This Sunday is the first day of October and ordinarily, the Feast of St Thérèse of Lisieux of the Little Flower.  She is a wonderful saint and much loved in Ireland. She had many simple sayings that are profound and powerful.

‘I will spend my Heaven, doing good on earth’ is a powerful reassurance that we have someone looking out for us.

She spoke of her ‘Little Way’ as the key to Christian life with Jesus and Mary at the centre.

She struggled with illness and was surrounded by depression in her own family circle.  She is a saint for our time as so many struggle with the pressures and demands of life.  We all have a good friend in St. Therese in this.

She wanted to be a missionary to travel the world and never got to leave her convent due to ill health yet she is the patron of missions and missionary activity.  We need missionaries in our time in an increasingly secular world and St. Therese will be there for us in this too.  St. Therese, pray for us, St. Michael, pray for us.

Fr. Michael

The Synod

This weekend we pray for the Synod which will be opened by Pope Francis in Rome on 4^th October, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.  In his own words, Pope Francis said ‘without prayer, there is no Synod’.  This week we pray for the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit at this critical time in the life of the church worldwide, in our diocese and most importantly, in our parish and Family of Parishes.  St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us.

Fr. Michael

Welcome to the former employees of Dunlop’s to our Vigil Mass this weekend.  Dunlop’s closed 40 years ago this year.  In our Mass, we pray for the employees who have gone to their eternal reward.  This Mass is an opportunity to meet together and pray together to maintain and celebrate friendships and give thanks for the faithfulness of God to the Dunlop’s workers and their families over the last 40 years.

Fr. Colin Doocey

Fr. Colin has accepted our parish invitation to celebrate 11am Mass on Sunday 22^nd October next.  We will make him a presentation to honour his dedicated ministry in our parish as Administrator from 2019 until this summer particularly through the time of the pandemic.  There will be a reception in the Parish Centre after Mass and everyone is invited to the Mass and the reception afterwards.

Looking for a pre-marriage course? NAOMI have courses in Douglas every month held on a Saturday. Why not give NAOMI a call at 0863094792 for further information.

October – Safeguarding Month in Cork and Ross

October is Safeguarding month in the Diocese. The parish and Diocesan Safeguarding Teams work hard all year to assure our Churches are a safe space for children.
We welcome all children and young people to participate fully in the life of the parishes, whether it be attendance at Mass and the Sacraments, as Altar Servers, Choir, Children’s Liturgy, Pray and Play, Youth Ministry etc