Fr Frank McManus PP Tel: 028 686 31315
email: culmaine@clogherparishes.ie
Parish Office Tel: 028 686 29062
SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL: Helpline no 07864726536
Sunday 15th December 2024
3rd Sunday of Advent
Liturgical Year C
If you are remaining at home you can join in at the times outlined below on Livestream or listen on Parish Radio CB Channel 37 if you are local.
CAELIACS WELCOME: Culmaine Parish has Gluten Free Hosts, anyone requiring these please let Fr McManus or the sacristans know before Mass.
CONFESSIONS FOR CHRISTMAS
Ederney: Monday 16th December 7.30pm
Irvinestown: Tuesday 17th December @ 7.30pm
Pettigo: Wednesday 18th December 7.30pm
SVP COLLECTION will take place on 22nd Dec.
All contributions greatly appreciated.
ADVENT: GAUDETE SUNDAY: The Third Sunday of Advent is also known as Gaudete Sunday. The word “gaudete” is derived from the Latin words “gaudium,” joy, and “gaudeo,” to rejoice or ‘be glad. Gaudete Sunday occurs eight to thirteen days before Christmas, and the nearness of the feast is reason for great joy.
The Term “Gaudete.” Gaudete is taken from the Entrance Antiphon: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near” (paraphrase, Phil 4:4-5). Advent is a time of joyful expectation and eager preparation for the Solemnity of Christmas.
Multiple Reasons for Joy. There is joy in looking forward to the annual celebration of Christmas, but there is also joy in recalling the birth of Jesus on the first Christmas. The joy is heightened because he was born to save us from our sins (Mt 1:21b). The joy also extends to anticipation of the Second Coming, either at the end of physical life or the end of the world, the time when believers will be given the crown of righteousness (2 Tm 4:8) and a place in the Father’s house (Jn 14:2) to dwell with God an
ADVENT WREATH: Today the third candle will be lit by three of our candidates for First Confession and First Communion.
PARISH CALENDARS FOR 2025: Are now available in the Churches.
CHOIR: St Joseph’s Choir rehearsal for Christmas on 18th December in the Parish Centre @ 8.30pm. All welcome
ST VINCENT DE PAUL HELPLINE 07864726536; SVP COLLECTION will take place on 22nd Dec. All contributions greatly appreciated.
MONTIAGH ADORATION will resume in the New Year.
LEGION OF MARY MEETING: There will be a Legion of Mary Meeting every Monday at 8pm; new members welcome.
CULMAINE PARISH CAKE SALE & RAFFLE: All are welcome to our parish Cake next weekend in the Parish Centre. The Sale will take place on Saturday 14th 3-5pm & Sunday 15th after 11am Mass. Proceeds in aid of Ederney St Vincent de Paul & Trocaire.
All donations of cakes, buns, pastries etc will be welcome. The Parish centre will be open for such donations from 7pm - 8.30pm on Friday 13th and from 5pm - 6pm on Saturday 14th.
ST JOHN PAUL II AWARDS: 2024-25: Applications from year 13/14 students are now welcome. Please contact, Ann, Bronagh or Fr McManus.
BAPTISMS: Because Fr McManus now has commitments in Belleek & Garrison it will only be possible to have baptisms in Ederney on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month. We will also be returning to having more than one family for baptism ceremonies. Also at least one weeks’ notice is required when booking a baptism.
Ederney Reader for December: Clare Deazley
DEVOTIONS: ROSARY AND DIVINE MERCY CHAPLET: Each evening in St Joseph’s Church, Ederney: Sunday – Friday at 6.30pm and on Saturday at 5pm. Everyone is welcome.
ST JOSEPH’S PS CHRISTMAS PAGEANT: Tuesday 17th December @ 7.30pm. All are welcome to come along and celebrate the Christmas story and season with the St Joseph’s PS pupils.
