He sent us the Spirit for a good purpose
Pentecost Sunday​

 ​Dear Parishioners,
Greetings from Fr John and Fr Cormac,
 
As the deadly virus continues to beset us we have come to the beautiful Feast of Pentecost, more than eleven weeks now since we celebrated the Holy Spirit in the life of 68 young people in our community on Confirmation Day. We greet you young people especially today, aware that we had limited opportunity to share your joy when schools closed that same day.
 
Pentecost is one of the great feast days of the church, alongside Christmas and Easter. This year as we exercise a demanding discipline out of fear of the virus, we can well appreciate the fear shared by the apostles locked in a room for fear that what Jesus had suffered might also be visited upon them. As our death toll is now 1,651 our fears are still very real. Sadly, another of our parishioners died this week.
 
The fear of the disciples was transformed by the gift of the Holy Spirit. They emerged from locked rooms to enthusiastically share the news of Jesus’ Resurrection with the world, courageous and confident in the face of a great challenge. Our hope too is that we will be strengthened by the Spirit of God to meet our challenge with courage and confidence. It doesn’t mean acting in a way that denies the dangers or underestimates the threat to life, health, economy and employment, belittling the seriousness of what we’re engaged with, but it does mean following the advice of those trying to guide us to safety and seeking the Spirit’s help in positive creativity, patient endurance and international cooperation.
 
No wonder that Jesus could say to his friends before he faced arrest and cruel death that ‘it is good that I go, because unless I do I cannot send you the Holy Spirit.’ What the Spirit brings to our relationships is an enhancement of all that is positive in our lives and relationships-love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self control. Indeed every gift that enables our unity with the risen Lord and with one another is strengthened by the Spirit. The Spirit enables us to live like Jesus. The Spirit links us with the Blessed Trinity. The Spirit is the life blood of the Church, which is why we see that first Pentecost Day as the birth day of the Church.
 
What do we bring to the table to enjoy the help of the Holy Spirit as individuals and as a community? The Gospel invites us to have faith in the resurrection of Jesus and then to earnestly ask for the Holy Spirit. It must come from a deep desire in us for the Spirit that was in Jesus to be in us. It was the Spirit that Jesus was referring to when he said-‘ask, and you will receive’. The Spirit in gift to us will enable us to live like Jesus, to walk in his way and to follow him-not only in the circumstances of our lives but to follow him also in faith through the gateway of death into eternal life. We say it often at Mass that the Lord
‘brings the dead to life in the Spirit’.
 
As a child we often prepared for Confirmation with an emphasis on the Ten Commandments, on the rules and regulations. It was likely only in later life we may have come to know the Holy Spirit as key to our way of being in the world, to a vision of God sharing life with us through the Holy Spirit and to our growth in love. It’s as if the ten commandments were fencing around a great field. If we skirt the boundaries we miss our on a lot of nurture. If we break the boundary we have lost the Spirit of God but in the rich pasture of that field we can learn ‘to love as Jesus loved’, the new commandment in the strength of the Holy Spirit.
 
Happy Pentecost Day. Keep chins up. We have the Holy Spirit to enable us, to guide, to help and strengthen us.
 
The intended Parish Golf Day
What a beautiful day it was last Friday, the planned date of this year’s parish golf outing and a significant fund raiser for the parish. Like many things it wasn’t to be this year. But we thank Martin Coonan and all the organising committee members for their preparatory work. We set our sights on this time next year.
 
Praying for our friends who have died
This week saw the funeral to our church of Dorothy Murphy, the mother of Peter who collects for us at the 10.30 Mass. Our sympathies to Peter and all in his family. The death also occurred of Fr Gerry Byrne, the chaplain at the Blackrock Clinic since it opened. He conducted a wonderful ministry there through all the years of his priesthood, in spite of a long struggle with personal illness. Our prayers this weekend also include Cyril Stirrat whose month’s mind occurs and all whose anniversaries are at this time. May they rest in peace.
 
We look forward to a wedding next Saturday. The church will be closed until after the wedding celebration because of Covid regulations.. During the week, Mon to Sat, the Mass relayed on webcam, will be at 10am each morning and the church will be open for private prayer after the Mass unless, as on Saturday, another liturgy is scheduled. Next Sunday, Masses via webcam will be at 10.30am and 12 noon. We thank all who joined us for the daily rosary during May. We’re back to Ordinary Time, week 9, cycle 11, beginning this Monday.
 
