Coffee Morning

CWL Coffee Morning at the Columba Club, Douglas on Saturday 16th June, from 10.30 am until Midday. Proceeds in aid of CWL Charities. All are welcome.

This Sunday afternoon

At Peel, on the beach (weather permitting!) at 3.00 pm there will be a Service of Thanksgiving for the Gift of Baptism. This will be led by the Anglican Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu and will include all the Christian communities and Churches on the Island.

All are welcome to come along (but if you are in the car arrive early; there is limited parking on the streets of Peel, but the Headland Car-Park will also be available).

At Douglas, at Saint George’s church, at 6.00pm there will be an Ecumenical Service of Prayer again led by Archbishop Sentamu and including all the church leaders of Douglas. Again, all welcome.

Happy Birthday!

Today, Pentecost Sunday is rightly seen as the formal beginning of the missionary and apostolic work of the Church; the day when the door are thrown open and the Good News of the Gospel is preached to a variety of peoples who can all be gathered together into one Body of Faith, because the Gospel transcends boundaries of language, background and geography.

So on this day when we are proud and happy to affirm that we belong to a truly Catholic (that is all embracing, world-wide) Community of Faith, we pray with and for each other, that the gifts of the Holy Spirit will enable us to play our part in the on-going work of the Church.

A Diamond Jubilee Party.....

For all children and parents who attend Mass, together with the children from Saint George’s Anglican church in Douglas will be held in the garden of Saint Mary’s Church, Hill Street on Friday 6
th July, from 2.30 until 4.30 pm.

There will be Afternoon Tea, sports and games and prizes. The Dress code will be ‘Red, White and Blue’!

We would be very grateful of offers for cakes, scones, jellies etc - please contact Sheila on 475990.

Forms will be given out at all Masses this weekend; please complete them a return them asap so that we have an idea of numbers! As the garden is limited in size it will be ‘first come first served’ for places!

What is a "Sequence"?

You will notice that at the Mass this weekend there is an addition to the Liturgy of the Word which is entitled the ‘Sequence’.
In music, a sequence is the immediate restatement of a motif or longer melodic (or harmonic) passage at a higher or lower pitch in the same voice. In Mathematics, a sequence is a series of numbers which follow on from each other, in dancing it is a set of ordered steps, which is almost like a ‘variation on a theme’. In the Liturgy of the Church all these definitions apply - and more !

The sequence is a chanted piece of poetry which would follow-on from the readings on a particularly Solemn Day , thereby allowing the community to reflect further but perhaps at a slighly different angle, on the particular ‘Mystery’ of theme of the day’s Feast.

Tradition has it that the Sequence for Pentecost , sometimes referred to as ‘ the Golden Sequence’ because of its beauty, was written by one Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury in the years 1207-1228, that is to say before the split from Rome during the English Reformation.

Today it is sung throughout the Catholic World on this Feast of Pentecost.

Lamp Intentions at Saint Mary of the Isle this week:

Sacred Heart: Emma Healy
Our Lady: Premature Twins
Saint Anthony: Those to be Ordained

Please remember these intentions in your prayers this week. Thank you.

Praying the Keeills until Sun 26 May

Sunday 20th May at 2.30: Family event at St Luke’s, Baldwin. Meet at St Luke’s Church , Baldwin (GR 360823). Activities for all ages. Stout footwear required. Please bring a picnic tea.

Monday 21st May:
1.00am Visit to Plains of Heaven.
Park at Ard Jekyll MSPCA (GR292781) and share cars to Braaid Celtic/Viking site (GR 326765) where there will be a talk by historian Frank Cowin, followed by prayers. Return to Ard Jekyll for lunch. Stout footwear required.

7.30pm Talk on Manx Crosses in St German’s Cathedral by Andrew Johnson of Manx National Heritage.

Tuesday 22nd May: Manx Tea and Evening Walk from The Howe to Mull Hill and Cregneish. Meet at The Howe Methodist Chapel (GR197678) for a Manx tea at 6.30pm (cash donations welcome). Walk to Mull Hill where Frank Cowin will talk about the area. Then to St Peter’s Church, Cregneish for closing service at 9.00pm. Stout footwear required.

