Castlecomer Parish
Church of the Immaculate Conception

During the month of July, Pope Francis invites us to pray for our brothers and sisters who receive the Anointing of the Sick.

In The Pope Video, produced by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, we learn what the Anointing of the Sick means and about who can receive it.

It is not always the last step before death. Neither is it “saying goodbye to life.” Rather, it is the Sacrament of healing for the spirit, a sacrament of hope. Let us consider this sacrament to be a “sign of visible compassion and hope,” asking the Lord to grant his strength to every loved one who receives it.

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A short film on the care of persons in the critical and terminal phase of life inspired by the document “Samaritanus bonus” from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

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Pope Francis invites us to pray for those people who are forced to leave their homeland.


"Dear brothers and sisters, this month I would like us to pray for people fleeing their own countries. The feeling of uprootedness or not knowing where they belong often accompanies the trauma experienced by people who are forced to flee their homeland because of war or poverty. What is more, in some destination countries, migrants are viewed as threats, with fear. Then the spectre of walls appears – walls on the earth separating families, and walls in hearts. Christians cannot share this vision. Whoever welcomes a migrant welcomes Christ. We must promote a social and political culture that protects the rights and dignity of migrants, a culture that promotes the possibility that they can achieve their full potential, and integrates them. A migrant needs to be accompanied, promoted, and integrated. Let us pray that migrants fleeing from war or hunger, forced to undertake journeys fraught with danger and violence, may find welcome and new living opportunities".

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Watch highlights of the ceremony from St Andrew's, Westland Row on 26 May 2024.

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In his homily at the Ordination of Fr Donal Roche and the welcoming of Bishop Paul Dempsey as Auxiliary Bishops of Dublin, Archbishop Farrell spoke about the 'need to respond to the rapidly-changing social and pastoral needs of our people.

"Donal and Paul you have been chosen from among the flock for a life of service. The trajectories of your ministerial lives will help you to engage with a society which is increasingly diverse, mobile, and detached from traditional communities of faith centred on residential parishes. It would be a mistake for us as a local Church to see these challenges as temporary, or as limited in their implications for the life of the Church in Dublin. We are called to reimagine our pastoral mission in a creative way, and discover and re-discover ways of permitting Christ’s good news, God’s open door, to be received by those who do not yet recognise his face. We can no longer seek to patch an old garment, with new-found fabrics. We need new wineskins (see Mark 2:22). We need to re-examine the fundamental assumptions of our pastoral outreach in order to help our people and our parishes find the way to an encounter with our living Lord, with greater confidence and hope."

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Bishop Paul Dempsey, welcomed as Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin on Trinity Sunday in St Andrew's, Westland Row, spoke about the call to proclaim Jesus Christ in season and out of season.

"The heart of my call as priest and bishop and as one immersed into the life of Christ on the day I was Baptised, is to share the message and continue the mission of Jesus Christ.

That’s a challenging mission today. We have come through an enormous amount of change as a society and a Church. We have had to confront difficult truths that were necessary to face. This will always be part of our story. However, in the midst of all this change, the mission remains the same. As baptised Christians we proclaim Jesus Christ in season and out of season. Some would say the Church hasn’t a voice anymore, the Church is dying and no longer has a place in the public square. Pope St John XXIII referred to them as the “prophets of doom who are always forecasting disaster.” They are always with us. It is important to remember that the Church is not dying, it is a model of Church that is dying. We are on the cusp of something new. The Church is always in a process of renewal. We, as the baptised, are part of that story, right now in this moment.

Pope Francis, as he leads us on the Synodal Path, is helping us to reengage with the Church as the People of God which was proclaimed by the Second Vatican Council. This is an exciting moment! We don’t have to have it all worked out, far from it, we just need to be open to the Spirit, listen to where the Spirit is calling us, and do not be afraid!"

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Bishop Donal Roche, ordained as Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin on Trinity Sunday in St Andrew's, Westland Row, shares the inspiration behind his Episcopal Motto.

"From quite early in my life I have been inspired by the Gospel and have spent my life as a priest trying to get to know the person of Jesus and trying to follow his teaching. The motto I have chosen as a bishop is inspired by a line from the psalms ‘Your word is a lamp for my steps and a light for my path’. I have shortened it to ‘Do Bhriathar Mo Sholas’ – ‘Your Word is my light’. While continually inspired by the Gospel, I can’t say I have always lived it well, but it never fails to encourage me, and it never fails to give me hope, urging me to begin again."

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Anna Buday, speaking at the March for Life in Dublin on 6 May 2024, celebrates her daughter Esther who has Down Syndrome.

"When we first learned that our daughter has Down syndrome, it felt like our world turned upside down. We were flooded with uncertainties, fears, and questions about what the future held for us and for her. We had no idea she would become the greatest gift we could ever receive .... I implore you, to embrace the uniqueness and beauty that individuals with Down Syndrome bring to our world. Let us stand together in solidarity, fighting against discrimination and advocating for a society where every person, regardless of genetic differences, is valued, respected, and celebrated."

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Full address by Dr Calum Millar at the March for Life in Dublin on 6 May 2024.

"What the abortion industry wants is to crush pro-lifers in healthcare, to force us out, to block us from entering and to completely erase us"

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Alex Schadenberg from the 'Euthanasia Prevention Coalition' warns the Irish people not to follow Canada's lead on Euthanasia legislation.

"We have to wake up the people. It is never a good idea to pass a law that gives doctors or nurses
or some group of people
in your culture the right to kill you."

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Colm Flynn, EWTN News Vatican Correspondent, on the document ''Infinite Dignity' recently released by the Vatican which restates fundamental principles of Church teaching in regard to the inherent dignity of every person.

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Fr Eamon Conway, co-founder of the G.R.A.C.E project, gives his assessment of the findings of their recent major report into the Attitudes and Behaviours within Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools and sums up the recommendations in three words - 'formation, formation, formation'.

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Colm Flynn, EWTN News Vatican Correspondent, chats to Wendy about travelling with Pope Francis to Iraq and Mongolia and attending World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon along with 1.5 million young people.

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Caoimhe De Barra, CEO of Trócaire, says that Trocaire 'stands ready to do much in Gaza once we get the access'.

For more info - https://www.trocaire.org/

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