Your Weekly Offering Sunday 16th February 2020

1st Collection Development fund € 2,194 2nd Collection Offertory € 1,397

Thank you for your continued support

Bob’s Your Uncle Lotto

Numbers drawn 16th Feb 3 - 7 - 11 - 20

No Jackpot Winner 22 Match 3’s share €1000

Tickets available in the lotto office or in the Parish

Centre

Super Bingo on Sunday, March 1st at 3pm in the

Youth Centre!

€6,000 in prize money and TV giveaway!

Mass during Lent

During Lent, there will be 7pm Mass in Askea Church from

Monday to Friday.

The Faithful Departed

Anna Mannion Monacurragh

May she Rest in Peace.

Carpenter Brothers Funeral Directors Est 1927

serving Carlow & the surrounding area for Three Generations

10 Barrack Street Carlow R93 R1X2

Tel: 059 - 9131237 / 087 - 2535999 E-mail carpentersbar@yahoo.co.uk

Dates for the Diary

First Confessions

Tuesday, 10th March at 7pm in the Cathedral.

First Communion 2020

Sunday, 10th and 17th May, both ceremonies at 12.30pm.

Confirmation 2020

Saturday, 23rd May at 11am and 2pm.

€20,000

Ministers of the Word

Parish Readers are asked to contact the Parish Centre for

Rota details.

A message from the Cathedral Parish Grandparents’

Association about climate change - We follow Pope

Francis’ thinking on being kind to ’Mother Earth’

"We received this world as an inheritance from past

generations, but also as a loan from future generations, to

whom we will have to return it!”

Meeting with political, business and community leaders,

Quito, Ecuador, July 7, 2015 .

Irish Wheelchair Association, Carlow has Community

Employment Scheme vacancies. Applicants should log

their interest via email to reception.carlow@iwa.ie

Rambling Rovers walk on Mondays and Wednesdays at

8pm. Meeting at Youth Centre (Green Lane).

Donation of €1 per walk. Proceeds to Carlow Hospice.

ARISE – Young Adult 18+ National Event

Takes place in Knock Shrine on March 7th 2020. There will be

inspirational speakers, music, celebration, fun, a chance to

meet with other young adults and much more.

For more information, booking, etc. please contact Robert

Norton, Youth Co-Ordinator on 059 916 4084.

St Vincent de Paul

Collection after all Masses weekend 29th/1st March.

Many thanks for your continuing generosity.

Presentation School Band Church Gate Collection will be held today, Sunday, February 23

rd, many thanks for your

continuing support.

Fr John Cummins House

Renovations are almost complete on the interior of the Fr

John Cummins house. This building, located directly

opposite the Cathedral will become a hub for youth ministry

and catechesis in the Parish.

The cost of the renovations is approaching €40,000. If you

would like to contribute to these costs in any way your

support would be greatly appreciated.

Please contact Fr Ruairi or Philip for further details.

Every week to mark our Lenten journey into

prayer, a member of our Parish Pastoral

Council will compose a prayer that invites the

whole Parish to become a praying community

- each of us lifting our hearts and minds to

God.

Lord Jesus,

We are united in our belief in you.

Your name sustains and supports us.

We thank you for the great love you have

shown us.

We praise your most holy name,

Jesus.

We bring before you our joys, sorrows,

hopes and troubles

Entrusting them into your hands that you

may strengthen and console us.

As we approach the season of Lent,

Help us to grow in faith and love of you.

Help us to trust that you know and

understand us completely.

Bless our Parish as we make a journey

together into prayer

And communion with you.

Amen.

Pro - Life talk

Speakers: Carol Nolan and Michael Dwyer from Family and

Life. Thursday, March 5th at 7:30pm at Portlaoise Parish

Centre in the campur room. All welcome!

Carlow College of Music

The 8th Festival will take place on Saturday, 29th February in Gaelscoil Eoghain Uí Thuairisc from 9.30am to 7pm. A great showcase of musical talent - solos & ensembles on a variety

of instruments. All are welcome.

From Grief to Grace

A holy hour of prayer to pray for those affected by sexual

abuse will take place in the Cathedral of the Assumption,

Carlow on Friday, 28th February beginning at 7.30pm.

Medjugorje Pilgrimages

10th - 17th June 2020

Spiritual Director: Fr. Ruairi O’ Domhnaill

23rd - 30th September 2020 Spiritual Director: Fr. Michael Duffy OFM

Further Details please contact Noeleen Dunne 059 914 2670

Carlow Citizens Information Centre is currently recruiting volunteers. If you are interested in helping people and have

some time to give, please contact us for further details.

Telephone Sarah Drea at 087 193 5276. The closing date for receipt of applications is Friday, 20 March 2020.

Carlow Older Persons Forum, is hosting a coffee morning in our cabin in the Old School House, Barrack Street, on

Tuesday, 25th February from 10am - 1pm.

Then every 2nd

Tuesday of the month going forward.

Contact 0894062356. All Welcome.

Lenten Day of Reflection on Adult Study of the Catechism

Knock Shrine, March 28th from 9.30am – 4pm. Meet with and

discuss running study groups on the Catechism with current facilitators and directors. Bring a packed lunch, donations

only.

