6th Prize €100 – Jonathan Fitzgerald, Coole East, Athea
Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to everyone who supported our club draw. The next draw is scheduled to take place on Saturday December 5th.
Athea Coiste na nÓG
We are encouraging all parents to consider completing a coaching FOUNDATION COURSE suitable for both football and hurling over the next 3 months. The theory part of the course can be completed online in the participants own time and there will be two live webinars available as well. The practical elements of the course will be completed once the current restrictions have been eased and we can meet the safety requirements to run the practical session in Athea as soon as we can. If anyone, even if not a parent, possibly transition year students are interested, please let John Hunt 087 7875378 or Sarah Brouder know asap.
Athea Ladies
Best of luck to our club members – Rachael Greaney. Sarah O’Connor, Rebekah Daly and Claire Carmody in the All Ireland semi-final vs Fermanagh at 1pm on Sunday. The match will be streamed live on Facebook. We are all behind you ladies!
AGM
Our annual general meeting is due to take place on Sunday December 20th at 7.30pm. This meeting will take place virtually – watch this space for updates.
Kathleen Mullane sent us this photo from the archives of her dad, Mossie Brown R.I.P., dancing with a nun. She is wondering if anyone out there can name the nun in the photo.
NOONANS CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
It is with a heavy heart that the Noonan Family have, after 19 years of stunning exhibitions, been forced to cancel this year’s charity display in the interest of the health and safety of their patrons. The family have organised an online fundraiser and you
Huge thanks to everyone who has contributed to our November fundraiser to date. €1,150 has been raised so far online with people from all over the world contributing. Once again your generosity has surpassed all our expectations. Brightly coloured yellow collection boxes will continue to be available for the month of November in Collins Shop, O’Riordan’s Pharmacy and Griffin Butchers. Donations can also be made online by following the link on our facebook page.
We would like to remind people that the litter bins on the street are for street litter only and are not to be used for household rubbish. A hefty fine will be issued by Limerick City & County Council for anyone caught using the bins for their own use.
We would like to wish a speedy recovery to one of valued team members John Scanlon who is recovering from an operation. Enjoy the rest John, we will need you again in the Spring!
St. Bartholomew’s Church, Athea
Mass Intentions next weekend
Friday 13th Nov 7.30pm Joan Boylan (Month’s mind)
Saturday 14th Nov 7.30pm Jim Lynch (Month’s mind)
Sunday 15th Nov 11.00am James & Bridget McAuliffe. Mary & Bill McAuliffe.
Michael Byrne.
All Masses are live streamed on the Church Service TV network via the following link https://www.churchservices.tv/athea and broadcast on the parish radio system. You may also listen to the mass in the church carpark area via the outside speaker system.
The church is open daily from 9.30am – 1.30pm. November mass lists are available in the church and our Remembrance Tree is located inside the front door – we encourage you to come and light a candle during this special month and place the names of those you wish remember on our tree.
If you need to book an Anniversary mass, a wedding date, a baptism date or get a mass card signed please contact Siobhan on 087-2237858.
Parish Finance:In these unprecedented times, we would like to thank parishioners for their ongoing generous supportfor the parish. We particularly wish to thank all who contributed to the collections held last Sunday afternoon for the Missions, the Weekly Offertory Collection and the November Mass offerings. We are very aware that it is a challenging and stressful time for everyone. During this time of economic uncertainty, the ongoing financial support of all who contribute to the parish is greatly appreciated.
Tax Relief on Donations to Eligible Charities
Parishioners can assist the parish with its funding by participating in the Donations to Charities Tax Relief Scheme. In recent years, those who qualify for this scheme have helped the parish gain additional funds for the parish at no extra cost to themselves, by simply signing the CHY 3 Enduring Certificate. This cert is renewable every five years. In other words, it needs to be signed by the donor every five years. This year there are a significant number of donors who need to renew their CHY3 Cert. If the CHY 3 Certs are not signed, there is a real danger that thousands of Euros that could come to the parish will remain uncollected from the Revenue and the parish will be at a significant loss. It is particularly important this year that donors complete the CHY 3 certificates as due to the Covid-19 pandemic the parish income is down considerably. During the week, the parish office will be sending out the CHY Certs to the relevant donors and we are appealing to you to sign the Certs and return to Fr Brendan at the Parochial House, as soon as possible. We are enclosing a stamped address envelope which we encourage you to use, as due to the current lockdown parishioners are not allowed attend Mass. May God reward you for your continued kindness and generosity.
Fr. Brendan Duggan, Fr. Tony Mullins
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
JAMES (Jim) LYNCH
R.I.P.
The extended Lynch family in England wish to express their sincere gratitude to all those who sympathised with them during their sad loss. Thank you to everyone who attended the funeral mass, showed their respect as the funeral cortege passed by, viewed on-line, sent mass cards and kind messages of condolence on the very sad passing of (Uncle Jim) James Lynch of Glenagore, Athea, Co Limerick. It meant a lot to us.
We trust this acknowledgement will be accepted as a token of our appreciation. The Holy sacrifice of mass will be offered for your intentions.
Current Affairs
By Domhnall de Barra
Following on last week’s theme of “man’s inhumanity to man” I was listening to World Report on Radio 1 the other morning and was taken aback by what I was listening to. On that programme, a journalist told how people are making millions out of smuggling refugees from war torn countries in Africa. They are taken to Libya and held in large warehouses while their relatives back home are contacted to provide more money for their passage across the Mediterranean to sanctuary. These people have very little anyway and go to great lengths to get the money to save their families. They are treated appallingly while in these warehouses with little food, sanitation or contact with the outside world. The women are systematically raped and at the end of the day many of them are set adrift on the seas to be picked up by ships and returned to Africa.
