Just sit right down…….
Now that Christmas is over, I wonder would it be a good for us to write ourselves a letter. This letter might be marked ‘To be opened on 1st December 2012’. The content of the letter should contain a little post mortem on Christmas 2011.
So let’s look at Christmas 2011, before we forget all about it and possibly lose some insights that could help next year.
Did you buy a turkey that was too big? Did you think that you’d have feathers before you had eaten it all?
Did you accept or refuse invitations which, in hindsight, you would change next year? We don’t have to accept all the invites that we get, some of them occur more by duty or habit than by intention.
Did children ask for too much from Santa, who gave them the idea that Santa’s bag was bottomless?
Did you see too much of your family, extended or otherwise? Sometimes we go to one sibling one day and another the following day, only to meet the same people on both days.
Were you stuck watching the TV in one room, with granny not able to hear, your teenagers not interested in what was on and Dad or Mam trying to keep everybody happy? Its’ not a sin to have two TV’s even at Christmas! Some of the younger people could ‘travel the house’ with a round of chocolates.
Did you get lots of presents that you know you won’t use and you won’t get around to changing? Should they go to the Crosscare in the Pro-Cathedral?
Did you go to Church, were there too many or too few children at it? Was it overpowering or left you wanting to go to ‘real Mass’?
Did you forget/not get round to going to the Carol Service?
Don’t forget that the ‘Media’ depict Christmas as ‘all happy families’ sitting by a log fire with a flurry of snow, everybody blissfully happy. That’s not always the case. Christmas often magnifies how your situation is now. So if you’ve had bereavement, or you are alone then the emotions will be magnified. Conversely if you are just married or have recently had a ‘big happy event’ then these emotions/feelings will be magnified too.
So, sit right down and write yourself a letter (and you won’t have to ‘make believe’….), dated 1st Dec 2012 ‘It did come from you’
Fr. Philip Adm
Thank you for last Sunday’s Offertory Collection of €1189 and the Share Collection which amounted to €838.
Our condolences to the family and friends of the late John Burke whose funeral Mass took place here during the week.
The Parish Liturgy Group will meet at 8pm on this Monday evening, January 9th.
Milltown Parish Pastoral Council
will have their January meeting at 8pm on next Tuesday, 10th January.
The Milltown Parish Active Retirement Group will have their A.G.M. at 2.30pm on Tuesday next, January 10th. All members welcome to attend.
Congratulations to Anne Mangan (late of Milltown), who recently celebrated her 100th birthday. She got a super letter from Michael D!
Milltown Parish / Foroige Youth Club
This club will re-commence in January. New members are welcome. Please leave your name and contact details in the Parish Office if your children would like to join this group.
OCTAVE OF PRAYER FOR CHURCH UNITY 2012
The inaugural gathering of the Dublin Council of Churches Octave of Prayer for Church Unity will take place in Milltown Church at 8pm on Wednesday the 18th of January. The preacher will be the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Michael Jackson. Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin will preside. All welcome to attend.
A photography training course will take place in the Parish Pastoral Centre from 10-12 am on next Saturday 14th January. This two hour course teaches you the basic principals of SLR photography. This is a hands on course with lots of practical experience. The course costs €45 per person. For further details call 087 6866026 or log onto www.softlight.ie/courses to register.
A six week Yoga course will commence in the Parish Pastoral Centre on the 12th Jan,. These hour long classes will start at 9.30am.on Thursday mornings. The course costs €90. For further details contact Orla at 087, 9340839.
Date for your Diary
Please note that the New Year Liturgy Seminar will be on Saturday morning 28th January in Clonliffe College. Details of courses and booking forms will be available in January.
The Milltown parish Adult & Toddler Group meets in the Parish Pastoral Centre at 10.30am on Friday morning. All welcome
Foxrock Parish have organised a tour of Peru with Map Travel. Included in the tour is an opportunity to see first hand the work of the Loreto Sisters in Lima. Further details of this tour are available on the church notice boards.
The Grouped Parishes of Sandford and St Philips Milltown are having a TABLE QUIZ on Thursday 19th January at 8.00 p.m. sharp in St Philip’s Hall .The cost is €12.50 per person. For further details e-mail sandfordandstphilips@eircom.net or tel./text 086 0386432.
Events at the Orlagh Retreat Centre
The showing of Of Gods and Men before Christmas was so popular we are going to show it again on Fri. Jan.13th at 7.00pm. The film will be followed by a snack and a discussion.
A Day for Yourself will be held from 10.am to 4.30pm on Sat. Jan. 14th .
The theme is a very appropriate one as we start a new year: Open to Possibilities and Opportunities. It will be led by Dr. Bernadette Toal and Fr. John Byrne. Cost €50 To book for either of these events, contact Fr. John Byrne in Orlagh: info@orlagh.ie. Tel (01) 495 8190
Radharc Films: Throughout 2012 Radharc Films will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the screening of its first film on 12th January 1962. The Irish Film Institute has very kindly reserved their January lunchtime Archive Programme for the screening of some of these films. The tickets are FREE for these screenings. Simply collect your tickets at the IFI Box Office. For full details and information on the programmes see www.dublindiocese.ie
The loss of music at our Saturday evening Mass has been noted by many. With this in mind we are appealing to any parishioner who can play the organ or help in anyway to contact Fr. Philip re the possibility of playing at our evening Masses.
