Pew Sheet – 23rd November 2025

The Rector writes ‘In our Anglican tradition, the Feast of Christ the King falls on “the Sunday next before Advent,” when “the year that begins with the hope of the coming Messiah ends with the proclamation of his universal sovereignty.” and of course we will begin our new liturgical year next Sunday 30th November, Advent Sunday, when the wooden figures of Mary, Joseph and the Donkey begin their journey around our parish homes.

If you would like to be involved, please let me know before next Wednesday 26th…

and speaking of Wednesday 26th, our online Advent Course begins that night at 8pm.

The Zoom link was in this week’s email but get in touch if you have a problem connecting.’

Painting of Christ in Majesty from the Ghent Altarpiece

by Hubert and Jan van Eyck (AD 1427)

Random Notes DXI

On Tuesday December 9th at 19:30 we will hold a Parish Movie Night* in the Parish Hall. Since we will be in the middle of Advent, I have tried to pick a movie with at least a bit of a winter / Christmas background to it!

The selected movie is “Ordinary Angels,” starring two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank, Alan Ritchson (Reacher) and Nancy Travis (3 Men And A Baby). It is “Inspired by the incredible true story of a hairdresser who single-handedly rallies an entire community to help a widowed father save the life of his critically ill young daughter.”

The movie is 1 hour 58 minutes long and is rated 12A.

It’s set in a small community outside Louisville, Kentucky, where a father has recently lost his wife to illness. He has two daughters, the younger of whom desperately needs a liver transplant. He is buried in medical expenses, is still grieving and not surprisingly is questioning his faith.

At the same time a local hairdresser, who is struggling with alcoholism,

realises she needs a project and decides to take him on. She upends the grieving family by fundraising to clear the medical bills and to help out the father and his mother to run the household. As you can image, this does not always go smoothly.

Ordinary Angels confronts serious issues – bereavement, alcoholism, faith, the need for organ donors – but these are deliberately presented in a family friendly way. The Woodworths all watched the movie last Saturday night and we can say that we all enjoyed it. The movie builds to a nail-biting climax which occurs in the deadly cold American winter of 1994.

(I happened to be working in Chicago at that time!) I don’t want to give away too many spoilers but can I reassure everyone that the movie’s messages are enormously uplifting and things do work out in the end.

You can find a review at: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ordinary-angels-movie-review-2024 and the trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1vn8kPgCYA.

Ordinary Angels is produced by Kingdom Story Company and distributed by Lionsgate.

There will be refreshments on the night!

* Those of you in the Owenabue Flower Club who experienced my Great Projector Breakdown earlier in the year will be pleased to hear a new, more powerful, projector has been procured!

SJFW

The Owenabue Garden and Flower Club, Carrigaline will host our Gala Night with a Floral Demonstration “Christmas Cheer” by Mary McKee, AOIFA Venue: St. Mary’s NS, Waterpark, Carrigaline P43 V243

Date: Monday 24th November 2025 at 8pm

All Welcome €10 Entrance goes to the AOIFA Charity – Breast Cancer Ireland Includes: Raffle, Sales Table with Plants or Home Produce and Christmas Supper