Message to Parishoners re. Pastoral Letter on 8th Amendment.

Dear Parishioners, Today,  I have asked the priests to distribute a Pastoral Message that I have written about the upcoming referendum on the 8th Amendment to the Constitution. I am conscious that this is a complex and very sensitive subject to address and that it may touch some people very personally. That is why I […]

Joint Christmas Message 2018

  JOINT CHRISTMAS MESSAGE 2017 Christmas is on the cards. Sending and receiving Christmas cards is still very much part of our Christmas experience. There is a whole variety of greetings on the cards :Merry Christmas, Season’s Greetings’, Nollaig Shona Duit and Ho Ho Ho are but a few offered this year. The greeting is […]

Statement on the death of Fr Ronan Drury

I heard of the death of Fr Ronan Drury with great sadness. Even though I had known him since my days as a student in Maynooth in the nineteen sixties, it was only in more recent years that I got to know him fairly well and to appreciate his great qualities. He had been Professor […]

Homily at the funeral of Fr. Raymond Brady

Parishioners here will know that in recent times Fr Ray usually occupied a seat over there in the sanctuary for Mass as often as he was able to. Illness slowed him down, but it never kept him late. He would always be there in good time, and would have said at least a rosary before […]

Homily at Funeral Mass for Fr. Brian McNamara

  Today we say farewell to Canon Brian McNamara. He enjoyed robust good health for most of his long life, but in recent years he was confined to the house because of illness. He was wonderfully looked after  here in his adopted parish of Derrylin by a team of carers who went far beyond the […]

KILMORE DIOCESAN PILGRIMAGE TO KNOCK

Feast Of The Body And Blood Of Christ 18 June 2017   Before he ascended into heaven Christ promised his disciples – paradoxically: “I will be with you always, till the end of the world.” Christ remains with us above all in the Eucharist – the Mass. The feast of Corpus Christi – the feast […]

Homily at Mass to celebrate 70th anniversary of ordination of Msgr. P.J. McManus

MONSIGNOR P.J. MCMANUS 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF ORDINATION 2 July 2017   First of all I congratulate you, Monsignor P.J. on this happy day. I congratulate you not just on reaching this rarely seen landmark on your life’s journey and your priestly journey, but on reaching it with some style – with a clear mind and […]

Feast of St. Felims. Patron of the diocese of Kilmore

FEAST OF ST FELIM Patron of the Diocese of Kilmore 9 August 2017 I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was on a pilgrimage to Wurzburg in Germany with a parish group from Mullagh. We went for the annual feast of St Kilian, who was born in Mullagh and who brought the faith to […]

Homily at the Conferral of Acolyte on Padraig Kelly.

CONFERRAL OF ACOLYTE PADRAIG KELLY St Clare’s Church, Manorhamilton 10 June 2017   The ministry of acolyte that Padraig will receive shortly is the final stage on the journey to the order of Deacon. As the readings of our Mass today suggest, it is concerned very much with the ministry of the Eucharist. As an […]

Homily of Bishop Leo O’Reilly at the welcome Mass for the relics of Saint Oliver Plunkett 6thJune2017

Around this time of year bishops would normally be preparing to make new parish appointments, the annual diocesan changes. The reason ‘the changes’ happened at this time of year was simple. Whatever vacancies might have occurred could now be filled because there were new priests, who had been recently ordained, waiting for appointments. Some of […]