ARDESS PARISH CHURCH: Community Carol Service followed by tea & Mince Pies, Sunday 15th Dec 7pm
PRE CHRISTMAS-ADORATION is scheduled in the Parish Centre to pray for peace in our world which, particularly in these times, is in a state of general unrest. Given Jesus and Mary shared a deep spiritual union throughout His life on earth and she is seated close by at His right hand in glory, it follows that Mary is not separated from her Son in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Therefore, praying to the King of Peace in adoration together with the Queen of Peace, as we prepare for the Church's celebration of the Nativity, (where Our Lady was the first to adore her Son), is most appropriate. In addition to our weekly adoration, therefore, during December, in the weeks leading up to Christmas, there will be adoration each Saturday from 3pm to 4pm on 14th & 21st December. While, as normal, the adoration will take the form of personal reflection and prayer, there will be background hymnal music to hopefully enhance/set the scene. Prayers/reflections for, and associated with peace, will also be available as reading material. Everyone is welcome.
HOSPITAL AND CARE HOMES VISITATION: Fr McManus will be visiting the Hospital and Care Homes before Christmas. If you have a family member or a friend or neighbours in any of these please contact him and he will do his utmost to visit them. Home visitation will continues on Monday 16th December in Ederney.
DEVOTIONS: ROSARY AND DIVINE MERCY CHAPLET: Each evening in St Joseph’s Church, Ederney: Sunday – Friday at 6-30pm and on Saturday at 5pm. Everyone is welcome
CRIB FESTIVAL RETURNS TO ST JOSEPH’S HALL, OMAGH: Everyone is invited to come along to the exhibition on Sunday 15th December from 10 am to 7 pm. There will be a Live Nativity Performance at 3.30pm. Please note, this year three charities will benefit from your donations, MSF (Doctors Without Borders) for their work in Gaza, UNICEF for their work in Ukraine and Mellon Educate for their work in South Africa. During the weeks of Advent, we will continue with the virtual display of cribs on social media. (Tattysallagh Crib Festival 2024) A warm welcome is extended to everyone to come along from 10am to 7pm to view the exhibition and enjoy morning coffee/ afternoon tea.
ENNISKILLEN SANDS GROUP invite you to join us for our annual Lights of Love on Wednesday 18th December in St Michaels Church Darling St, Enniskillen at 7pm. We remember our precious babies gone too soon. For more information visit sands.org.uk/lightsoflove
HOPE HEALING GROWTH – Aisling Centre Annual Day of Inspiration takes place on Saturday 11th January. Tickets now are on sale via Eventbrite bit.ly/HHG25 (free to attend virtually). For further information from Aisling Centre infor@theaislingcentre.com/ 028 66 3252811
CHRISTMAS CRIB: Ederney: The Christmas Crib is now ready and today the Bambina (the baby Jesus) will be blessed and placed in the crib by two of our First Holy Communion Children. We thank Rob Fry, Peter Evans, Eileen and Vincent Montague and Ann McFarland for all that they did in getting the Crib erected and the figurines ready. This year the crib features new, moving figurines. These were purchased in Veritas in Derry just before the shop closed down. They cost £2,000 at the Veritas closing sale in Derry, reduced from £6,000. The parish received a donation covering the costs of the figurines. We are very grateful for the generosity of this donor.
Montiagh: The new Crib and figurines should be in place this week. Currently the Walsh family are working on the crib, which is near completion. We are very grateful to them for their work.
DECORATING ST JOSEPH’S CHURCH FOR CHRISTMAS: Volunteers needed to help with the Christmas decorations. Lots of holly, ivy and other greenery will be needed again this year to decorate St Joseph’s Church for Christmas. It would be helpful if you could leave all the greenery outside the back door of the Parish Centre or porch of the Church on Thursday 19th & Friday 20th December. The Parish Church Decorating Group and other helpers meet at 10.00am Saturday morning to do the floral decorations for the Church. Please bring gardening gloves and secateurs. All volunteers welcome.
