Thirty-Third Sunday In Ordinary Time / World Day of The Poor 15th November 2020
Anniversary & Month’s Mind Masses
Mass will be offered for the following people on the occasion of an Anniversary or Month’s Mind. We remember them, their families and loved ones in our prayers.
Sunday 15th November 12Noon Angela Gallagher
Monday 16th November 10.00am Patricia Doherty
Monday 16th November 7.30pm Kathleen McTaggart
Tuesday 17th November 10.00am The Healy Family
Tuesday 17th November 7.30pm Thomas & Kathleen Devine
Wednesday 18th November 10.00am Mary Doherty
Wednesday 18th November 7.30pm Teresa McGeehan
Thursday 19th November 10.00am The Gallagher Family
Thursday 19th November 7.30pm Isabel McShane
Friday 20th November 10.00am Patrick McCarron
Saturday 21stNovember 6.00pm Don & Charlie Gormley & Peter Melarkey
Rest In Peace: We extend our sincere sympathy to the family and friends of; Mary-Lou Kelly- Chippendale Park, Michael McIntyre- Abbey Park
Baptisms: We welcome into the family of God; Luca McGowan
Confessions: Monday – Friday 7.00-7.25pm, Saturday 11.30am- 12.30pm & 5.15pm-5.50pm
Visitation of the Sick: For urgent sick calls please contact the Parish office on 028-71262301 or 02871262894.
Baptisms: Please contact the Parish Office for dates.
Parish Office: You can contact the Parish Office by Phone on 028-71262301 or via email longtower@derrydiocese.org
Christmas Mass Bouquets are now available from the Parish Office or the Sacristy. Cost £2.00 each.
Long Tower Christmas Cards are now available from Parish Office or the Sacristy. Cost is £4.00 for a packet of 12 cards each containing 4 different images of the Long Tower Church.
Mass Guidance
Additional regulations for places of Worship implemented on Friday 16th October restricts the number of people attending Funerals to 25 people. Weekday & Saturday Morning Masses will continue as usual at 10am with Funeral Masses at 11am. There will be no Funeral Masses on a Sunday.
It is also mandatory that everyone attending Mass & other Church Services wear a face covering at all times. We must all continue to observe social distancing, use the hand sanitiser on entering & leaving the Church and to receive Holy Communion only in the hand. It is up to each of us individually and as a community to keep each other as safe as possible as we continue to live alongside the virus. We appreciate your understanding and support as we continue to gather together in these uncertain times.
Padre Pio Intercede for Us
Weekly Mass for Healing in Mind & Body continues this Monday 16th November at 7.30pm
We shall share in a spiritual network of prayer, love and support in these difficult times. Through the gift of this Mass we will unite in prayer for all. We pray to be surrounded by the light and warmth of God’s love to heal our brokenness at this time of isolation, suffering and loss. We hope at the end of each Mass to give a Spiritual Blessing using a 1st class relic of Padre Pio. Please share as best you can knowledge of this Mass with your family & friends. You can access the Mass via our parish website: www.longtowerchurch.org then click on the link for the webcam or alternatively by logging on to www.churchmedia.tv
Our Divine Currency
Money can be a blessing or a hardship – a gift, or a blight that can invade, wilt, and destroy many aspects of our existence. Depending on things that were occurring in our families lives and the socio-economic environment into which we were born, money will either help us to survive or struggle. But there is another aspect to consider – how do we wisely use and distribute our cash when we are blessed to have it? There is more than enough and an abundance of resources in our world that have been entrusted to all of us to distribute – so why is there so much lack and waste occurring? It feels the answer to this may lie within the heart of each one of us – in other words, how do we trade and settle our accounts with those who have nothing – within the body of Christ? It may be we have become anaesthetised by all that glitters in our material world and have forgotten that our existence and survival is also driven by the divine currency within the tendrils that connect our hearts together. Let us not just give for a day – that satisfies our guilt. Giving is a lifelong commitment. May we begin to truly invest in those who need us, for there is an endless supply from the Divine Banker.
Reference and further reading: Matthew 25: 14-30. Trocaire – buy a Gift of Love for your family and friends this Christmas – and send some love around the World www.trocaire.org/gifts
Annual Solemn Novena In Honour of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
Annual Solemn Novena in honour of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Nine Sundays before Christmas in Long Tower Church at 6.00pm, continuing this Sunday 8th November. Pope Francis wrote his latest letter to us all on the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi on 4th October. In it he asks us, in the spirit of St. Francis, to pray for and work at brotherhood and solidarity with all our sisters and brothers of all faiths and none. We will pray for this spirit of fraternal love through our Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Each night will comprise of the Rosary, Novena prayer and petitions with a short talk given by various guest speakers and a ceremony of healing with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Our speaker this week is Fr. Gerard Mongan. Fr. Gerard, a native of Omagh currently serves in Parish of Three Patrons, Carnhill. He was ordained to the Priesthood in July 2003 and served as a curate in Long Tower from 2007-2013. We welcome him to the Long Tower as we continue our Novena in honour of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. We encourage everybody, including those in particular need of healing in their lives to join us.
