Monthly newsletter for dioceses and parishes. Issue 15 – January 2015
Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference
Columba Centre, Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, Co Kildare
Catholic Schools Week 2015: ‘Catholic Schools: Called to Serve’
Catholic Schools Week is an all-Ireland annual event which invites Catholic schools to give expression in a special way to a particular aspect of Catholic education. The theme of Catholic Schools Week 2015 is ‘Catholic Schools: Called to Serve’ and this complements 2015 being the Year of Consecrated Life.
Catholic schools place at the centre of their ethos an identity with the mission of Jesus Christ, who continually calls all who hear his voice to serve.
Serve, as a word, is a call to action. As a concept, service is an integral element of Jesus’ mission in the Gospels. Education is a platform from which all are called to serve – parents, teachers, students, community and the wider world.
To open Catholic Schools Week 2015 Bishop Donal McKeown, Bishop of Derry, will celebrate 10.15am Mass on 25 January in Saint Mary’s Church, Creggan, which will be broadcast by BBC Radio Ulster. Catholic Schools Week will conclude on 1 February with Mass broadcast at 11.00am by RTÉ One Television with pupils from Saint Ultan’s, Cherry Orchard in Dublin.
Resources for Catholic Schools Week are available on www.catholicbishops.ie.
Marriage is a unique relationship different from all others
Bishops encourage everyone to read The Meaning of Marriage, a pastoral statement which advises the faithful that to redefine the nature of marriage would be to undermine it as the fundamental building block of our society. The Meaning of Marriage is available in your church and can be downloaded in English, Irish and Polish, along with a brief video interview with Bishop Kevin Doran, from www.catholicbishops.ie.
New Migrant Resource Pack
The Bishops’ Councils for Emigrants and Immigrants have published a new Migrant Resource Pack. Parishes are encouraged to make use of the new resource in reaching out to migrants. The pack is available from catholicbishops.ie. www.catholicbishops.ie.
Pastoral Letter on the Holy Name of Jesus
Bishop Philip Boyce OCD, Bishop of Raphoe, has published a pastoral letter on the Holy Name of Jesus entitled: Holy is his Name. In his pastoral Bishop Boyce encourages Catholics to pray to the Holy Name of Jesus, and to speak his name with reverence. Read the pastoral on catholicbishops.ie.
Archbishop Eamon Martin’s homily on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
At Mass on 11 January for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Archbishop Eamon Martin preached in defence of the right to life of both mothers and their terminally ill children during pregnancy.
News SNIPPETS
- On 13 January, at a Mass in solidarity with the people of France in Saint Mary’s Pro Cathedral in Dublin, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said: “If we fix our hearts on doing what is right, we can still today master the effects of evil”. Read the homily on dublindiocese.ie.
- See our feature for the Year of Consecrated Life on catholicbishops.ie.
- World Day of Migrants and Refugees will be celebrated on 18 January on the theme: ‘Church without frontiers, Mother to all’.
- The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will take place from 18 – 25 January.
- 8 February will mark the first ‘International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking’.
- Find out more about priesthood by talking to a diocesan vocations director. See vocations.ie for details.
- A study guide to accompany the Irish Catholic Catechism for Adults is available for personal and group use from www.veritas.ie.
Pope Francis Tweet of the Month: “Sunday is the Lord’s Day. Let us find time to be with him.”
Produced by the Catholic Communications Office. See www.catholicbishops.ie for more information.
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