THANK YOU FOR LAST WEEK’S COLLECTION: €1545‍

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LENT SCRIPTURE COURSE continues Mondays at 7pm in Lisdoonvarna Church community room.

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YOUTH 2000 RETREAT: Saturday, March 29th, in St. Mary’s Dominican Church, the Claddagh, Galway, from 9:30am.

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GALWAY/KILFENORA DIOCESAN PILGRIMAGE TO LOURDES: June 24th-30th, €975 per person sharing. Contact Joe Walsh Tours on 01 2410800.

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GALWAY CATHEDRAL seeks a full-time sacristan and facilities operator. Contact Helena O’Shea, Operations Manager, at helena-oshea@outlook.com

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CONFIRMATION DAY: Wednesday, March 26th at 11am in Lisdoonvarna church. No Mass or Adoration that evening. All are welcome to attend the Confirmation Mass and top-up the Holy Spirit’s presence within you! Every blessing to our candidates from St. Enda’s National School, Lisdoonvarna, and a warm welcome back to Bishop Michael and his assistant Fr. Michael. Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful. Enkindle in us the fire of your divine love. Send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and we shall be recreated, and you will renew the face of the earth. Our Lady, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, intercede for us and our country, help us abandon our pride, melt and convert our hearts, focus us on what really matters, and bring us back to the ways of your Son.

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WARM CONGRATULATIONS AND BLESSINGS to our six young friends from St. Enda’s National School, Lisdoonvarna, who will receive Jesus Our Lord in the Blessed Eucharist for the first time this weekend at the11.30am Mass. During the Mass, we will light your baptismal candle again. The last time it was lit, your parents made a solemn promise to God in His house that they would pass on the Catholic faith to you. Now they present you for your First Holy Communion, another important stage on your faith journey. May this not just be a “one hit wonder” but the beginning of a long and deep friendship with Jesus Our Eucharistic Lord, and His Blessed Mother. Thank you so much to Mr. Carty, Mr. Egan, and all the school team involved. Thank you to the choir, and we wish both Miss Carkill and Mr. Egan every blessing on their engagement (not to each other!)

Lord Jesus, really present Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Sacred Host, renew in me a deep devotion to your Eucharistic presence. I am sorry Lord for taking you for granted, for all the times I received you disrespectfully, irreverently, and in a state of serious sin. This Lent, give me the grace and humility to press “delete” on my past with the grace of a good Confession.

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MORE CONGRATULATIONS: to my young friends in Doolin National school who made their First Confession this week. We reflected that Confession reminds us that it’s not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength and maturity, to be able to admit we were wrong, and ask for forgiveness. Also, there can be a great learning-curve here if we are open to learning from the mistake and asking God’s grace to do better the next time. On a humorous note, a certain sacristan in the parish told me that the reason that her church was the only one not damaged by the recent storm was that there are no sinners in her area of the parish! I will leave you to work out where it is!

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VOLUNTEERS FOR A NEW KILSHANNY COMMUNITY HALL COMMITTEE: due our recent award of a Pobal grant of over €73K for the renovation of the hall, thank God, could we have some volunteers please to form a hall committee? Please contact me by Wednesday of this coming week if you wish to volunteer.

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CONFESSIONS FOR LENT:  Thursday evening the 27^th, 7-8pm in Lisdoonvarna church.

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