Sunday 22nd March 2009

4th Sunday in Lent

Christ, the Redeemer

"God sent his Son so that through him the world might be saved." We can become so familiar with a sentence like this that we miss the profound truth in it of how much God loves us and longs for us. We think of faith as meaning our belief in God. It is much more about God's intense belief in us and in our goodness and beauty and he wants us to come to a knowledge of that too. We have a serious responsibility to one another of constantly bringing that knowledge to one another in every way we can. One of the major tasks for every married couple is to help each other to know how much they are loved and treasured. This is done through affirmation and affection. Parents have this same responsibility towards their children. They can help each one be a truly successful human being by building up their goodness. And in the parish community we help one another by looking out for each other.

Fr. Johnny Doherty, C.Ss.R.

Live a Life that Matters

Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed. Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousy will finally disappear. So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire. The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away. It won’t matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived, at the end. It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin colour will be irrelevant.

So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured? What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built, not what you got, but what you gave. What will matter is not your success, but your significance. What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught. What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example. What will matter is not your competence, but your character. What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.

What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you. What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what. Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident, It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

Choose to live a life that matters.

Change of Mass Times

On Monday 23rd, Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th March the Year 4 children in the Parish will be making their First Confession in the Sacred Heart Church. Consequently, the time of the Evening Mass will be changed from 7.30 pm to 7.00 pm for these three evenings.

Mass Intentions - Sacred Heart Church

Tue Roe McCaffrey – 1st Anniversary (7 pm)
Wed Legion of Mary Accies Mass (7pm)
Fri Tess Curran – Month’s Mind (7.30 pm)

Baptisms

Meehal Patrick McGrath, 61 Edergole Road

Weddings

We congratulate the following couple who married here recently:

Fiona McAnenly & Sean Costello

May the grace of the sacrament remain with them throughout their lives.

Penitential Service

The Lenten Penitential Service will take place on Monday 6th April in the Sacred Heart Church. Confessions will be immediately after the 7.30 pm Mass. There will be several priests hearing confessions and we ask as many parishioners as possible to attend.

Week beginning Sunday 22nd March

This Week’s Saints

Monday 23 – St Turibius of Mongrovejo
Tuesday 24 – St Macartan, bishop
Wednesday 25 – The Annunciation of the Lord

Service of Light

There will be a Service of Light for the Year 7 children who due to make their Confirmation next month. All pupils and their parents are invited to the Sacred Heart Church on Monday 30th March for the service, which begins at 7.00 pm.

Reflections on the Creed

Why not spend approximately 50 minutes each Tuesday morning of Lent exploring the treasures of our faith, as expressed in the Nicene Creed? This is a DVD series which features several interviews with prominent men and women of faith. The Fourth Session, “The Lord Jesus Christ”, will be on Tuesday 24th March in the Pastoral Centre at 10.30 am. All welcome. Tea and refreshments will be served.

Legion of Mary Mass

The Annual Legion of Mary Mass, known as the Acies, will take place on Wednesday 25th March at 7pm in the Sacred Heart Church. All members, both active and auxiliary, are invited to solemnly renew their consecration to Our Lady. The recitation of the Rosary will begin in the Sacred Heart Church at 6.40 pm.

Marian Family Mass

A Marian Movement Family Mass will take place this Wed 25th March 2009 at 7.30pm in St Patricks's Church, Cranagh. Bishop Hegarty will be the main celebrant. There will be adoration, confessions, children's rosary, Eucharistic Healing Service from 6.30pm. All families welcome.

Questions people ask

Q. I can accept praying for somebody, but what is the point of lighting a candle for some intention?

A. The language of prayer can take many forms and it is not confined to human speech. St Paul wrote that when we do not know how to pray, then the Spirit makes our petitions in groans that cannot be put into words. We pray in gestures such as kneeling or the sign of the cross. Lighting a candle, or votive light, is a sign of the light of faith. A candle is a powerful symbol of unselfish service as it gives of itself totally in spreading light.

Fr Silvester O’Flynn OFM Cap, Courtesy of Intercom Magazine
Email silvesteroflynn@gmail.com

Table Quiz

In Aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care
Clanabogan Country Club
Friday 27th March @ 9pm
£5 per person
Light Refreshments
Everyone Welcome

Drumragh GFC

We are organising a Club Draw to help with running costs of the new clubrooms which are due to open in the next few months. It is hoped that parents who have children registered with the club will join, and if they, in turn, think they could persuade one more person to take part in the draw, they will be contributing towards helping their club move forward and being part of this new venture at Clanabogan.