Carlow COPD Support Group weekly exercise sessions

resume Wednesdays 12 pm– 1pm in O’Hanrahans GFC,

Dublin Rd., Carlow. For more information contact Anna

Corcoran 086-3794613

Emmanuel House of Providence Clonfert

Day of Prayer on Saturday, 7th March

Bus leaving Tullow at 8am sharp. Bring a packed lunch.

Phone Lily at 087 2245193 or 059 91512545.

Our Newsletter is 100% recyclable

(...but please read it first!)

Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet every Sunday at 3pm at

the Statue of Our Lady at Rossmore, Killeshin.

The Parish Team

Fr. Ruairí Ó Domhnaill Adm. Fr. Brian Maguire The Presbytery,

Old Dublin Road, Carlow.

Tel: 059 913 1227 Emergency: 087 258 8118

Sr. Dolores Fitzgerald

Parish Sister Tel: 059 914 0408

Deacon David O’Flaherty

Tel: 059 9164087

Philip Lawlor Pastoral Worker

Newsletter Editor philip@carlowcathedral.ie

Tel: 059 913 1227

Parish Centre Tel: 059 9164087

info@carlowcathedral.ie

Safeguarding Please contact the Parish Centre

for the contact details of our Child Safeguarding Representatives.

Diocesan Designated Liaison

Person Mr Mick Daly

Email: dlp@kandle.ie Tel: 085 8021633

Mass in the Cathedral for the week of the 24th February - 1st March. Monday 24th - Friday 28th: 7.30am and 10am

Wednesday 26th (Ash Wednesday): 7.30am, 10am and 7.30pm Saturday 29th: 10am Novena Mass and 6.15pm Vigil

Sunday 1st: 8.30am, 11am, 12.30pm and 7pm Sacrament of Reconciliation: Saturday after 10am Mass. Capuchin Friary: Mon to Sat 12pm - 1pm and 4.30pm - 5.30pm.

Adoration: Monday to Friday 6pm - 8pm and after Novena Mass on Saturday until 12 noon.

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Sunday, 23rd February, 2020. Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time ‘Day of Prayer for Temperance’ www.carlowcathedral.ie

Striving for Perfection

The desire and fascination to be perfect is not a new one. The Greek myth of

Narcissus, the beautiful man who drowned while gazing at his reflection in a lake

predates Christianity. There has always been something in the human heart which

admires, upholds and adores perfection.

A perfection sought in only physical appearance is one that the story of Narcissus

and biblical texts warn against. There is much more to a person than how they look.

A human being can never be perfect. Each of us has various flaws and shortcomings

that require self-awareness and also the patience of others to deal with. Sr Stan, the

founder of Focus Ireland, in the recent documentary aired about her on RTE, said

that her shortcomings keep her humble - reminding her that she is not the Saviour,

nor should she feel the pressure to be all things to all people.

What then, are we to make of Jesus’ directive in the Gospel today, “Be perfect, as

your heavenly Father is perfect”? To be perfect like God means to be full of

compassion, slow to anger and rich in mercy. Christ is imploring us to look inward, to

see his beauty within ourselves. His conversation with Samuel in the Old Testament,

“For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but

the Lord looks on the heart” should encourage us to become better people, rather

than better looking.

The Season of Lent is a wonderful opportunity to pause, reflect and ponder the depths of

God, as Christ did in the desert.

Prayer can mean many different things to each individual. A member of the Cathedral

Parish Pastoral Council recently put down some thoughts regarding their prayer life:

“As a Christian I am called to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This means I

am invited to talk to him. I talk to him through prayer. This is not only praying the prayers I

learned as a child. This is making every aspect of my life part of a conversation with Christ.

He wants to know everything about my life. He wants me to tell him everything about my

life - both the good and the bad.

For the good parts I offer grateful thanks and for my failures I ask forgiveness and help.

Because Jesus loves me unconditionally, I know that there is nothing I can do to make him

stop loving me. He loves me despite my many failings. He is always there, all I have to do is

talk to him.

As I pray, I also try to listen, so that Jesus can be part of this conversation. His response is

gentle; a whisper to guide me to change and be better.”

The Carlow Cathedral Pastoral Council is delighted to present “Letting in the Light - A Jour-

ney into Prayer.” Over four weeks in Lent, we will explore, with Fr Ruairi, the basics of

Christian prayer which will help us all to deepen our relationship with our God who knows

and loves us.

We will meet in the Cathedral Parish Centre on Mondays 2nd, 9th, 23rd and 30th March

from 7.30pm to 9pm. There will be refreshments provided from 7pm.

Everyone is most welcome to attend. Keep the dates free in your diary!

“In life we can now edit, cut, paste and perfect everything about ourselves.” This

is no longer the preserve of celebrities and their airbrushed images. Now we can

all be celebrities. There is a fantasy that perfectionism is possible. I think people

who are vulnerable buy into that.”

Child and adolescent psychotherapist Dr Colman Noctor, St Patrick’s Mental Health

Services, Dublin (The Irish Times, 20/5/14).

Never forget how wonderful you are in God’s perfect eyes