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Sacred Heart Church, Séamus Quirke Road, Galway, Ireland
Bishop Martin Drennan
launches Pastoral Letter
to mark the Year of Vocations!
Entitled 'God loves a Cheerful Giver', the pastoral was launched on September 25th in St. Mary's College. In it, the Bishop encourages all people of goodwill to ask 'what is the Lord saying to me now?' He encourages each man and woman to respond to this question with generosity and love.
'St. Augustine said that where there is love there is no toil because toil is loved. It is a privilege to serve the Lord and his Church in any capacity. That service starts by listening to God and to his caring presence in our story. Seeing and listening in faith will lead to gratitude and to joy in God's love that has been and still is very active on our behalf. He first gives much, then asks, and when he asks it is always for our good, though we may not see that at first. His desire is that we find joy in his blessings and, in joy, want to share them. Joy is receiving leads to joy in giving. Thus we become cheerful givers. It is towards that ideal that we travel together in faith.'
The Pastoral Letter will be distributed through the parishes on Sunday, October 5th and a full text will be available on the Diocesan Website which can be accessed through the link on the sidebar menu.
In one of the largest such ceremonies in history, Pope John Paul II canonized Padre Pio of Pietrelcina on June 16, 2002. It was the 45th canonization ceremony in Pope John Paul's pontificate. More than 300,000 people braved blistering heat as they filled St. Peter's Square and nearby streets. They heard the Holy Father praise the new saint for his prayer and charity. "This is the most concrete synthesis of Padre Pio's teaching," said the pope. He also stressed Padre Pio's witness to the power of suffering. If accepted with love, the Holy Father stressed, such suffering can lead to "a privileged path of sanctity." Many people have turned to the Italian Capuchin Franciscan to intercede with God on their behalf; among them was the future Pope John Paul II. In 1962, when he was still an archbishop in Poland, he wrote to Padre Pio and asked him to pray for a Polish woman with throat cancer. Within two weeks, she had been cured of her life-threatening disease. Born Francesco Forgione, Padre Pio grew up in a family of farmers in southern Italy. Twice (1898-1903 and 1910-17) his father worked in Jamaica, New York, to provide the family income. At the age of 15, Francesco joined the Capuchins and took the name of Pio. He was ordained in 1910 and was drafted during World War I. After he was discovered to have tuberculosis, he was discharged. In 1917 he was assigned to the friary in San Giovanni Rotondo, 75 miles from the city of Bari on the Adriatic. On September 20, 1918, as he was making his thanksgiving after Mass, Padre Pio had a vision of Jesus. When the vision ended, he had the stigmata in his hands, feet and side. Life became more complicated after that. Medical doctors, Church authorities and curiosity seekers came to see Padre Pio. In 1924 and again in 1931, the authenticity of the stigmata was questioned; Padre Pio was not permitted to celebrate Mass publicly or to hear confessions. He did not complain of these decisions, which were soon reversed. However, he wrote no letters after 1924. His only other writing, a pamphlet on the agony of Jesus, was done before 1924. Padre Pio rarely left the friary after he received the stigmata, but busloads of people soon began coming to see him. Each morning after a 5 a.m. Mass in a crowded church, he heard confessions until noon. He took a mid-morning break to bless the sick and all who came to see him. Every afternoon he also heard confessions. In time his confessional ministry would take 10 hours a day; penitents had to take a number so that the situation could be handled. Many of them have said that Padre Pio knew details of their lives that they had never mentioned. Padre Pio saw Jesus in all the sick and suffering. At his urging, a fine hospital was built on nearby Mount Gargano. The idea arose in 1940; a committee began to collect money. Ground was broken in 1946. Building the hospital was a technical wonder because of the difficulty of getting water there and of hauling up the building supplies. This "House for the Alleviation of Suffering" has 350 beds. A number of people have reported cures they believe were received through the intercession of Padre Pio. Those who assisted at his Masses came away edified; several curiosity seekers were deeply moved. Like St. Francis, Padre Pio sometimes had his habit torn or cut by souvenir hunters. One of Padre Pio’s sufferings was that unscrupulous people several times circulated prophecies that they claimed originated from him. He never made prophecies about world events and never gave an opinion on matters that he felt belonged to Church authorities to decide. He died on September 23, 1968, and was beatified in 1999. Quote:
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There are seven times of great suffering in Mary's life. The first was when she took Baby Jesus to the temple. There the prophet Simeon told her that a sword of suffering would pierce her heart. This would be when Jesus would be put to death. Her second sorrow was when she and St. Joseph had to flee to Egypt with Jesus. Herod's soldiers were trying to kill him. The third suffering came when Mary searched three days in Jerusalem for Jesus. She finally found him in the temple. Our Lady's fourth sorrow was when Jesus was whipped and crowned with thorns. Her fifth great pain was caused by his being lifted on the cross, where he died after three hours of agony. Mary's sixth sorrow was the moment when Our Lord's sacred body was placed in her arms. And her seventh suffering came when he was buried in the tomb.