There will be 3 payment options:

1. Standing Order
2. One off payment £120 Yearly Subscription
3. Monthly payment option (cash or cheque)

There will be one monthly prize of £500, which will be made at the monthly committee meeting, which takes place on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at Clanabogan. All monies go directly to the Club with no expenses associated with the Draw. For parents or even non-club members who are interested, sign up forms will be available at the coaching sessions on Saturday mornings from 10 – 12 noon, or contact Jim McGread on 028 8224 9231. See website for more details www.drumraghgfc.net

Omagh St Enda's GAC
Training in football and hurling for the U8’s and U10's has recommenced on Saturday mornings at Healy Park. U12 training will recommence after Easter. More details on www.omaghstendas.com

Omagh Independent Advice Centre
Omagh Independent Advice Centre offers a free and confidential advice service to anyone in financial difficulty. If you would like to speak to someone about your financial difficulties, please call Michele in the Advice Centre on 028 8224 3252.

Change of Mass Times

On Monday 23rd, Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th March the Year 4 children in the Parish will be making their First Confession in the Sacred Heart Church. Consequently, the time of the Evening Mass will be changed from 7.30 pm to 7.00 pm for these three evenings.

The following are the dates of the upcoming events for the young people of Drumragh Parish:

23rd March: First Confession for St Colmcille’s P.S. in Sacred Heart Church @ 7 pm
24th March: First Confession for Loreto P.S. in Sacred Heart Church @ 7 pm
25th March: First Confession for St Conor’s P.S. in Sacred Heart Church @ 7 pm
26th March: First Confession for All Saint’s P.S., Sacred Heart P.S. and Omagh Integrated P.S. in St Mary’s Church, Drumragh @ 7 pm
25th April: Confirmation for all Year 7 pupils in Sacred Heart Church @ 11 am
26th April: First Communion for St Colmcille’s P.S. in Sacred Heart Church @ 12.30 pm
10th May: First Communion for St Conor’s P.S. in Sacred Heart Church @ 12.30 pm
17th May: First Communion for Loreto P.S. in Sacred Heart Church @ 12.30 pm
17th May: First Communion for All Saint’s P.S. and Sacred Heart P.S. in St Mary’s Church, Drumragh @ 10 am
31st May: First Communion for Omagh Integrated P.S. in the Sacred Heart Church @ 12.30 pm

St Vincent de Paul
SVdP would be grateful to receive any clothing, shoes, belts etc for re-sale in their SVdP Thrift Shop, Castle Street, Omagh. Any donated goods that are not suitable for resale can then be recycled by our organization to obtain much needed funds.

IHCPT – The Irish Pilgrimage Trust

The above Trust wishes to sincerely thank all those who contributed to their collection last weekend. A total of £3514.62 was raised. During their pilgrimage a Mass will be offered in Lourdes for all their benefactors.

Drumragh Parish Draw Winners

February 2009

£2,000 – Mike Sweetman, 9 Thornville Park. Promoter – Raymond McNally; £1,000 – Caroline Connolly, 12 Brookmount Crescent. Promoter – Fr Thomas Canning. £500 – E McElhill, 6 Coolnagard Grove. Promoter – K McElhill. £250 – Daniel McCrossan, 63 O’Kane Park. Promoter – Daniel McCrossan. £100 – Deano McNamee, 3 Coolnagard Lane. Promoter – Catherine McNamee. £100 – Phil McGuigan, 15 Ardmore Avenue. Promoter – Phil McGuigan. £100 – Mary Conlon, 3 Clontarf Drive. Promoter – Claire McKeown. £100 – Damian Goligy, Sunningdale. Promoter – Maggie Quinn. £100 – Mary Maguire, 33 Centenary Park. Promoter – A J Turnbull. £100 – Aidan Campbell, 33 Tattykeel Road. Promoter – Marie Campbell. £100 – Collette McCrossan, 51 O’Kane Park. Promoter – Daniel McCrossan. £100 – A Devlin, 16 Kevlin Heights. Promoter – Philomena McNamee. £100 – Eamon Baxter, 17 Johnston Park. Promoter – Margaret Sheridan. £100 – Majella Clarke, c/o Promoter. Promoter – Attracta Kelly. Promoter’s £100 Prize – Barry Mathers.

Please Note: The next draw will take place on Tuesday 3rd March

St Joseph’s Hall Grand Refurbishment Draw
Prizes: 1st Prize – New Model Ford Fiesta 5-door Car
2nd Prize – Holiday Voucher worth £3000 with £500 spending money

Could all promoters please return any tickets sold to St Joseph’s Hall on Tuesday 13th January from 7 pm to 9 pm.
These tickets will be entered into a Free £50 Draw after the Bingo.