Trocaire Boxes
A number of people have been anxious to get their Lenten boxes to Trocaire. The only contact point at present is the presbytery. You’re welcome to drop it off there, respecting social distancing. Otherwise we’ll wait until public worship resumes and the office re-opens. One might also leave the box at the Trocaire Office near the Pro-Cathedral. We all appreciate what a serious problem it presents to Trocaire, so reliant on the annual Lenten appeal and at a time when the Third World, the subject of its care, is so vulnerable to the pandemic 
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Webcam: Mass and Rosary
Daily Mass:  Mon to Fri  10 am. 
Rosary  after 10am Mass. Mon to Fri through May.
Click on Blue Icon Above

St Vincent de Paul Fundraising Appeal
During this COVID 19 crisis calls to SVP for the first quarter of 2020 were at their highest level for over a decade. Many low income families have become no income families overnight.
At the same time, our church gate collections and other local fundraising efforts are currently on hold also due to the COVID 19 crisis.
Therefore, SVP has launched an URGENT FUNDRAISING APPEAL with a simple message:
During this crisis more people are falling into poverty, and when this is all over, many people will still be trapped by poverty.
Star of the Sea, Sandymount Conference of SVP, is asking parishioners  - please donate as generously as you can, if you can,  to this urgent appeal.
Donors can choose to direct their donations locally when they donate online or by phone.
Online: If a donor chooses to donate online and would like to direct their donations to our local conference, you simply need to type in Star of the Sea Sandymount in the field on the donation form: ‘Reason for donating/specific location to help’.
Phone: SVP has introduced a new local donation number 0818176176. When a donor calls this number, you will be asked where you would like to direct your donation. You can direct your donation to our local conference Star of the Sea, Sandymount.
We really appreciate our parishioners and other friends of St. Vincent de Paul taking the time to read this notice.
A sincere thank you for your continued support of the St. Vincent de Paul Conference in Sandymount and the work of St. Vincent de Paul.
Please take care of yourselves at this difficult time.
Finian Loftus
President

Well Deserved 

​Many of our parishioners over the years have merited a ‘well done’ accolade.  We are in debt to all who voluntarily commit themselves to serve the parish community in a host of different ways.
 
When Paddy Kavanagh reluctantly, and with doctor’s direction, reached a time to ‘step back,’ it brought to a close a service which Paddy had given over a span of seventy years.  Apart from a short time spent outside his parish, Paddy was altar server, church collector, assistant sacristan and latterly assisted at every Baptism in the parish.  Anxious to mark his long years of service the pastoral council decided to petition the Benemerenti Medal for him.
 
Bob Harewood has been our wonderful sacristan since the death of a great servant of the parish, Margaret O’Doherty, nine years ago but over many years, like Paddy, he has been consistently present to help, counting and banking Sunday collections and ready to stand in whenever and wherever there was a need.  We greatly appreciate Bob’s great commitment to the parish in a totally voluntary capacity with kindly cheerful disposition.  We readily sought that he also should be honoured with the Benemerenti Medal. 
 
It’s a Pontifical medal requested by the Archbishop on behalf of each recipient and a limited number are awarded yearly.  We are delighted that both Bob and Paddy have been honoured and were presented with Benemerenti Medals at the end of the 12 o’clock Mass on Sunday, 9th June.  

Baptism Certificate Request​

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Under our GDPR Policy a request for Baptism certs must be accompanied by a completed form either by the adult person requesting his or her own Baptism cert or by the parent requesting a son or daughter’s Baptism certificate.  Parents of children preparing for First Communion and for Confirmation will accordingly need to complete that form when seeking , as is required, their child’s certification of Baptism.  This applies to every parish in the Diocese.

Parish Collections
​​Welcome to St. Mary's Star of the Sea, Sandymount
A warm welcome to the website of St Mary’s, Star of the Sea Parish, Sandymount. 
Our parish was constituted in 1851 to meet the needs of a growing population in Sandymount – Irishtown. The foundation stone of a new church was laid in that year and in August 1853 the church was officially opened. Designed by J.J. McCarthy, of the Pugin neo-Gothic school, Star of the Sea has served the people well in Sandymount and Irishtown over the years and they in turn have looked after it in its beauty and prayerful atmosphere. 
The gatherings for the liturgy are creative of a community in touch with God and with each other. 
We hope you’ll find our website interesting and helpful. Don’t hesitate to contact us if we can be of any further assistance to you. 
Yours sincerely,
Fr. John Mc Donagh P.P

Mass and Confession Times:

