Parish of Lismore and Ballysaggart news update

We are living in a global village. Do we understand the social change that is now taking place, no doubt we may grow in understanding over time.

Mindful of our Nigerian neighbours we cannot be indifferent to the killing of Christians in that country over the Christmas period.

Some 200 Christians were killed by very well organised groups of Islamic militants, something that has been going on for decades, No doubt but that there are many western multinationals operating in the country for it is rich in so many resources. It is so convenient to turn away in the face of basic human rights violations.

As a country we probably have diplomatic mission in the country. We must turn in prayer for these are our brothers and sisters. In Christ. The real evil is when we feel powerless before the doers of evil. There are special ritual Masses in our Missal for persecuted Christians. Do not be afraid to speak to the local, national and europen politicians who will be canvassing your precious vote in the coming months. We cannot underestimate the collective power of the vote. Make sure you are on the register of electorswhere you now live.

We need good religion. We need an educated Christian religious class to see what the good Lord may be saying to us in our own time. God is never silent, but God needs our cooperation or the cooperation of others if we fail to respond to the current needs of our brothers and sisters.

We have our Catholic schools where the’ Grow in Love’ curriculum is taught at primary level. All the religion books are part of the very generous Government who have provided free books to all puplis at primary school. These books have an ongoing home part of the programme. This enables parents to keep in touch with the religious education programme. We are grateful to the teachers who present the programme creatively to the children and where parents interact.

Catholic Schools Week begin Sun, 21st Jan. This Sunday is also Sunday of the Word of God. Do pray for your bishop, priests and deacons who are gifted to present the Word of God that both connects with the modern issues affecting people and the Lord. Talking to a more senior priest to me and not of this diocese; he said that so often we are talking about what happened 2,000 years ago that do not connect with the problems of housing, family tensions, cost of living, recreational drug.

With a little extra prayer real connections can be made with the living Word of God. We need to give real time preparing our proclamation of the Word. Part of the best preparation for Sunday Mass is talking with people during the week. They are carriers of great wisdom for many are also carriers of great suffering. All being well we will gather for Sunday Mass.