03 February 2020

CME training day looks at
resources for Lent 2020

The CME training day looked at resources available for Lent 2020 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Lent is a little late this year, with Ash Wednesday falling on 28 February.

Preparing for Lent was the topic of the first Ministry Training Day of the year for priests and readers in the diocese.

Priests and readers from throughout the dioceses took part in the training day in the Rectory, Askeaton, Co Limerick on 14 January. They looked at preparing for Lent, organising Bible studies and study groups, preparing for Ash Wednesday and Holy Week, and the lectionary readings for Lent and Holy Week.

The workshop also discussed Lenten resources available this year from the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), the Biblical Association of the Church of Ireland, Christian Aid Ireland and other agencies.

Some of these resources look forward to this year’s Lambeth Conference, others relate to the growing problems created by climate change, as well as the Five Marks of Mission in the Anglican Communion.

The next training day takes place in Askeaton Rectory on Tuesday 18 February, when the Diocesan Communications Officer, Mr Stephen Fletcher, looks at communications, including the use of social media, radio and television.

Training days begin at 10.30 a.m. and are timed to finish by 3.30 p.m.

Meanwhile, Sunday liturgical and preaching resources for clergy and readers are provided online each week by Canon Patrick Comerford on the Limerick and Killaloe CME website, https://cmelimerick.blogspot.com/

Links to these resources are available by email each Monday morning. Further details are available from Patrick Comerford.

The resources for Lent presented at last month’s training day are available HERE.

Rathkeale and Kilnaughtin
notes in ‘Newslink’ February 2020

Bishop Kenneth Kearon meets children in Saint Brendan’s Church, Tarbert

Rathkeale & Kilnaughtin Group of Parishes

Rathkeale, Askeaton, Castletown and Kilnaughtin

Priest-in-Charge: Revd Canon Patrick Comerford,
The Rectory, Askeaton, Co Limerick.

The celebrations of Christmas, New Year and the Epiphany come to an end with the celebration of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, or Candlemas, on 2 February.

During this season now drawing to a close, we are moving towards Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday (26 February), and which leads to Good Friday (10 April) and Easter Day (12 April).

Ministry, Mission and Hospitality:

The Bishop of Limerick and Killaloe, the Right Revd Kenneth Kearon, visited this group of parishes on Advent Sunday, 1 December 2019. He celebrated the Parish Eucharist and preached in Saint Mary’s, Askeaton, and preached at Morning Prayer in Saint Bredan’s, Tarbert. Many thanks to Jackie and Victor Gardiner for their hospitality at lunchtime.

The first Ministry Training Day of the year for priests and readers in the diocese took place in the Rectory on 14 January. The training day looked at preparing for Lent, including how to organise Bible studies and study groups, and how to prepare for Ash Wednesday and Holy Week.

The next training day takes place on Tuesday 18 February, when the Diocesan Communications Officer, Mr Stephen Fletcher, looks at communications, including the use of social media, radio and television.

Mrs Kate Buckingham:

Mrs Kate Buckingham (née Lee), of Glenastar Lodge, Carrigkerry, died on 9 December at University Hospital Limerick. Her funeral Mass was in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Newcastle West, followed by her burial in Castletown Conyers Cemetery. The parish extends sincere sympathy to her husband Edward, her children George, James and Mary, grandchildren, sisters, brother, extended family and many friends.

Colaiste Mhuire, Askeaton

Patrick Comerford was in Colaiste Mhuire, Askeaton, twice in recent weeks, as a member of the Board of Management and to present a mounted and framed copy of a photograph of Askeaton Friary in the snow to two exchange students who are returning to Spain after spending a term in Ireland.

Victor and Jackie Gardiner with Bishop Kenneth Kearon during his recent visit to the group of parishes

Christmas and Epiphany:

The Christmas and Epiphany services included the traditional Service of Nine Lessons and Carols in Askeaton, the Christmas Eucharist in all four churches, and the Epiphany Eucharist in both Tarbert and Askeaton, followed by the traditional Epiphany chalking of the church doors and the doors of the rectory.

Before Christmas, Canon Patrick Comerford, Father Liam Enright and the Revd Ruth Watt shared the prayers and blessings at the crib in the Square in Rathkeale, and Canon Patrick Comerford and Father Seán Ó Longaigh shared the prayers and blessings at the crib in front of Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton.

At the United Group Eucharist at the end of December, the children were invited to share the Christmas significance found in the candy cane.

Father Seán Ó Longaigh and Canon Patrick Comerford at the prayers and blessings at the crib in front of Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton

Church Services in February:

2 February 2020 (The Presentation of Christ in the Temple):

9.30 a.m., Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton, the Parish Eucharist (Holy Communion 2);
11.30 a.m., Saint Brendan’s Church, Kilnaughtin (Tarbert), Morning Prayer 2.

Sunday 9 February (The Third Sunday before Lent):

9.30 a.m., Castletown Church, The Parish Eucharist (Holy Communion 2);
11.30 a.m., Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale, Morning Prayer.

Sunday 16 February (The Second Sunday before Lent):

9.30 a.m., Askeaton, Morning Prayer;
11.30 a.m., Tarbert, The Parish Eucharist (Holy Communion 2)

Sunday 23 February (The Sunday before Lent):

9.30 a.m., Castletown Church, Morning Prayer;
11.30 a.m., Rathkeale, The Parish Eucharist (Holy Communion 2).

Wednesday 26 February (Ash Wednesday):

11 a.m., Ash Wednesday Eucharist, with optional ashing, Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton, with tea/coffee in the Rectory.

Shirley Sheehan reads a lesson at the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols in Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton

Some dates in February:

11 February: Friends of the Hunt Museum, lunchtime lecture, Canon Patrick Comerford, ‘Unravelling the Limerick and Sephardic Roots of JD Bernal,’ the Hunt Museum, Limerick.

19 February: 8 p.m., Askeaton Civic Trust, Public Lecture, Canon Patrick Comerford, ‘Saint Mary’s Church: priests and people,’ Askeaton Tourist Office.

25 February: 8 p.m., Adare and District Historical Society, Public Lecture, Canon Patrick Comerford, ‘AWN Pugin and the Gothic Revival,’ Dunraven Arms Hotel.

Chalking the church door at Epiphany in Tarbert

This is an edited version of the Rathkeale and Kilnaughtin Group of Parishes parish notes in the February 2020 edition of ‘Newslink,’ the magazine of the Dioceses of Limerick and Killaloe, pp 31-32