Dear Friends,
Today is Ascension Sunday.
Tomorrow, Monday, 18th May, is the anniversary of the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV in 2025. We pray for his ministry in this challenging time.
We are now in the month of May which is associated with devotion to Our Lady. St. Ignatius of Loyola encourages us to ask Mary to intercede with her Son, Jesus, for the graces, the helps which we need. What might those graces be for you at this time? Mary is also the ‘Queen of Peace’, so we ask her intercession especially for peace in our troubled world.
Saint of the Week. – St. Bernardineof Siena – Wednesday, 20th May.
Born in 1380. As a young man, he took charge of La Scala hospital in Siena, Italy, when most of the staff had died through an epidemic. In 1402, he became a Franciscan friar and soon made a name for himself as a preacher, preaching up and down Italy, in churches and in the open air. He used the badge with the monogram IHS (from the Greek form of the name of Jesus). In his sermons, he attacked unscrupulous money-lenders and denounced warring factions between the Italian cities. He led a reform movement within the Franciscan Order – there ‘Observants’ increased in number during his time. In 1444, he set out on his last preaching journey, intending to go to Naples. He died in Aquila, in the Abruzzi region of Italy. He was canonized in1450 by Pope Nicholas V
Volunteers to read at Mass and forthe Choir
Margaret (our soloist) and Seamus(our organist) would welcome people to join the choir. Rehearsals are on a Sunday morningat 10.15am in the John Sullivan Room, before the 11.00am Mass.
Reading Club
Our next meeting will be Monday,25th May from 10.00am – 12 Noon. We are reading Into the Silent Land, by Fr.Martin Laird, OSA. You are welcome to join. This will be our last meeting until Monday, 21st September
Fr. Brendan
CHURCH COLLECTIONS
For Church: € 783. Share: € 138
Card reader: € 435
IDonate: € 10
All contributions are gratefully accepted, and the donors are remembered in our prayers.
Easter Offering envelopes available at the back of the church and in the shop.
THE NOVENA TO THE SACRED HEART begins on Thursday 4thJune and ends on Friday 12th June. This year’s preacher is Fr. Brendan Comerford SJ.
Mass times: Weekdays at 11 am and 7.30 pm; Saturday at 11 am and 6 pm; Sunday at 11am and 7.30 pm.
Please take a leaflet from the back of the church and help spread the word.
CHRISTTHE KING. MEN’S RETREAT
Talk, adoration, confession, Rosaryand Mass.
Beginning at 9 am, finishing at 1pm.
30th May. Manresa House, Clontarf.
Free event, but donations welcome.
If interested, please text 087 3313676.
FINDING GOD IN NATURE AND CULTURE
Finding God in Nature and Culture – Saturday 27th June 2026, Kildare Town. A day of talks, music, storytelling, prayer, and pilgrimage exploring the relationship between Christian faith, Irish culture, imagination, and the natural world. Featuring Paul Vander Klay, Fr Conor McDonough OP and Heather Pollington. Hosted at Solas Bhríde Centre with pilgrimage visits to St Brigid’s Well and Kildare Cathedral. Tickets and information on www.eventbrite.ie
THE MESSENGER | JUNE 2026
The June Messenger brings us to the midpoint of the year, a chance to pause and reflect as well as to look forward and plan. We explore the theme of forgiveness and the challenges it can bring, as well as the consolation and understanding it can foster. We discuss possible developments in women’s access to ordained ministry, where the importance of consensus to preserve unity in the Church is considered. And we learn that a coalition of Jesuit works and affiliated institutions is ministering to those displaced by the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, many of whom have been turned away from government-run facilities. A reflective excerpt from the recently published book on the Sacred Heart, The Living Image, along with a pull-out of the 2026 Sacred Heart Novena completes this engaging issue. Available in our shop.