Sunday
Vigil: 6.00 p.m (Saturday)
9:00 a.m. Mass
10.30 a.m    Family Mass
12.00 noon  Choir Mass  (Choir away during July and August)
Weekday
7.30 a.m.
Mass
10.00 a.m.
Mass
Saturdays:
10.00 a.m.: Mass
(6.00 p.m. Sunday Vigil) : Mass
First Fridays:
7.30 a.m. Mass
10.00 a.m. Mass
Confessions
Saturdays:
After 10.00 a.m Mass
And at 5.30 p.m 
Open Hours:
Weekdays: 7:15am to 5:30pm
Saturday:  9:15am to 7:00pm
Sunday: 8:45am to 7:00pm
Sacrament of Marriage:
Please contact the Parish Office at 668-3316.
Click on the blue buttons below for more information

Pre-Marriage Preparation

​Over the coming weeks we’ll outline the specific requirements for couples planning a church wedding to cover firstly, couples getting married in Ireland who live in Ireland; secondly, couples getting married in Ireland who live outside Ireland and thirdly, couples living in Ireland who seek a church wedding abroad.  It’s the time of year when engaged couples are in need of such information .  Watch this space and pass on the information if and when you can.

Classes for students preparing for Sacraments

​Pre-Sacrament classes for children attending St. Matthew’s school (and for any who live in the parish and attend non-Catholic school) continues this week.
The preparation period is over two years towards First Communion and also towards Confirmation.  The classes are scheduled as follows and are held in the parish meeting rooms in the church.
 
1st class meets Tuesday evening at 5.00pm
2nd class meets Thursday evening at 4.00pm
6th class meets Thursday evening at 4.00pm
5th class meets Thursday evening at 4.45pm

‘Do This in Memory’

At the 10.30am Mass next Sunday, 5th April, we hope again to link up with the children and parents in the First Communion classes.  Palm Sunday was to be our next ‘Do this in Memory’ Mass.  Meanwhile the children could work on pages 56 to 59 of the Thumbs book and parents might share with them pages 20 to 23 of Thumbs.
Grapevine 6 and Grapevine 7 will be held in safe keeping until the children come back to school.

Church Notice Board

​Details of two new courses beginning in October are on the Church Notice Board:
Faith for Life – Deepening the connection between Faith and Life is a course run over four weekends to help you discover new ways to live out your faith in the reality of today’s world through relationships in family, parish, workplace, and the events of daily life.  The course costs €200 and places are limited.  For further information- Tel: 01-8373732 ext 247/239 or  email: evangelisation@dublindiocese.ie.
 
Active8 – 8 sessions over 8 months 8 new ways of sharing Good News, in Holy Cross Diocesan Centre on 2nd Oct, 6th Nov, 15th Jan, 12th Feb, 11th Mar, 1st April, 6th May, 10th June all at 7.30-9.30pm.  For those who are 30-55 years old who want to grow in skills of sharing faith.  Price €80 and places are limited.  Contact: mary.dent@dublindiocese.ie

General Data Protection Regulation
​The new European Data Protection law, the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), is being introduced on 25th May 2018.  This new law applies to any organisation, including our parish that manages and processes people’s personal information.  We are now working on ways of ensuring that what we do with your information is compliant with this new law.  It is a work in progress and over the next few months we will keep you informed through the parish website and in the newsletter as policies are put in place.  Click on the Button below to view the Parish Data Privacy Notice:
​There may be a Primary School Teacher in our community who would like to be involved in the classes for children attending St Matthew's School and preparing for First Penance, First Communion and Confirmation. Classes are held on Thursdays, from around 3.45 to 5.15. If so, please contact the Parish Office or Fr John.

A Jesuit Publication for your home

​Why not have a look at one issue.  You might find it’s like a spiritual “Readers Digest”.  There’s something for everyone: chatty articles, accessible theology, out-loud thinking on spiritual questions and serious issues, comforting news, art appreciation, a kid’s page (with puzzles and jokes) gardening hints, seasonal recipes and a challenging crossword.  

The Iris Charles Centre

The Iris Charles Centre re-opens after the Christmas break on Tuesday next, 7th January with Chair Exercises, Lunch and Bridge. All Welcome!
Chair exercises have been extended to two days a week – Tuesdays and Fridays at the Centre on Newbridge Avenue, from 11.45am to 12.45pm at a cost of €2 per class.
Afternoon Bridge will also resume on Tuesday at 2.30pm.
New members are always welcome – with or without a Bridge partner.  If you would like to make yourself available as a volunteer on an occasional basis, please contact Phyllis 087-6225471 or Claire 087-2368548.

​​The Iris Charles Centre is one of our local gems with a dedicated group of people running it. Senior Citizens can meet and enjoy a great lunch or participate in a range of organised activities. The Centre also hosts a Bridge evening every Thursday beginning at 7:00pm for both experienced and novice players.  All are welcome.
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IRIS CHARLES CENTRE MAP