Mary did not pity herself or complain because she had to suffer so much during her life. Instead, she offered her sorrows to God for our sakes. She is our Mother. Because she loves us dearly, she was happy to suffer that we might some day share her joy with Jesus in heaven.
How do I respond to suffering? What can the Mother of Jesus teach me about suffering?
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SACRED HEART CHURCH
SEAMUS QUIRKE ROAD
MASS NOTICE
14th SEPTEMBER 2008
Saturday 13th September 7.30 p.m. Matthew Coyne and Kathleen Fitzmaurice
Pray at all masses for Nora Ward this weekend.
Sunday 14th September 9.30 p.m. Michael Kelly and deceased members of the Kelly and
Lynskey families.
11.00 a.m. Statia Grehan
12.15 p.m. Maureen & Thomas Walsh. Deceased members of the Costello and Hoare families.
6.30 p.m. Marie Golding. Eddie Foley and Mary McKeon
Monday 15th September 10.00 a.m. Fred Hanley and deceased members of the family.
Tuesday 16th September 10.00 a.m. Sick
Wednesday 17th September 10.00 a.m. Tilly, Matilda and Johnny Jennings
Thursday 18th September 10.00 a.m. Teresa Kenna
Friday 19th September 10.00 a.m. Michael and Maisie Sherlock
Saturday 20th September 7.30 p.m. Bridie Joyce and deceased members of the
Joyce and Donnellan families.
Sunday 21st September 9.30 a.m. William Creane and Angela Feeney
11.00 a.m. Kate & John Walsh and Alice Dunphy
12.15 p.m. Michael Costello and John Miller
6.30 p.m. Tom & Margaret Conneely.
SACRED
MASS LIST
7th SEPTEMBER 2008
Saturday 7.30 p.m. Stephen Burke and David Quinn.
6th September PRAY ALSO FOR BABY EOGHAN MCGETTRICK
AND VERA BROWNE AT ALL MASSES.
___________________________________________________________________________
Sunday 9.30 a.m. Ronan Duignan
7th September 11.00 a.m. Ciss
12.15 p.m. Winnie &
members of the Ridge and Hussey families.
6.30 p.m. Bridget Corcoran and Raymond Maloney.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Monday 8th September 10.00 a.m. Deceased members of the Fahy family
family.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Tuesday 9th September 10.00 a.m. Sick and Michael Creighton
____________________________________________________________________________________
Wednesday 10th September 10.00 a.m. Denis O’Brien
____________________________________________________________________________________
Thursday 10.00 a.m. 1. Bridie Whelan and
11th September 2. Willie Corcoran and Thomas & Winnie McDonagh ____________________________________________________________________________________
Friday 12th September 10.00 a.m. Ray Maloney
____________________________________________________________________________________
Saturday 13th September 7.30 p.m. Matthew Coyne and Kathleen Fitzmaurice
___________________________________________________________________________
Sunday 9.30 a.m. Michael Kelly and deceased members of Kelly and Lynskey families.
14th September 11.00 a.m. Statia Grehan
12.15 p.m. Maureen & Thomas Walsh. Deceased members of the Costello & Hoare families.
6.30 p.m. Marie Golding, Eddie Foley and May McKeon.