18th December, 2022

Adamstown Parish Newsletter

Weekend of Sat 17th & Sun 18th December 2022  

Volume 22.   Number 50

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ADAMSTOWN LOTTO DRAW

The Lotto draw due to be held on Monday night last had to be postponed due to bad weather, it will be now held this Monday 19th December in the Community Centre for a Jackpot of €15,000.

ANNUAL CHRISTMAS FAST 2022 – Fr. Billy Swan ADM

We have all seen in previous years the Annual Christmas Fast outside the steps of St. Iberius’ Church, Main St., Wexford when the Church of Ireland Rector and the Administrator of Wexford Parish do a four-day Christmas fast, which raises thousands of euros for local charities.

This year the  fast will go ahead again, but we want to try things a little differently and we want your help.

Rev. Norman McCausland and myself Fr. Billy Swan invite all people of good will to join with us in fasting for one day on Friday 23rd December or if that doesn’t suit – another day of your choice. The idea is simple – you donate the money you save by fasting and donate it to the fast.

Last year the following charities benefited from the fast – St. Vincent de Paul, Wexford Meals on Wheels, Wexford Women’s Refuge, Ozanam House, Wexford Rape Crisis Centre, Hospice Homecare and Enniscorthy Hope Centre. 

THE HOLLY TREE  (John Feehan, Messenger Magazine)

Holly really comes into comes into its own in winter, when the glossy evergreen leaves with their armour of defensive prickles are festooned with clusters of dark red berries. It is of course inseparably linked to Christmas when branches are cut to decorate our homes, shops and churches.

Holly had a wide variety of uses in earlier centuries. It was particularly valued in early Ireland for making the shafts of carts & chariots, because the hard wood does not splinter easily. The wood is ivory white, but could be mistaken for ebony when it is dyed black. Although, spiney, the leaves were used as winter fodder for animals, hares and goats being particularly partial to them. The bark was widely used to make limy glue for catching small birds. In the Roman Empire holly branches were used as decoration during the festival of Saturnalia in mid-December, and this pagan custom was replaced by the celebration of Christ’s birth when Christianity became the official religion of the Empire.

In a more devout past every feature of the tree was taken to be symbolic of some aspect of the Christian story. The blood-red berries, its thorny leaves and its very name were seen to echo the Passion. This is beautifully illustrated by a favourite and very old English carol:

Oh the holly she bears a berry as blood it is red

And we trust in our Saviour who rose from the dead.

And Mary she bore Jesus our Saviour for to be,

And the first tree that’s in the greenwood it was the holly.

ADAMSTOWN I.C.A. NEWS

On Sunday last Dec 11th, we held our Senior Citizens Christmas Party in The Horse & Hound. Despite the bad weather, almost 90 guests turned up. Our President Anne Stafford welcomed everyone. The afternoon got off to a great start with a lovely hot dinner served up by the staff in the Horse & Hound, followed by a delicious dessert of Christmas pudding or apple crumble.

After dinner Joe Bradley & Dermot Hynes were ready to entertain us with some lovely music. There was loads of spot prizes. Fr. Nolan gave us a beautiful rendition of Kelly The Boy From Kilanne.  Ned Furlong sang ‘Grace’, Larry Furlong gave us a few lovely sing-along songs and played his guitar. Helen Furlong toned things down a bit with her version of ‘The Old Woman of the Roads’. Then our comedians came along Sam & Liam Furlong and had us all in stitches. After some more music & dancing Michael O’Brien came along with some more comedy.

 We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped in any way to make the party a successful one. We couldn’t have done without the help of everyone who sponsored our walk in October. To everyone who donated spot prizes and money (too many to mention individually) a huge thank you to everyone.

Our monthly meeting was due to take place on Wed Dec 14th but has been rescheduled to Monday 19th at 7.00pm.

We the members of Adamstown I.C.A. Guild would like to wish all the parishioners a happy and peaceful Christmas and good health in 2023.

GOOD INTENTIONS (Fr. Martin Delaney -Irish Catholic)

A kindly 90-year-old grandmother found buying presents for family and friends a bit much one Christmas, so she wrote out cheques for all of them, to put into their Christmas cards.

In each card she wrote, “Buy your own present”, and then she sent them off.  After the Christmas festivities were over, she found the cheques in her desk! Everyone had got a Christmas card from her with “Buy your own present” written inside but without the cheques!

SYMPATHY

The unexpected death occurred on Thursday 8th December of Fred O’Brien, Clonsilla, Dublin. To his wife Joan (née Whelan, Tomgarrow) son Trevor, daughters Nicola & Jenny, grandson Ben, brother Brendan, extended family, neighbours and friends our deepest sympathy.