One man from Ethiopia, who had gone through that system, was out shopping when he noticed one of the main smugglers, who was wanted by the police, in an electrical shop in Addis Ababa. He called a policeman and the man was arrested. Many more of his comrades were arrested as well. One of them had raped more than 80 girls and women. They will get a few years in jail but have plenty of money salted away for when they come out and there are plenty more ready and willing to take their places.
Why is the rest of the world ignoring this criminality? Even when refugees are transported to Europe they are not treated very well when they arrive. Ireland is not blameless in this regard. The situation in Direct Provision is deplorable with some people waiting for years and years to have their cases heard. These poor people have suffered enough and have lost most of their possessions. We have to devise a system that cuts through the red tape and quickly gets them integrated into our society. They have much to offer us and we must never forget that our forefathers had to leave Ireland after the famine and find sanctuary wherever they could. Look at the contribution the Irish have made to their adopted countries. Even this week we have a descendant of Irish emigrants elected to the highest office in the USA. Despite the reservations of some, we have nothing to fear from diversity and a lot to gain and please don’t give me “we have to look after our own first” rubbish. Given the opportunity most immigrants will contribute to the economy and make our country a much better and more colourful place.
This will be the last time I comment on the American election and Donald Trump in particular. There has been much rejoicing at the election to office of Joe Biden, not so much that Biden is such a charismatic character but because he is not Donald Trump. I welcome that development but I am alarmed that, with the highest turnout at the polls ever, Trump got nearly half the votes. It shows how much people have bought into his philosophy and are prepared to accept a type of politics that is abhorrent to most of us in the civilised world. It isn’t easy to explain but there are a few factors that contribute to it. Many Americans grow up being told that they are the greatest in the world and they live in the greatest country in the world. They have a kind of superiority complex that gives them a brashness and loudness that at times is obnoxious. They are told that there are two types of people; winners and losers and that there is no place for losers. The end justifies the means in trying to be successful and this encourages an “I’m alright Jack” mentality. This is the nasty side of capitalism which eventually creates a two tier society; the haves and the have-nots. Many of the more fortunate resent any attempt to help those at the bottom and will oppose plans for medical care, social housing etc. This is not what democracy is about. Democracy is the government of the people by the people for the people and that includes all the people, not those who are gifted or lucky enough to make it on their own. When you have a two tier system with the gap widening between rich and poor, it is similar to what democracy replaced. Countries were once ruled by monarchs and landed gentry but, one by one, people rose up, like in France and Russia, and toppled the regimes. We are in danger of creating a new “peasant” population who will eventually rebel against those who want to keep them in their place. It is now more important than ever that the other half of the American public stand up and be counted. Trump is in the process of arranging rallies throughout the States in the coming days to drum up support for his legal challenge to the election result. These rallies will give a platform to the gun-toting white supremacists to flex their muscles and for all his gullible disciples to give two fingers to their own electoral system. It is high time that prominent members of the Republican Party brought some sanity to bear on proceedings and encouraged Trump to behave with a little decorum and concede defeat with grace but I suppose that is too much to hope for. I like America and have enjoyed my many visits there. It is full of honest, hard working, decent people who deserve better leadership than they are getting at the moment. America has been a great friend to Ireland over the years especially with their help in brokering the Good Friday agreement. Joe Biden says he is going to be a president for all the people and that he will work to create unity and heal divisions. The USA is an example to the world of how a huge continent can operate without borders on its states. It shows the value of unity of purpose and a desire to work together for the love of the country. Let us hope that sanity prevails and that America can truly be great again.
Chief Justice Frank Clarke has said Supreme Court Judge Seamus Woulfe should resign over his attendance at a controversial golf dinner in Galway. There will be those who are clapping their hands in glee to see him brought down but I am not one of them. That whole “golfgate” episode has been blown out of all proportion and a heavy price has been paid already by those who lost their careers over it. Yes, it was poor judgement on the part of those who attended the dinner but no law was broken and surely the punishment should fit the crime. Seamus Woulfe did not help himself in the way he has conducted himself since the affair and maybe a little more humility would have stood him in better stead, however, I hope again that common sense will prevail and that he will be allowed to continue his important work in our justice system.
I was talking to Fr. Duggan today just checking to see how he was, he is doing fine and looking forward to when lock down is eased so he can return to us. He sends his good wishes to everyone and hopes all parishioners are well and that he is including everyone in his daily mass during November.
What a beautiful celebration we had on Saturday night when the special mass for all those who went to their eternal reward was celebrated by Fr Tony. It was comforting hopefully for all families who had lost a loved one especially during Covid when funeral numbers were so limited. Well done to all those who helped to make the ceremony so special and to the beautiful singing from Margaret Carroll and John Redmond and to Teresa O’Halloran and Pat Higgins for the candle lighting ceremony.
There was great news for a change today when it was announced that Pfizer are near to having a vaccine for Covid, what a wonderful thing that would be for the whole world– We live in great Hope.
On speaking to an elderly relative at the weekend and asking how he was finding Lockdown he said he wasn’t finding it as bad this time around as there were matches on television. We complained they were so late and players playing in such awful weather, but look isn’t sport a great thing and it excites everyone no end, never mind the excitement on Sunday with the Kerry Cork game– We will say no more, and Mayo are still there too much to the delight of our few Mayo people in the parish.
Thought for the week: Going outdoors for walks is not cancelled, listening to music is not cancelled, ringing a family friend isn’t cancelled, reading a book isn’t cancelled. Singing out loud isn’t cancelled, laughing has not been cancelled, sharing Hope with others has not been cancelled.
JUST LET US EMBRACE WHAT WE HAVE AND BE THANKFUL FOR ALL WE HAVE.
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