NEWSLETTER FOR THE 8th of June 2024
Thank you to everyone who helped us to prepare for and celebrate our Parish Fest Day this weekend. The Church looks beautiful, and we’ve had plenty of visitors who commented on the warmth of welcome and the great sense of peace and prayerfulness in City Quay Church. There were many volunteers who assisted with decorations, planning and refreshments. Be proud of all you have achieved.
| Blessed Carlo Acutis We are very grateful for the gift we received from a family who recently visited Blessed Carlo’s tomb in Assisi. It was blessed by the religious superior who is guardian of the tomb. We will display this image alongside the prayers associated with his intercession.The date of Blessed Carlo’s canonisation will be announced by Pope Francis on the 1s of July, 2024 |
City Quay’s own Ave Maria
Our vigil Mass on the Feast Day of our parish sees the launch of an original setting of the Ave Maria by Matthew Lalor who leads us in a most reflective way every Saturday evening at Mass. Matthew has composed this version as a gift to the parish which will be developed and preformed when the church is refurbished. Hopefully we’ll have a solo copy of the recording available on the website during the week. which is dedicated to the parish of City Quay and will become known as the ‘City Quay Ave’.
- Archbishop Farrell has announced that Fr Alan Hilliard’s duties of administrator will extend to Westland Row and University Church on St. Stephen’s Green. We wish Fr Enda the very best as he moves to Sandymount, and we thank him for his support for City Quay over the years. Fr Paddy Madden will move to Westland Row to assist with Masses and the pastoral needs of the parish. Furthermore, the Archbishop announced last Monday that Saint Andrew’s Westland Row will be elevated to the status of a Minor Basilica subject to approval from Rome.
- Across these islands we see cities are being hollowed out. There is a call to work actively towards restoring a “centre of gravity” to our cities. There is so much more to a living city-centre than being a “commercial centre.” The centre of a city—its heart—needs people, and people need worthy spaces to live and to be—to be with each other, and to be with ‘the Other’—our God who constantly creates us and re-creates us, who brings us to life.
(Archbishop Dermot Farrell The Feast of Saint Kevin, 3rd June, 2024).
- Refurbishment- Last Friday saw the visit of advisors on sustainable heating and energy for the upcoming refurbishment. Hopefully if the proper processes are observed and the right advice is given, we may be able to secure grant assistance for the heating and energy installations.
- The parish accounts for 2023 and our refurbishment budget will be published as soon as they are ready and signed off by the Finance Committee. This will be an annual occurrence going forward.
Let There Be Peace
On Thursday the 23rd of November Dublin witnessed stabbings and riots and left the city with a situation that could not have been imagined. While the sirens grew louder, helicopters whirred over head and the smell of burning increased we recorded this amazing song in our Church here on Dublin’s City Quay with the wonderful Sina Theil – @sinatheil Let There Be Peace
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December the 8th
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception
and the Feast day of City Quay Parish
Masses at 8 am, 12.45 pm and 7 pm
On this feast we are praying for the safety and protection of our City and our Parish. We will have Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament all day and the Rosary will be recited at 9, 10, 11 am and 12 noon and 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 pm concluding with a Holy Hour before Mass led by Fr Donal Neary SJ
For updates go to http://www.cityquayparish.com
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Archbishop Farrell Comments on the Riots in our City
Statement on the Riots in Dublin City Centre
Archbishop Dermot Farrell
November 25, 2023
(Also available at https://dublindiocese.ie/statement-on-riots-dublin/)
The shocking events on the streets of our city on Thursday afternoon and evening have dismayed us all. We have seen with our own eyes, how violence puts everyone—especially the vulnerable and the innocent—in mortal danger. In places we know first-hand, we have seen its power to draw people in, and consume them in a spiral of hatred and destruction.
That such violence—something we associate with other countries and other situations—would happen on our streets can have an effect in our lives. It can quietly, but very markedly, erode the ethos of peace and safety that usually characterises our lives together. As we gather to celebrate our Eucharist some of us may feel bewildered and anxious. Let us keep our Lord before our eyes. Christ, who lived in a world marked by violence, and whose very death was the epitome of violence and terror—Christ is our peace. The Bread of Life is our food of hope. Let Christ guide our feet on the way of peace, justice, and dignity (see Luke 1:79).
As people of hope we are not helpless in the face of what we have witnessed. In solidarity, we pray for the victims of the horrific assault on Parnell Square, for their families, for the school staff, and the children of Coláiste Mhuire. We give thanks for the courage and decisiveness of those who acted so promptly and with such selflessness, for the skill of the emergency services and Gardaí, and for all who helped restore order.
As well as people of prayer, we are also people of action. Today’s Gospel tells us that our actions—especially with regard to the weak and vulnerable—are a key measure of who we truly are. Let us therefore, not be passive in the face of what we have witnessed. In the first place, let us refuse to allow ourselves to be cowed or intimidated by those who seek to coerce us. We can challenge the misinformation that seeks to sow doubt, suspicion, resentment, and fear. We can challenge the casual remarks that spread cynicism and prejudice.
Above all, we can reach out in solidarity and friendship to those who have made their homes among us, but who are being targeted with words of hate, and gestures that are filled with hostility and derision. Let us not forget the invaluable contribution so many make to our economy and society. Let us not take for granted the vibrant gifts of faith and witness which they bring to our parish communities.
Our Gospel for the Feast of Christ the King (Matt 25:31–46) tells us that the Lord identifies himself with the stranger. It is the Lord himself we welcome when we welcome the stranger in our midst. This is the Living Christ, our Risen Lord, Emmanuel—as Saint Matthew calls him—God-with us (Matt 1:23). Our most telling rejection of the darkness we have seen on our streets will therefore be the words and gestures of support we offer to those who have been targeted by mobs enflamed in a cynical attempt to sow division and hatred.
This is a moment of truth for our city, and for Irish society more broadly. As a community of faith we are called to give clear and consistent witness to what our faith proclaims: that we are all made in the image and likeness of God, that we are all children of the one God, the God who seeks out the lost and brings back the stray (see Luke 15:4–6), who bandages the wounded (see Psalm 147:3), and strengthens the weak (see Psalm 40:29). May we not be found wanting. May Christ and his way take flesh in our lives, in how we live (see John 1:14).
+Dermot Farrell
Archbishop of Dublin
The Night of the Riots in Dublin City 23rd November 2023
Recording Let There Be Peace with Sina Theil
(This song can be downloaded from most major platforms from midnight on Saturday the 25th November, 2023 or from this link: https://sinatheil.lnk.to/peace
The video recorded in our Church can be viewed on YouTube later this month.
Funeral Liturgies
Please see this invitation from Archbishop Dermot Farrell regarding the challenges surrounding the provision and celebration of funeral liturgies:
‘The celebration of worthy, faith-filled funeral liturgies which give genuine expression to the loss and hopes of the bereaved is a highly valued expression of social and spiritual solidarity.’
Catch an insight into the wonderful evening we had listening to Sean Keáne in City Quay Church in aid of Safe Home Ireland on Sunday the 19th of November 2023.
Sunday the 19th of November 6pm-7.30pm. Live concert with Sean Keane in aid of Safe Home Ireland
All Saints Day, 1st November.
Mass at 8 am
12.45 pm
All Souls Day, 2nd November.
Mass will be celebrated at
8 am
12.45 pm
7pm (Special Remembrance for those whose funeral took place in the Parish during the year)