The Rector writes……

I’m writing this letter on Good Friday but with the anticipation of Easter around the corner. We are nearing the end of our Holy Week journey with Bishop David Chillingworth. You will be reading these words on Easter morning as this newsletter appears in our churches. As I prepare for the Good Friday services today, with their stark solemnity, it can be hard to anticipate the joy of Easter morning with its loud and joyous proclamation, ‘Alleluia! Christ is Risen!’ And yet that is what our faith is all about, the creative tension between death, and the pain and suffering of Good Friday, and Easter resurrection joy in this life, and in eternity.

We have been privileged to have had Bishop David Chillingworth with us for the past week. On Palm Sunday he told us,

Vocation led me into extraordinary situations – challenges, difficulties, heartbreak.  But it also gave me opportunities which could not have happened in any other way.  I never expected ministry to be easy.  And Holy Week is part of how I understand that.

First, it encourages us to visit the roots of our faith.  It takes us back to the baptism which we all share – ‘baptised into the death of Christ that we may walk with him in the newness of his risen life.’

Secondly it gives the strongest possible picture of what faith is about.  And that is very important in today’s secular society. 

It was good to see consistently large congregations in St Luke’s Church each night in Holy Week, and to see parishioners from neighbouring parishes too, who joined us when they did not have their own services in the first part of the week. I hope that you found the liturgies, music and sermons, reflective, challenging and most of all encouraging in your journey of faith. I thank Bishop David and his wife Alison for joining us. I hope that they have enjoyed rediscovering some of David’s family heritage in Cork. We hope to see them again before too long. But most of all I thank Bishop David for the series of addresses he gave us each evening. They will live long in the memory of the people of Cork and have prepared us all to live out our faith with joy and confidence. ‘Christ is Risen! The Lord is Risen indeed! Alleluia!’

Yours in Christ,                 Adrian.

St. Luke’s School Notes: In this cold weather we are very aware of the plight of the homeless in the community. Dick White from Focus Ireland came to a recent assembly when he talked to us about his work and we presented him with a cheque for €1,300 which we raised at our Carol Services.

Congratulations to our 6^th Class Debating team – Sophie, Georgia and Jake who won their debate opposing the topical motion “Children under 14 should not be allowed on social media”.

Congratulations also to Ms Dermody on the safe arrival of baby Ella.

The Junior section of the school thoroughly enjoyed the visit of Paddy O’Brien who entertained them by telling a variety of old and new stories.

Thank you to all parents, grandparents and friends who supported the Coffee morning hosted by our local Barry’s and organised by the Parents’ Association. Over €800 was raised for new benches for the playground.

We were delighted to welcome back one of our past pupils Billy Kingston on his TY work placement.

On a recent Friday we had a very popular visitor to our Junior classes. Alison Flack brought Orchid, a guide dog in training and talked to the pupils about the importance of the work of guide dogs and how they are trained. We now have a Defibrillator (AED) in the school thanks to the generosity of Tom and Gwen Chambers. Thanks also to Peter McDaid who provided CPR training for the staff.

Our 3^rd Class graduated with flying colours from UCC on their recent trip there.

World Book Day was celebrated this year by asking pupils to turn a vegetable into their favourite book character. The creativity in St Luke’s was amazing! A total of €1315 was raised in free books at our Book Fair which took place during Book Week also.

Lent Breakfast It was a full house at 9 am, as over 90 men gathered at Bull McCabe’s Bar and Restaurant on Airport Hill on Saturday 10 March, for the annual Lent Men’s Breakfast. The guest speaker this year was the well known RTE broadcaster, John Creedon. One of twelve children, in a series of anecdotes, John reflected warmly and at times humorously, on the nature of his relationship with his late father, whose participation in the annual pilgrimage to Lough Derg was central to his faith. Drawing on his own fluency in Irish, John touched on some of the place names from his father’s native West Cork and of how he learned from him the importance of a sense of place and the concept of pilgrimage.

This annual event in the parish calendar, provides all those who come with an opportunity to meet together, enjoy a good breakfast and conversation, as well as a chance to reflect on life and faith. We thank John Creedon for being our speaker this year and, in his own unique style, giving us so much to think about. We are also very grateful to Derek Dunne, Howard Dunne and their staff at Bull McCabes for the excellent food and warm hospitality.

Church Attendance Statistics 2017 

Recently we had to submit our annual church attendance statistics to the Diocesan Office. Last year there were 53 Sundays as the 1^st of January and 31^st December were Sundays. Sometimes we cancelled morning services in some churches in favour of evening carol services or harvest thanksgiving services. On the Sunday we had the televised broadcast in July, we had no 11.15 in Douglas or 11.30 in Blackrock so people could watch the service live. Also in the summer Douglas Union had a united service in Marmullane for Sea Sunday. This explains the variation. I thought you might find them interesting, so I have printed them for your information. Adrian

St Luke’s:     50 Sundays, 5,107 attendance. Average 102.

Frankfield;    53 Sundays 2,772 attendance. Average 52.

St Mary’s;    48 Sundays 898 attendance. Average 19.

St Michael’s; 48 Sundays 1449 attendance. Average 30 for 11.30 service.

St. Michael’s early H.C.  53 Sundays, 982 attendance. Average 19 for 8.30 service.

Evening Services 11 Sundays, 989 attendance. Average 90.

Easter Vestry Dates Parishioners are asked to note that the Easter General Vestry for Holy Trinity Church in Frankfield will be on Tuesday 10 April at 8pm. The meeting for Douglas Union will be at 8pm on Thursday 12 April in the Canon Packham Hall. Both meetings will be preceded by a celebration of the Eucharist at 7.30. We hope for a good attendance at both meetings.

Coffee Morning On Saturday 21 April, a coffee morning and sale will be held in the Old Schoolhouse on Church Road in Blackrock. This sociable event will raise money for parish funds. We appreciate all the hard work which the stall holders put in to prepare for this event and we hope it will be well supported by parishioners and friends of the parish.

Bishop’s Confirmation Morning The morning for our confirmation candidates, had to be postponed at short notice, due to the bad weather in early March. It has been rescheduled for Saturday 21 April. It will be held in the Canon Packham Hall in Douglas.

Advance notice of Parish Fete Please keep the 23 June 2018 free in your diary. On that day Douglas Union with Frankfield will be holding a Parish Fete in Garryduff Sports Centre. We are very grateful to the management committee there for making the facilities there available to us. It will start at 10.30am and end a lunchtime. Your modest entry fee will allow you to enjoy tea/coffee and cakes. Plans are in place for a Bottle Stall, Children’s Corner, Cake Stall, Face Painting, Plant Stall, Craft Stall and Country Produce Stall as well as lots of lots of games, novelties and fun challenges.

There will be a Christian Aid Information Evening on Christian Aid Week 2018 on Friday, 6th April at the Gateway Centre (Bandon Methodist Church), St. Finbarr’s Place, Bandon at 8pm.  This will be an occasion to hear about that the work of our partners for Christian Aid supporter’s, clergy, and the general public on the work in Haiti and around the world and get an update on this year’s Christian Aid Week Sheep’s Head Hike planning, etc.

SERVICES THIS MONTH