People from throughout Bodyke and Tuamgraney, and from neighbouring parishes, came to Bodyke on Saturday evening 21st October to attend Mass celebrated by Bishop Fintan Monahan, assisted by Fr Donagh and Fr Jackie Sharpe CSSp. It was Bishop Fintan’s first time in Bodyke church and he explained that he has been trying to visit as many as possible of the Killaloe parishes during his first year as Bishop of Killaloe so that he can meet the parishioners.
Bishop Fintan remarked that it was appropriate that he was visiting on the weekend dedicated to missions and missionaries, and he admired the display of vestments made by members of the local Apostolic Work Group and spoke of the dedication of many Irish missionaries like Fr Jackie. He stated that, just as many organizations and companies have a mission statement, followers of Jesus also have a mission and a responsibility to spread the Good News. After the bishop was welcomed to the parish by Anita Ryan of the Parish Pastoral Council symbols of missionary work were brought to the altar by young parishioners.
At the beginning of his sermon Bishop Fintan spoke of his own background and of his first happy year in the Diocese of Killaloe. He spoke of the many good things happening in our diocese and he made specific reference to the support for Trocaire , Concern, Chernobyl and other charities. He spoke too of the support from Killaloe for the several missionary societies which do great work. Bishop Fintan praised the work being done at parish and cluster level for the benefit of others by so many people and he made special mention of the work of the Killaloe Diocesan Youth Group. He spoke too of the difficulties faced by the Catholic Church in Ireland and throughout Europe, of the age profile of our priests and of declining church attendance. He was happy to talk about those from Killaloe currently studying for the priesthood, of the increasing involvement of lay people in the liturgy in many parishes and of the fact that the diocese will soon have the assistance of two priests from India in fostering the faith.
After Mass Bishop Fintan greeted and thanked individually the members of the Bodyke Church Choir who had contributed greatly to the ceremony and he then chatted for a good while with members of the congregation who had remained in the church to enjoy tea and cakes cheerfully served by members of the Parish Pastoral Council. As he left to visit Ogonnelloe, Fr Donagh’s other parish, Bishop Fintan was sincerely thanked by many people for taking the time to come to our own parish. Photos below courtesy of Orla Hogan.
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