TULLOW  GROUP  OF  PARISHES

Tullow, Shillelagh, Aghold, Mullinacuffe

 

 

 

Easter 2009
 

Daisychain are delighted once again to have the opportunity to sponsor ‘The Dove’ magazine.


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 REV. ANDREW ORR - AN INTRODUCTION

Dear Friends in Christ,

As there are just a few short months until the Institution on May 29th, it would be a good idea to introduce ourselves and let you know a little about us before we come. I was born in and brought up in Belfast, the youngest of five children. All of us were very involved in the parish of St. Mark’s, Dundela , which is on the east side of the city.

After leaving school I spent a year working for an environmental group, working all round the North, planting trees, drystone walling, repairing mountain footpaths and encouraging communities to look after their local area.  I still have a drystone walling qualification – but am very rusty now! I went to university in Sheffield where I studied Geology and Geography, but not long after going there, I became very aware of God’s call in my life and specifically to ordination back in Ireland. 

I was accepted for training in the Theological College, and was ordained in 1992. It was there that I met Susan, one of the first women to be accepted for ordination, and one of only three or four in the college.  Susan grew up in Glenageary in Dublin, also one of five children. She took Biblical studies and Sociology in Trinity, and lectured for a while in New Testament Greek.  She also trained as a Secondary school RE teacher and taught in Rathdown School.

We were ordained together for Connor Diocese, serving as curates in Lisburn and Antrim, two large parishes with a lot of social problems and a great deal of sectarianism and paramilitary activity – a steep learning curve for both of us!  We were married in 1993, and in 1995 we came to Cashel and Ossory Diocese.  I was Rector of Castlecomer, while many of you will remember Susan during her time as Youth Officer for the Diocese. While we were there our first two children, Rachel and Patrick, were born.

In early 2000 we moved to Castleknock and Clonsilla parishes in North West Dublin, and Susan became one of the chaplains at the Adelaide and Meath Hospital, Tallaght.  We have thoroughly enjoyed the last 9 years in a very interesting but challenging community – growing from 380 to 530 families, and becoming one of the most ethnically diverse churches in the country – over 20% of the parishioners come from outside Ireland, and some 15% don’t have English as their first language. 

Our youngest daughter, Ciara was born in 2001. Now we are coming to the Tullow Group and really looking forward to a new challenge in this beautiful part of the world.  Susan will be continuing her work in Tallaght and as a Lecturer in RE in the College of Education in Rathmines; Rachel will be starting in Kilkenny College in September while Patrick and Ciara will be going into 5th and 3rd class.  I will be working hard to get to know you all and seeing where God is calling us to go together.  Please keep us all in your prayers over the coming months.

Yours in Christ,

Andrew
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A Guide to Lent and Easter for Young People

What is Lent all About?
Easter is when we celebrate the rising of Jesus after his death on the cross. It is a great day: because of Easter, we don't have to be afraid, and we never have to be apart from God. But at one time, we were apart from God. We can learn about that time and about why Jesus died on the cross during a season called Lent.

Why did Jesus have to die?
 When we do things that are hurtful to others or are rude to God, God says that we can't be close to him. And when we can't be near God, our hearts are not at rest. The Bible says, 'Everyone has done wrong and is far away from God' (Rom 3.23). Not only that, but without God's help, there is no way to get back to him. Without God's help, we are lost.

But on the first Easter Sunday, God said, "Even though people have done wrong and are far from me, Jesus has let himself be punished for the wrongs of the people. Jesus let himself get in trouble instead of them. Jesus died and I was separated from him. My own child took my anger instead of you. But now I am not angry anymore, and everything is forgiven. And though Jesus was dead, I have made him

"Now," God says, "when you do something wrong and you feel like you are far from me, run to Jesus (this kind of running is not with your feet, but with your imagination). Jesus is the way back to me! Jesus has made my anger go away forever. Run to Jesus and when you are near Him, you will be near to me also. I do love him, and I love you so very much. In fact, I love you so much that Jesus is my gift to you forever, so that whenever you are near Jesus, I will remember what he did to make my anger go away, and I will forgive you. This is how we can be close forever."

What is Lent good for? ...God has given us a great and comforting gift. ... But it's easy to forget what God has done for us. We forget that it was because of our wrong that Jesus was punished. We are wrong when we try to make ourselves happy by eating lots of candy and junk food, by buying lots toys or watching too much TV. We fill up with all sorts of things, always hoping that they will make us happy, but it doesn't last very long. We just end up wanting more. We are never satisfied by these things.