JUBILEE YEAR OF HOPE Christmas Eve 2024- Feast of Epiphany 6th January 2026:
Pope Francis has declared 2025 to be a Holy or Jubilee Year. A Jubilee Year is one set aside by the Church to encourage us all to embark on pilgrimages, to repent for our sins, to forgive and be reconciled with one another and to renew the spiritual life. The theme for this forthcoming Holy year will be “Pilgrims of Hope”, thus bringing to the fore the journey of life that we are all on and our need to be people of hope, a hope rooted in the person of Jesus Christ.
The Holy Year will begin on Christmas Eve when Pope Francis opens the Holy Door at St Peter’s in Rome. Locally, it will be opened in our Diocese on Sunday 29 December – Feast of the Holy Family – when Bishop Larry will be Chief Celebrant of the 12.30pm Mass in St Macartan’s Cathedral, Monaghan. Parish Launch @ 7.30pm Mass, 1st January 2025. Over the coming weeks, some online resources for the Jubilee Year will be made available on www.clogherdiocese.ie/jubilee2025
.
GENERAL SECRETARY: IRISH COUNCIL OF CHURCHES: The Irish Council of Churches seeks to recruit a facilitator for the next phase in its work of developing opportunities for the churches in Ireland to work together to provide a Christian voice in society. How to Apply For further details and an application pack visit www.irishchurches.org/vacancy. Application Deadline Friday 17th January 12:00 noon to president@irishchurches.org
LOST & FOUND: A small sum of money has been found in St Joseph’s. Please contact Fr McManus or Eileen.
PARISH COLLECTIONS:
SUNDAY 8th December
Diocesan Levy £395;
Monthly £285;
Weekly £811.
Thank you for all your contributions.
DONATING TO PARISH AND CHURCH FUNDS:
Envelopes and contributions can also be made through the letterbox of the Parish Centre. This is quite safe because the Parish Centre has both an alarm that is always active when there is no-one in the building and CCTV cameras covering all approaches to the Centre, especially the front door. The basket attached inside of the letterbox is regularly checked and all donations are moved to the safe where they are kept until they are counted and banked. Please do not leave any contributions in the Church outside of mass times or in the Priest’s House.
A standing order form can be downloaded below;
GIFT AID: We strongly urge people to use the parish envelopes/standing orders and sign up for Gift Aid. In doing so you will be increasing your contribution by 20% without any extra cost or inconvenience to yourself, or your family or your business. This would be of immense benefit to the parish.
You may have heard of Gift Aid before but not really understood what it is or how it could benefit you or your Parish. Simply put, Gift Aid is a form of tax relief that allows our parish to receive up to 25% more income than a donation made by you. Once a donation has been made, we can then claim back the basic rate of tax from it from the government. The charity will reclaim 25p of tax on every £1 that you have given them. Donating through Gift Aid means we can claim an extra 25p for every £1 you give to our parish. It will not cost you any extra.
If you have not submitted a Gift Aid Form to the Parish and would like to do so, forms are available at on the tables near the doors of the Church. PLEASE TAKE ONE and leave it through the Letter Box of the Parish Office. If you are already on Gift Aid, there is no need to reapply.
You can also download and complete a Gift Aid Form below. If you prefer, you can email your completed form to culmaine@clogherparishes.ie
Please be assured that there is absolutely no danger regarding confidentiality in regard to your financial and tax affairs. Our parish benefits greatly from gift aid and we are very grateful to all who have submitted a form so far.
BE ALERT: There continues to be fraudulent scams and alerts via telephone calls, emails etc. Please continue to be aware and cautious of any unexpected activity or communication to you and to your vulnerable family members.
SHARE THE GOOD NEWS : The Catholic Communications Office produces a five-story weekly magazine Sharing Good News that reports on stories associated with the Irish Bishops' Conference, activities in parishes and dioceses, and that celebrates Church life generally. If you wish to subscribe to receive Sharing Good News, please register your email address on https://catholicnews.ie/newsletter/
BUTTON BATTERIES are particularly big, powerful lithium coin cell batteries, can badly hurt or kill a small child within 12 hours. Know where yours are, so you can keep your children safe.
LIVESTREAMING OF MASSES: any issues please contact Fr McManus or Paul Mongan.
