Pew Sheet – 28th April 2024

The Rector writes ‘As part of Cork Choral Festival’s ‘Sacred Trail Programme’, we are really looking forward to welcoming the 24 strong ‘Juvenalia Choir’ from Finland next Sunday 5th May at our 11am United Service in St Mary’s Church (remember that there will be no 9:30am Service in St John’s Church). We will be having some light refreshments after the Service in the Parish Hall (the Choir will then head off to a full day of Festival events) If you would like to bake something or do a plate of sandwiches it can be dropped into the Parish Kitchen that morning.

Today we will have a special commissioning prayer for our incoming Select Vestry members for 2024/2025. You will find the list of names and the prayer we will use within this Pewsheet. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all those who are willing to serve the parish on the Select Vestry. It is particularly great to see so many of our younger parishioners on the Select Vestry this year.’

Music Notes 28-04-2024

Hymns at St Mary’s

306 O Spirit of the living God

435 O God, unseen yet ever near

520 Here in Christ we gather

3 God is love

Canon Elaine drew my attention to the Short Guides on the website of the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland recently and I’m very glad she did. They are a series of reflections on congregational singing which address questions we all ask ourselves sometimes about singing in church.

Here are a couple of thoughts from Guide No. 1 – What is the point of singing hymns?

Hymn-singing is Thoughtful

It is, of course, all too easy to mouth familiar words without thinking about their meaning. Yet when sung properly, a hymn should engage the singer’s mind and intellect. In part this is a matter of understanding what is said, it also involves a dialogue between the singer and the text (Do I believe this? Is this what I want to pray, to praise, to admit? What should I do if this is how I see things?). The words of the hymn then become a vehicle of genuine adoration, petition or re-commitment.

Hymn-singing is Encouraging

When we sing hymns and mean what we say, we may find that our faith is challenged and that our commitment is stretched. Equally, we may experience a much-needed reminder of the security which is offered to us in Christ; we may be made bolder by this reiteration of the hope which is set before us. We may derive comfort from seeing that we are not alone in our struggles and feel enabled to face life’s challenge with new boldness as a result.

Martin Leckebusch April 2012 © The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

Something to think about!

Bébhinn 087 2285965

bebhinnmuire@gmail,com

Dates for your Diary

5^th May Cork Choral Festival ‘Sacred Trail’ Finnish Choir visit

11am United Service in St Mary’s Church Carrigaline

(note NO 9:30am Service in St John’s Church that day)

Rogation Sunday , distribution of Sunflower Seeds

Light refreshments in the Parish Hall afterwards.

(if you would like to make some sandwiches or cake, please contact the Church Wardens)

7th May Movie Night

Emilio Estevez’s film ‘The Way’ starring Martin Sheen will be shown in the Parish Hall 7:30pm

12^th May Parish Confirmation

11am in St John’s Church (note NO Service in St Mary’s Church that day) All parishioners are encouraged to be there for our 3 young people.

15th May Mothers’ Union Outing

1pm in Rochestown Park Hotel for a Bistro Lunch.

Lifts can be arranged with Deirdre Whitley 0862612442,

or Valerie Andrew 0871270457.

18th May Youth Group (details to come later….)

19^th May Pentecost

Services at normal times, Sunday Club Prizegiving at 11am Service

The Parish Fete will be held on June 8^th in the School grounds. Please start keeping items aside for the Fete. Thank you.

Prayer of commissioning

for those voted into office at the Easter Vestry gathering

held on Monday 11th April.

Almighty God

you have set your church in the world to bear witness to the Gospel.

We thank you that you call women and men in every generation to offer their lives and their talents for the fulfillment of your purpose.

Accept these your servants whom you have called to be the Select Vestry,in this Union of parishes.

Give them grace to do the work committed to them and vision to lead your people in their witness to the world.

Make them constant in service and wise in counsel , grounded in the love of your Son, Jesus Christ, that through them your will may be done and your name may be glorified

We ask this in the name of our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. AMEN

Random Notes CDLVI

Our next Parish Movie Night will be on Tuesday 7^th May at 1930. The featured movie, as suggested by a couple of people after the last movie night, is ‘The Way’, a 2011 film starring Martin Sheen and written and directed by his son, Emilio Estevez. The story is as follows:

“Stunned and saddened to learn that his only son has been accidentally killed while traveling in Europe, Tom Avery (Martin Sheen), a widower and successful doctor in California, flies to France to attend to take custody of the body. Tom and Daniel (Emilio Estevez) had been semi-estranged since Daniel quit graduate school to see the world and live a different life from that of his dad. When the heartbroken Tom arrives, he learns that Daniel had died at the beginning of a pilgrimage along the historical Way of St. James (Camino del Santiago), which stretches from France to the Atlantic Ocean across 800 kilometers of Northern Spain. Alone, embittered, and driven, Tom takes Daniel’s ashes and vows to complete his son’s odyssey. THE WAY follows that trek with Tom as he meets three distinctive fellow travelers and experiences a country, a people, and a way of life that may enable him to heal and fully bond with the son he loved.”

(https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-way)

Both Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez are practicing Roman Catholics. Anyone who has seen The West Wing will know that the character of Jed Bartlet is informed by Sheen’s Catholicism. For all that, this is not intended to be a proselytising movie. It is nevertheless profoundly spiritual. It is not a fast-moving movie, but it does not need to be. And the scenery along the Camino del Santiago is beautifully filmed.

The movie is rated 12 and is 123 minutes long. According to IFCO, the movie contains the following elements: