PARISH INFORMATION
Priest of the Parish: Fr. Michael Hegarty I.C.
In Residence: Fr. James Pollock I.C.
Tel: 6125679 E Mail stoliver@eircom.net
Sister: Sr. Mary Muckley Tel: 6125235
Parish Office: Open Monday – Thursday 9.00 a.m. – 4.30 p.m. Friday 9.00 a.m. – 1.00 p.m.
Parish Website: www.stoliverspc.org
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/stoliverspc
Society of St. Vincent de Paul Helpline 052 – 6123878
Local Safeguarding Representatives: Margaret Waters 086-8917440 Fiona Stanley 087-9340382
Bereavement Support: Tel 6125679
Masses for Weekend
Saturday 7.30 p.m. Willie & Alice Fitzgerald (Anniv)
Sunday 9.00 a.m. John Costello (Anniv) 12 Noon Gerald & Bridget Fogarty (Anniv)
Ecumenical Service will take place this Sunday 24th January at Holy Trinity Cathedral, Waterford at 7.30 p.m. All are welcome.
St. Oliver’s Craft Group are holding an exhibition in Clonmel Library from Monday 25th to Saturday 29th January 2016. All are welcome.
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity This will finish on Monday 25th with the Mass for the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. We continue to pray for all the Christian Churches “that all may be one”.
Catholic Schools Week starts on Sunday 31st January and finishes on Saturday 6th February 2016. We will celebrate Grandparents Day here in the Church on Monday 1st February at 11.30 a.m.
2 Day Symposium at WIT on Thursday 4th and Friday 5th February. “The Divided Self Addiction and Recovery in a Secular Age”. Booking to 01-7083349 or email icfc@spcm.ie.
Come and See Maybe you have been thinking about the priesthood as a way of life. This event at St. Patrick’s College, Thurles is an opportunity for you to ‘Come and See’. Starts on Friday 5th with dinner at 6.30 p.m. and ends at 3.00 p.m. on Saturday 6th February. Event Free. Contact Diocesan Office 051-874463 or 087-2465509
Come and See Vocations Afternoon on Saturday 6th February from 2.00 p.m. – 4.30 p.m. at Poor Clare Monastery, College Road, Cork. Email: vocationspoorclarescork@gmail.com
Family Mass Our next Family Mass will be at 12 Noon on Sunday 7th February. Volunteers please contact Fr. Hegarty or the Parish Office.
Retreat Day A Day of Retreat for all those involved in Parish Ministry will take place in St. John’s Pastoral Centre, Waterford on Saturday 20th February from 10.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. Bookings to 051-874199 or pastoralmail@eircom.net. Anybody going please let Fr. Hegarty know.
The Priory Institute – Bringing Theology Home Theology Matters! Join our great student community and study theology from home. Email: enquiries@prioryinstitute.com or Web: www.prioryinstitute.ie Phone 01-4048124. Application deadline is 22nd February.
Community Education Programmes A list of possible classes to take place in St. Oliver’s Parish Centre are available on notice boards in the Church and Parish Centre. If interested please contact Jimmy Moloney Tel 6126901 or the Parish Office Tel 6125679 and give name, address and which class you are interested in, by Monday 1st February. Preference will be given to the most requested classes.
Waterford & Lismore Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes 58th Annual Diocesan Pilgrimage will take place from Monday 6th – Saturday 11th June 2016. Information for sick pilgrims: contact John Healy Tel 052-6123791. Booking from 6th January 2016.
Welcome into our Christian Community Conor Michael Corcoran Hartnett who was baptised last weekend.
Collection last weekend
Envelopes – €708.42 Notes and Coin – €484.58 Thank You
Our New Parish Centre
Target: €130,000.00 Donated so far: €128,065.87
Thanks for all your generosity
The Holy Year of Mercy
Jesus, seeing the crowds of people who followed him, realised that they were tired and exhausted, lost and without a guide, and he felt deep compassion for them (cf. Mt 9.36). On the basis of this compassionate love he healed the sick who were presented to him (cf. Mt 14:14), and with just a few loaves of bread and fish he satisfied the enormous crowd (cf. Mt 15:37).
What moved Jesus in all of these situations was nothing other than mercy, with which he read the hearts of those he encountered and responded to their deepest need. When he came upon the widow of Nain taking her son out for burial, he felt great compassion for the immense suffering of this grieving mother, and he gave back her son by raising him from the dead (cf. Lk 7:15). After freeing the demoniac in the country of the Gerasenes, Jesus entrusted him with this mission: ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you’ (Mk 5:19).
The calling of Matthew is also presented within the context of mercy. Passing by the tax collector’s booth, Jesus looked intently at Matthew. It was a look full of mercy that forgave the sins of that man, a sinner and a tax collector, whom Jesus chose – against the hesitation of the disciples – to become one of the Twelve.
Saint Bede the Venerable, commenting on this Gospel passage, wrote that Jesus looked upon Matthew with merciful love and chose him: miserando atque eligendo. This expression impressed me so much that I chose it for my episcopal motto. (Pope Francis, Misericoriae Vultus, n.8)
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