Our sympathy also to his sisters-in-law Ellie Walsh & Kate Rochford and families,Tomgarrow. Fred’s funeral Mass took place in the Church of St. Philip the Apostle, Mountview, Clonsilla on Tuesday last followed by burial in Adamstown Cemetery.

May his gentle soul rest in peace.

CHURCH NOTICES

IN MEMORIAM

Sat 17th – Kit O’Connor, Newtown (A)

Also          Josie Thorpe, Newtown (A)

Sun 18th – Jim Connors, Mooncoin & The Hill (A)

Sat 24th –  People of the Parish

Sun 25th – Edward, Kitty & John Buckley, Brocurra

Also           Pat O’Connor (A)

Pray for Fred O’Brien, Dublin whose burial took place in Adamstown Cemetery on Tuesday last.

May they rest in peace.

CHRISTMAS MASS TIMES

Sat 24th Dec – Vigil Mass at 7.30pm

Sat 25th  Christmas Day – Mass at 10.30am.

Confessions before Vigil Mass & before Christmas Day Mass.

ST. VINCENT de PAUL COLLECTION

The Annual St. Vincent de Paul collection taken up at weekend Masses last weekend, amounted to €884.60, which has been passed on to the local Conference.

To all those who so generously donated, thank you all so much.

RELIGIOUS CALENDARS FOR 2023

There are still a few Calendars available in the Church Porch costing €2.00 each, money can be put into the candelabra box.

THE PILGRIM WAY – John Oxenham

But once I pass this way,

And then – no more.

But once – and then, the Silent Door

Swings on its hinges –

Opens…. Closes,–

And no more

I pass this way.

So while I may,

With all my might,

I will essay

Sweet comfort and delight,

To all I meet upon the Pilgrim Way.

For no man travels twice

The Great Highway,

That climbs through Darkness up to Light –

Through Night

To Day.

ADAMSTOWN PHARMACY OPENING HOURS CHRISTMAS 2022.

Sat 24th – 9.30am – 2pm.

Sun 25th – CLOSED & Mon 26th – CLOSED

Tues 27th – 10am – 2pm.

Wed, Thur, Fri – 9am – 6pm

Sat  9.30am – 6pm.

Sun 1st January – CLOSED

Mon 2nd Jan – CLOSED.

Wishing all our customers a Happy Christmas.

WINTER SOLSTICE, 20th -22nd DECEMBER

Thousands of years ago in Ireland massive stone structures, megalithic monuments, were built. Perhaps the best known of these are the mounds of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth in the Boyne Valley in Co. Meath. At Newgrange a grass-covered mound 80 metres in diameter and 13 metres high, faced with white quartz, sits within the remains of a stone circle. This is the largest tumulus in Ireland and with an estimated date of 3rd millennium BCE (Before the Christian Era), it is probably older than the Egyptian pyramids. Before the entrance to the mount sits a massive stone, carved with the triple spiral symbol of trinity. The entrance portal leads to a long narrow passage, which draws one into a central chamber, from where three smaller chambers branch off in a cruciform shape. The walls are decorated with carved symbols of sun and stars, and the cosmos is depicted as a living, moving, cyclical being. The entrance to Newgrange is aligned with the position of the sunrise on the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice. For three days at the solstice the sun appears to stand still. If you were to observe the sunrise over a period of some weeks, you would see that its position moves along the horizon each day, except for the times of midsummer and midwinter solstice, when it rises from the same position for three days in a row. At the midwinter solstice comes the shortest day. This is the darkest time of the year in the northern hemisphere. We experience this in our lives as hardship – it’s cold and dark, we can feel alone and bereft. At this time of outer darkness, we can feel challenged to look within ourselves to find light.

One can understand why the birth of Christ, as lord of light, is celebrated at this time of year

(Ruth Marshall – Celebrating Irish Festivals)

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION

The Parish Priest asked the children at Mass to take sometime on Sunday afternoon to write a letter to God.

They were to bring back their letters the following day in school. One little boy wrote ‘Dear God, we had a good time at Mass today, Wish you could have been there’

A THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

Money is a worry this year, so please don’t fall into the trap of believing December must be all matching pyjamas, perfect festive tableware and gifts galore. Christmas is a feeling. An open door to a house full of love is far more important than an overstretched host, frayed at the edges with worry, exhaustion and overwhelm. Keep your gifts simple and thoughtful. Buy from small businesses where you can. Pop a much-needed item into the food bank collection as you shop. That circle of goodwill is important right now.

It will come back to you, I promise.

We can ride this wave the old fashioned way, together with kindness. And find joy in the moments.

MESSENGER MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION

A gentle reminder that the subscription for the Messenger Magazine is now due, please give to Cáit Bradley.

Thank you.