AN INVITATION TO THE MEMBERS OF ST BRIGIDS GAC TO THE CLUB MASS
On Sunday 2nd February next, the 10.30 am Mass will be the Club Mass for St Brigids GAC.
Members of the Club, together with their families and friends are invited to take part in the Mass. This is a special occasion on which to thank God for the many good things in life and to seek God’s continued blessing in the times ahead. I warmly invite you and all Members of the Club to this Mass and look forward to welcoming everyone.
“Welcome” is an important word. When we look at the life of Jesus we discover someone who welcomed all who came to Him – the crowds, the children, the sick, the sinners, the lost and the curious. All were welcomed and experienced His concern, His love, His wisdom and His forgiving kindness. We in St Brigid’s Parish, if we are to be true followers of Jesus, must seek what He seeks and love what He loves. We must have the same disposition as Jesus so that all who come to us and live among us experience a warm welcome. When people are welcomed, they begin to feel that they belong, they feel at home.
I like to think of St Brigid’s Parish as a family of families, made up of many different families and different kinds of families. There are all the families living in the homes of the Parish; then there are the families of the different Organisations in the Parish – the GAC being one of these.
As you know, it sometimes happens that an individual can distance him or herself from the family. There can be many reasons why this happens, however, at the end of the day, we recognise that it is my family that makes me what I am and it is where I belong. The same thing can happen within the family of the Parish; perhaps just a gradual drift away from the practice of the Faith, or maybe it is caused by some disagreement or hurt. Whatever the reason, if you have drifted a little, now might be the time to take a fresh look at your Parish family and give it another go?
The Catholic Church is made up of Saints and sinners. We are called to be Holy, but we are a broken family, made up of fragile human beings who are trying to their best.
You are part of that family, it is where you belong and we need one another.
I realise that today’s culture can be very sceptical, even cynical about Religion and for that reason it is all too easy for us to develop an “inferiority complex” which may cause us to conceal our Catholic identity and convictions. But it was those same values that underscored the aims of the Founding Fathers of the GAA in 1884.
We today rightly cherish our Gaelic culture, our music, our literature and our games; let us cherish also that Faith that makes us the family of God and was brought to us over 1500 years ago by St Patrick. May all of us have a strong sense of family identity, Club identity and Parish identity.
I look forward to welcoming you to the Club Mass on Sunday next, 2nd February.
Thank you
Father O Donnell
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