Sixth Sunday of Easter 2020
May, the Month of Mary
As we continue our devotion to Our Blessed Mother Mary during the lovely month of May, let us reflect on the Holy Rosary. Pope Francis, in his message to the world for the month of May, encouraged families to pray the Rosary together.
In the past week, on Wednesday, 13th May, we celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, which commemorates the appearance of Our Lady to three shepherd children, Lucia, Francesco and Jacinta on May 13th, 1917. During the apparition she told the children to pray the Rosary every day and that doing so was the way to personal & world peace.
“O Mary, our hope and our joy, help us to pray with you for peace in the world. Unite all children with your Immaculate Heart. make us strong in praying for those who have no one to pray for them. Keep us always close to the Sacred Heart of your Son, Jesus Christ”. Amen.
Origins of the Rosary:
According to tradition, the Rosary’s defining moment came during an apparition of Mary to St. Dominic around the year 1221. Dominic was combating a popular heresy in France called Albigensianism. Mary gave him the rosary, told him to teach people this devotion and promised that his apostolic efforts would be blessed with much success if he did. We know the religious order Dominic founded (the Dominicans) clearly played a major role in promoting the rosary through the world in the early years of this devotion.
Why Rosary Beads?
The use of prayer beads almost universally is to allow the person to keep track of the number of prayers that have been said, while at the same time focusing on the deeper meaning of the prayers themselves.
Mysteries of the Rosary:
In the 16th Century, the sets of five Joyful, five Sorrowful and five Glorious Mysteries began to emerge and the vocal prayers of the rosary were finalised, ten Hail Marys and the Glory Be to the Father at the end of each decade. In 1569, Pope Saint Pius V officially approved the rosary in this form, fifteen decades of Hail Marys introduced by the Our Father and concluded with the Glory Be. And so the rosary remained for over four centuries. Then, in 2002, Pope Saint John Paul 11 proposed something new, A whole new set of mysteries for contemplation in the Rosary, the “Mysteries of Light” or “Luminous Mysteries”. John Paul 11 suggested that reflection on the mysteries of Christ’s public ministry would help Catholics enter more fully into the life of Jesus through the Rosary. He proposed the following scenes to be contemplated: (1) Christ’s Baptism, (2) The Wedding Feast at Cana, (3) the proclamation of the kingdom, (4) the Transfiguration and (5) the Institution of the Eucharist.
The “Luminous Mysteries” would be recited after the Joyful Mysteries and would fill in the gap in the life of Jesus, between the 12 year old boy found by his parents in the temple to Jesus as a 33 year old man about to be crucified on Calvary.
“Laudato Si”
Five years ago Pope Francis wrote a Pastoral Letter to all the people of the world. It was called “Laudato Si”, which means “Praise be to you”, words coming to us from St. Francis of Assisi. It invites us to see nature as a magnificent book in which God speaks to us and gives us an insight into His beauty and goodness. The earth is our common home, we need to respect it and take care of it.
The letter is dated 18th June, 2015 and deals with how we treat the earth and its resources, resources which are often wasted and destroyed. This in turn leads to the destruction of the earth and, of course, to climate change, which affects us all. The letter, though written only 5 years ago, is more and more relevant with each passing year as we witness climate change and its effects all around us. Each of us can, of course, play our part in caring for the earth each day.
This Sunday begins what is known as “Laudato Si” week and continues until next Sunday, 24th May. During that time we are asked to reflect on how we need to respect the earth on which we live and so pass it on to the generations that will come after us.
Reopening of Churches for Personal Prayer
Bishop Fintan Gavin has requested that Parishes should put plans in place to reopen Churches for Personal Prayer from this Monday, 18t h May on a phased basis. This needs to proceed carefully so that people can visit churches safely, knowing that procedures are in place in line with Government advice and HSE guidelines. These are available on the Diocesan Website.
It is proposed as a beginning that Ovens Church will reopen each day from 10am to 11am and 6pm to 7pm. Farran Church will open each evening from 7pm to 8pm. It is important that these times are monitored. Anyone willing to be part of a Rota to do so, please contact the following Parish Assembly Members:
Ovens: John McCarthy, 087 2205433, Siobhán O’Sullivan, 086 0667846 or Mary O’Callaghan, 087 6474186.
Farran: John O’Leary, 087 2201037 or Ted Forde, 086 1017176.
Fr. Liam may also be contacted for both Churches, 021 48 71180.
It would be very fitting if we could keep our churches open as places of prayer in this time of much need for all our people.
Replies would be appreciated as soon as possible.
Sunday Mass from Ovens/Farran Parish
From 10.30am onwards, Mass available via Ovens/Farran Facebook Page and the Parish Website: www.ovensparish.com
Anyone who sent a request for the Mass link to Roger O’Sullivan, 087 2207491, will be sent the new link today from 10.30am.
Mass can be distributed via Facebook, Emails, WhatsApp, Viber and standard text messaging.
Thanks to Roger for his work in this and in setting up the Parish Facebook Page.
COMMUNITY CALL
Éire Óg has joined up with other groups e.g. Gardaí, An Post, Civil Defence, Cork County Council to help the vulnerable or isolated in our community, if needed at this time of the Coronavirus pandemic.
If anyone needs help or knows of anyone who does, please phone 1800 805819 or locally John Hourihan 086 3178214, Éire Óg Co-ordinator.