Enniskillen Parish Lending Library: Enniskillen Parish are pleased to announce their Parish Library is now up and running. So far, parishioners and visitors have been delighted to see such a wide variety of books available to borrow or to read in the Library along with a welcome cup of tea or coffee.
This resource is open to all Parishes in the area. The Lending Library is located above the Parish Shop in Hall’s Lane, Enniskillen and is open Mon - Sat 10.30am — 1.30pm. There are also copies of books available for borrowing at the back of St. Michael’s Church. Everyone is welcome!
HSC NI ADOPTION & FOSTER CARE are the largest recruitment service for adopters and foster carers across NI. Call 0800 0720 137 for further information
ACCORD: If you feel your relationship is in crisis or need a little guidance and feel that you and your partner could benefit from Counselling either face to face or online call us on 02890233002
DIOCESE JUSTICE, PEACE, AND INTEGRITY OF CREATION GROUP: New Members Wanted - An appeal to parishioners in the Diocese of Clogher. If you are interested, please call 077 54494425 (Fr Joe) or contact your Parish Priest.
CONNECT FERMANAGH: Don’t feel alone we are here to talk. Phone Connect Fermanagh and we can provide a friendly chat & information /help to link you to the right support & services in your area. We also welcome volunteers from all backgrounds. Calls can be made from the comfort of your own home. Please call 02866320230; info@connectfermnagh.org; www. Connectfermanagh.org
MURPHY’S ON MAIN STREET has a social group called PLOUGH ON: This is aimed at older men in our community who were involved in farming but may now be disengaged from the normality of farming life. Plough On aims to tackle rural isolation and increase social opportunities by offering participants the chance to join our local group and connect on areas of shared interest such as farming, rural heritage, and history. If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me on 028 6625 1412
IRISH CATHOLIC: If you are buying the Irish Catholic or any other publication in the Church, please leave the money in the Candle Shrines in front of either St Joseph’s or Our Lady’s Altars. Please do not leave money on the tables.
SINGING AT SUNDAY MASS IN ST JOSEPH'S: Everyone is most welcome to join in with the singing either from their seat or by sitting with the core group if they wish. If anyone would like to be kept up to date with Hymn plans, sheet music or any rehearsals for special ceremonies you can text Janette 07989323409 to join the WhatsApp group.
COMMUNITY HALL:
Ederney Community Development Trust (ECDT) has launched its fundraising plan recently in St Joseph’s GAA Meeting Rooms. The plan is to provide an all-purpose modern Community Hall. This is a very ambitious project which will be of enormous benefit to all ages in our community for generations to come.
The funding of this is planned in a three pronged strategy:
1. Community Fundraising;
2. Donations from grants from local Wind Farms;
3. The establishing of a loan facility, plus interest to build over a ten year period.
Information leaflets are available at all exits of the Churches.
On behalf of all in the parish we wish them well with this project.
SAFEGUARDING
If you wish to report a child safeguarding concern, please contact
Martha Smyth 0044 777 5507445,
Brendan Kelly 00353 42 9741383,
or Anne Molloy 0044 787941 3855 or
An Garda Síochána 00353 1 66343
PSNI 028 90650222
TUSLA 00353 47 30475
Western Health and Social Care Trust 028 7131 4090.
WITH YOU’ has launched an OVER 50s ALCOHOL HELPLINE which provides advice and support to individuals aged over 50, concerned others and professionals who are worried about their own or someone else’s drinking. Furthermore, our over 50s Alcohol Helpline continues to offer an enhanced service for individuals who are considering makingchanges to their alcohol use. Our enhanced service provision offers callers up to 4 additional appointments during which Helpline alcohol advisors use evidenced based interventions to support callers to achieve their goals. This service is available 7 days a week. The Helpline is open Monday to Friday 12pm-8pm and 10am to 4pm atweekends. The freephone number to call is 0808 801 0750. To make an online booking for a phone call or video chat, over 50’s, concerned others and professionals can access appointments slots by visiting the With You website.