Wednesday 23rd May
7.00pm Coach Trip – Manx Crosses

Depart from Promenade Methodist Church, Douglas to visit crosses at Lezayre and Bride. The evening ends with supper at Bride Methodist Church. Return to Douglas by approximately 10.15pm. Cost £12 to include supper. Limited numbers so booking essential.

Please send cheque, payable to Promenade Methodist Church, and a stamped addressed envelope, to ‘Praying the Keeills Week’ c/o Ballachree, Main Road, Ballaugh, IM7 5EB. Tickets will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

Thursday 24th May: 2.00pm Afternoon walk from Old Lonan Church: Meet at Old Lonan Church (GR 427794) for service. Then circular walk via Clay Head, Garwick beach and Baldrine. Some rough ground and steep in parts. Stout footwear required. (four miles). For those not wanting to do the full walk there is an opportunity to explore Ballannette Nature Reserve.

Friday 25th May at 8.30pm Torchlight Procession to Chapel Bay beach, Port St Mary:

Meet at Mount Tabor Methodist Church (GR 210673) for simple supper (cash donations welcome) before processing along The Underway to Chapel Bay for prayers. Then continue procession to St Mary’s Church for candle-lit service.
Please bring lanterns or torches. Glow sticks will be provided for children.

NB: The Billown Circuit will be closed for Pre TT practice from 6.00pm to 9.15pm. Diversions will be in place. Please allow extra time.

Saturday 26th May at 10.30 am All Day Walk Maughold.

Park in lay-by outside Dhoon School for service in Dhoon Church (GR 453889) at 10.30. Catch tram from Glen Mona to Ballajora (bring passes or money). Walk to Quaker Burial Ground where there will be a service and lunch (bring a picnic). Walk to Ballaglass Glen and Cashtal ny Ard (steep uphill climb). Return to Glen Mona before 4.00pm.

Thank you: Parents...

Thank you Parents of the new intake to Saint Mary’s School who came along to an open evening on Wednesday. We are sure that their children will soon settle in to the school and they will find it – as generations of children before them – a place where they can happily develop the gifts given to them by the good Lord.

Thank you: Walkers...

A great evening was enjoyed by those who took part in the annual ‘KSC Lourdes Walk’ on Thursday evening in Douglas. After a bracing stroll along the prom a good and hearty hot-pot supper was shared at the Columba Club.

Thanks to all who took part – and to their sponsors and supporters.

Thank you: Catechists...

Thank you: Catechists...who came along to Grotto Hall, Onchan for the meeting with the members of the Archdiocesan Department for Pastoral Formation. We hope that the time was well spent! We looked at the role of the Catechist as one who assists others to discover the meaning of Faith in the depth of who they are, and to respond to that call of God to each one of us. We also looked at the re-ordering of the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Eucharist) the order in which our children will from this time on receive the Sacraments in their school years.

Freedom to Flourish

"Why did God make me? To know him, love him and serve him in this world and to be happy with him forever in the next."

Those of us of a ‘certain age’ will recognise this as the second question in the old (‘penny’) Catechism. Well, ways of teaching and handing on the faith may have changed over the years, but it would be hard to find a better definition or description of our ultimate purpose and dignity in life – to Know, to Love and to Serve could well be a good place to start our prayer each and every day, or indeed at the end of the day to use these ‘ three legs’ as an examination of our conscience, an ‘look back’ at the day which has passed just to see what lessons we can learn – and what thanksgivings we need to make!

Today:

- how will I grow in knowledge of God and of the Church of which I form a part,

- how will I grow in Love of God and of the community in whose life I share through prayer and Sacraments,

- how will I grow in Service of the family, parish and wider society – giving witness to what was said in the second reading at Mass last Sunday ‘our love is not to be words or mere talk but something real and active’?

Queen’s Jubilee Onchan Service of Thanksgiving

Queen’s Jubilee Onchan Service of Thanksgiving on July 1st at Saint Peter’s Onchan at 11.00 am (so that our congregation at 9.30 Mass at Saint Anthony’s have time to get along to it). Each of the churches in Onchan will play a part in this act of Thanksgiving and dedication.