During Lent, many Christians try to stop filling up with junk food and TV and all these other things to make room for God again. If we do this too, we can feel near to God again. If we clear away some of our comforts for a time, there will be more room for God.

Some ways to remember what God did: Decide with an adult what you can do to remember how much Jesus gave up for you. Try to give up something each week. You could have a dessert-free day, or a dessert-free week! How about a TV-free week? If you give up desert, or videos, or anything that costs, you could take the money your family saves, and help someone who doesn't have a home or job .... Can you think of other things you can give up for a few weeks?

Hope
But as you remember the reasons Jesus died, don't forget the most important thing ... Easter! Remember that Jesus was not beaten by death. Jesus is the winner! He is the only one strong enough to overpower death. That's why God sent him to save us.


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What is Easter?

We asked some people what Easter is and what it means to them. Here are just some of the answers we received:

*Easter is the first Sunday after the first ecclesiastical full moon   that occurs on or after March 21st, as defined by the first council.

*Easter is a Christian celebration which commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

*Easter is a springtime festival.

*Easter is when pagans worshipped the goddess Eostre.

 *Easter is for family.

*Easter is a time for reflection.

*Easter is about the resurrection, the very foundations of our beliefs.

*Easter is a time for Jesus.

*Easter is when mammy buys us loads of yummy chocolate eggs.

*Easter is a chocolate eating contest in our house.

*Easter is a marketing disgrace.

So what does Easter mean to you?

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Lent: Lent is a season of soul-searching, and repentance. It is a season for reflection and taking stock. Lent originated in the very earliest days of the Church as a preparatory time for Easter, when the faithful rededicated themselves and when converts were instructed in the faith and prepared for baptism. By observing the forty days of Lent, the individual Christian imitates Jesus’ withdrawal into the wilderness for forty days. All churches that have a continuous history extending before AD 1500 observe Lent. The ancient church that wrote, collected, canonized, and propagated the New Testament also observed Lent, believing it to be a commandment from the apostles.

The Western Church: Because Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, we skip over Sundays when we calculate the length of Lent. Therefore, in the Western Church, Lent always begins on Ash Wednesday, the seventh Wednesday before Easter. In many countries, the last day before Lent (called Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, Carnival, or Fasching) has become a last fling before the solemnity of Lent. For centuries, it was customary to fast by abstaining from meat during Lent, which is why some people call the festival Carnival, which is Latin for "farewell to meat."

The Eastern Church: The Eastern Church does not skip over Sundays when calculating the length of the Great Lent. Therefore, the Great Lent always begins on Clean Monday, the seventh Monday before Easter, and ends on the Friday before Palm Sunday—using of course the eastern date for Easter. The Lenten fast is relaxed on the weekends in honour of the Sabbath, (Saturday) and the Resurrection (Sunday). The Great Lent is followed by Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday, which are feast days, then the Lenten fast resumes on Monday of Holy Week. Technically, in the Eastern Church, Holy Week is a separate season from the Great Lent.

Special Days: The purpose of the liturgical calendar is to relive the major events in Jesus’ life in real time, which is why Lent is forty days long. If Jesus were born on 25 December, then His conception—thus also His incarnation—would have been nine months earlier, on about 25 March. That is when the angel Gabriel would have announced Jesus’ birth to Mary. Thus 25 March is known in the historic church as The Annunciation.

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The Events of Holy Week

Holy Week is the last week of Lent, when we follow Jesus from Palm Sunday, the Sunday of the Passion, to his death on Good Friday in preparation for his rising from the dead on Easter Sunday.

    PALM SUNDAY
Accompanied by his disciples, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt, while crowds of people covered the streets
ahead of him with their cloaks and palm branches.

MONDAY
Jesus chased the money-changers out of the Temple.

TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY
Jesus preached and taught in Jerusalem.

THURSDAY
 After washing the feet of the disciples, Jesus celebrated the Feast of the Passover, instituting the Sacrament of Holy Communion. After the supper, Jesus and his disciples went to Gethsemane to pray, where he was arrested by the Temple guard and taken to an illegal night session of the Jewish court, the Sanhedrin.

GOOD FRIDAY
Jesus was taken into Roman courts, before Pontius Pilate and Herod Antipas, who sent him back to the Jewish court. Roman soldiers took him to Golgotha, the place of the skull, where he was crucified.

SATURDAY
Jesus rested in the tomb while his disciples observed the Sabbath.

EASTER SUNDAY
An angel met Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" (perhaps Mary, the mother of James and John) at the tomb to tell them that Jesus was risen from the dead.

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