up to
this role. At this time the children are
gradually returning to school and hopefully will remain there until the summer
holidays without further interruption.
Prayers
We pray for all those who are sick at home, in
hospital or nursing homes especially during restricted visiting hours, those
who care for them, those who have lost their livelihood due to Covid-19, those
isolated in their homes not able to see/visit friends and loved ones, those
bereaved, all front line staff, all those in government and the HSE who have
decisions to make and those producing a vaccine.
Taking Up The Cross
This was the theme of our Rector’s Lenten service on 28th February, with
appropriate hymns and the silhouette of a cross being carried at the opening of
the service. Rev. Stephen spoke
about the late Billy Graham saying that when Jesus said “take up your cross and follow
me”, it was the same
as saying take up your electric chair - Jesus didn’t mean a gold cross, a cross on a prayer book,
or at the top of the church but Jesus had in mind a place of
execution. Also in a sermon in Oxford in
1970, Lent was described as being a time to bridge the gap between what we are
and what we should be - making the surface match the deep.
English friends of the Editor, had a very interesting
story in connection with a cross. Colin
is mad into train journeys and has done many. He, his wife and another couple were in China
and went on a train that left them in the middle of nowhere with hours to spare
before the next train would come. As
they wandered around, lo and behold, they spotted a cross. They found Chinese women at the
building. Neither Colin nor his
friends had any Chinese and the Chinese had no English - but these women got
more folk and made a meal for them. Colin
had his recorder with him and asked them to sing - and they sang “Jesus loves me” and Colin, his wife and
friends joined in in English and he recorded all singing - very happily. When the meal was ready, they just about had
enough time to eat it before the train came.
A story of following the cross with a very unusual ending.
Calendar
Of Events
March
Sun 14 Mothering Sunday.
Wed 17 St. Patrick’s Day.
Sun 28 Palm Sunday
April
Thu 1 Maundy Thursday
Fri 2 Good Friday
Sun 4 Easter Sunday
Mon 26 Closing date for inclusion in Issue 65.
Chuckle Time
Billboard sign - “I wanted to be a
Monk, but I never got the chants”!
NON
Going Events!
Craft & Chat/ Time Of Prayer For Healing &
Whist Drives will not resume until the Pandemic is considerably
less of a threat.
Who’s Who
In The Parish
www.cs-nl.org celbridgestraffannewcastlelyns@gmail.com
Rector: Rev.
Stephen Neill 01-6288231 087-2328172
www.paddyanglican.com stephen.neill@gmail.com
Come to me, all of
you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest.
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