Mass for deceased pilgrims, staff and friends of the Derry Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes will be celebrated in Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Steelstown, Derry, on Wednesday 18 November, at 7.30pm. Numbers will be restricted in keeping with Covid-19 restrictions. This Mass will be live streamed on steelstownparish.com/webcam.htm.
Accord Derry Virtual Interactive Marriage Preparation Programme. Course Dates, January 12th and 13th 2021, February 9th and 10th 2021 & March 9th and 10th 2021. Booking now online at www.accordni.com.
November Booklet for Families. A short booklet for families has been created to highlight the month of November as a time to remember and pray for our dearly departed. It marks out the feast days, provides a family prayer service, instructions to prepare a sacred space in the home and some prayers for November & hopefully encourage households to mark this special month of remembrance with some time for prayer together. May it bring comfort, solace and the light of Christ to many people during the coming days and weeks. The booklet can be downloaded at this link: https://www.derrydiocese.org/news/november-prayer-service-for-use-at-home.
Prayer Resources and Activities for Families for November: The Derry Diocesan Catechetical Centre has created a range of prayer resources for families to use at home during November in memory of loved ones who have died. These include practical ways to pray together at home, prayers you can use and tips on creating a sacred space for prayer. For the mid-term break there is a ‘World Drawing God Day’, which is a great way to engage children for hours in creative drawing. Drawings can be shared online and you can take an online tour of the Drawing God Museum.
To view all the available resources, visit www.catecheticalcentre.org
The Net: The November edition of The Net is now available online, on www.derrydiocese.org . As always, it features a wide variety of news, interesting and inspiring interviews, articles and photos from parishes across the diocese. You are invited to read The Net, on the diocesan website, at your convenience.
Derry Diocesan Trust: Part Time Housekeeper for Leckpatrick Parish. Part Time Temporary 3 month contract (possibility of extension). This is a part time position with the hours stipulated below: 8 hours per week with possibility of extension to 14 hours. Part Time Cleaner for Derry Diocesan Office. Part Time Permanent Contract 5 hours per week. For application packs please contact: Bishop’s House, St Eugene’s Cathedral, Francis Street, Derry, BT48 9AP, telephone 02871262302 or email: payroll@derrydiocese.org. Completed applications must be returned to Personnel, Bishop’s House, St Eugene’s Cathedral, Francis Street, Derry, BT48 9AP or via email to payroll@derrydiocese.org no later than 5.00pm on 18.11.2020. Derry Diocesan Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We welcome applications from all men and women and from members of all communities.
Can You Foster? Could you give a home to a vulnerable child when they need it most? Fostering is about giving them a safe, secure place to live for a few weeks, months or even years. Barnardo’s Fostering NI is looking for foster carers. Foster placements can be: long-term, short-term, emergency, short breaks and parent and child together. You must be over 21 to foster and must have a spare bedroom in your home. Foster carers are offered a fostering fee and allowances; they are given training and support. To learn more please Tel: 028 9065 2288 or visit our website https://www.barnardos.org.uk/foster
Lough Derg November Memorial Service for deceased pilgrims and benefactors. Live via webcam from St. Mary’s Church, Pettigo, Sunday 22nd November at 7pm www.churchservices.tv/pettigo To Enrol a Daparted Loved One, please contact us by email: info@loughderg.org or Tel: 0(0353) 71 9861518 or Write to: Fr La Flynn, Prior, Lough Derg, Pettigo, Co Donegal F94 YC60.
Accord’s free and confidential ‘Relationships Support Phone Line’ for marriages, families and relationships offers support to those experiencing extra pressure due to social restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The three numbers are: Accord CLG – 01 531 3331, Accord Dublin – 01 905 9555, Accord NI – 028 9568 0151 or 00353 1 531 3331.
Webcams Around the country, some parish churches and cathedrals have installed webcams for the broadcast of Mass and these can accessed on the following websites; https://www.churchservices.tv/churches/
https://www.mcnmedia.tv/cameras
https://www.parishwebsites.ie/
Radio Maria Ireland is an Irish-run Catholic Talk-Radio Station. Prayer, Catechesis, Uplifting music, Talks, Interviews and Testimonies – Listen via TV on Saorview – Channel 210 and Freeview – Channel 826; Download our FREE APP – “Radio Maria Ireland”, streaming on www.radiomaria.ie or via PHONE – get live radio feed by telephoning +353 (0) 1 437 3277 (no extra charges apply). Please join our growing faith family.
