Wicklow Parish BBQ

The Wicklow Parish BBQ in aid of Wicklow Parish & Friends of St Luke’s Hospital, Rathgar will be held on September 2nd at Killmullen House Moneystown, near Roundwood, Co. Wicklow starting at 1 pm. 
Steak, hog roast and a vegetarian option will be served, accompanied by homemade salads and desserts.
Kids of all sizes will be entertained by a selection of carnival style games, activities and a treasure hunt through the grounds. Adults can enjoy refreshments including wine. Feel free to BYOB. Family friendly dogs are welcome but must be on a lead.
Admission – 25 euro per adult are available at www.eventbrite.ie – search for Friends of St. Luke’s Hospital Harvest BBQ or use the link https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/friends-of-st-lukes-hospital-harvest-bbq-tickets-47123380299?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
Children and family tickets (€8/€55) will be available on the day at the gate or in advance through  Brian O’Rorke 086 342 8226 Linda Walsh, Frances Shearer, Rev Jack Kinkead, Alyson Minnion to name but a few! All those who buy their tickets in advance will be entered into a special draw. 

Visit of Canon Hatem Shehadeh

Canon Hatem Shehadeh from Haifa in the Diocese of Jerusalem visited Dublin & Glendalough from 21 to 26 May as part of the partnership link between the two dioceses. He shared his experiences as a Christian, Arab, Palestinian, Israeli, Irish Anglican minister living in the Land of the Holy One. His mother-in-law comes from Fermanagh and he holds Irish citizenship.
He addressed both clergy and lay people in the Church of Ireland Theological Institute. He attended the Ministry of Healing Eucharist in Christ Church Cathedral, followed by lunch with Our Table, a refugee initiative. He was at the Thinking Allowed event in the Holy Cross Diocesan Centre, Clonliffe Road, Dublin 3 and was in St John’s Church, Laragh, for Evening Prayer.
Canon Hatem talked movingly about the situation of Christians in his home country and his insistence that they must not stop believing the message of peace, witnessing to the Lord and spreading the good news and the message of peace and reconciliation.
Canon Hatem has asked Christians in the west to do three things:
1.Push back against the demonisation of both Palestinians and Israelis.
2.Reject the support of violence. It is not Christian.
3. Support those who are seeking peace. “We don’t need you to be pro- Palestinian or pro–Israeli. Be pro–peace”.
Canon Hatem is involved in a schools-based peace project which brings together Jews, Moslems and Christians. He visited Nun’s Cross NS and East Glendalough NS and spoke of this initiative. In Nun’s Cross NS, he taught the children some Arabic and Hebrew words. One child asked him what the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis was about. He gave a wonderful illustration: “Here is a watch. One persons say that my father gave it to me and another that my great-great-great-great grandfather gave it to me”. There are two stories which lead to conflicting views.

 

Wicklow Cancer Support

Wicklow Cancer Support was set up as a Voluntary Organisation to help cancer patients and their families in Wicklow, Rathnew, Brittas Bay, Ashford and surrounding areas.
Services include:
Transport to and from Hospital Appointments
Counselling & Complimentary Treatments
Drop in Centre
A Men’s Support Group meets on Monday at 11am and a Women’s Support Group on Tuesday at 11am for coffee and chat.
The address is Unit 2 First Floor, rear of Butlers Medical Hall, Pharmacy, Abbey Street, Wicklow town. Tel: 0404 32696.
E-mail: wicklowcancersupport@gmail com

Reminder – Ashford Country Fair

The 6th annual Ashford Country Fair will take place in the grounds of the Bel-Air Hotel on Bank Holiday Monday, 7th May from 11am to 4pm. Look forward to seeing you there!

If you can assist in helping on one of the stalls or can provide goods for sale, please contact Amanda Mooney, Bernadette Glover or Lesley Rue.

Visit of Canon Hatem Shehadeh

As part of the link with the Diocese of Jerusalem, Canon Hatem Shehadeh from Haifa, Israel will be visiting Nun’s Cross School and East Glendalough School on Friday 25th May. Canon Hatem is involved in a schools’ peace project in Haifa.

Ecumenical Bible Week

Ecumenical Bible Week is now in its fifth year and runs from Pentecost Sunday (20th May) to Trinity Sunday (27th May). Rev Ken Rue co-chairs this week together with Fr Kieran O’Mahony. This year’s theme is “Handing on Faith: Crisis, Challenge and the Great Commission” and the key verse is “I handed on to you what I myself received (1 Corinthians 11: 23).
The Church of Ireland involvement in the week’s events is significant. Archbishop Jackson is one of the panellists at the Thinking Allowed session on Thursday 24thin Holy Cross Diocesan Centre, Clonliffe. He will be joined by Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh and three married couples. The discussion will focus on the question: “What have we from our experience discovered about living and passing on the faith?” The panel will be chaired by DCU Chaplain, Philip McKinley and there will be an opportunity for audience participation.

During the week there will be talks in 10 different places. Local venues and topics included are:
Arklow, St Saviour’s Hall, Tuesday 22nd @ 8pm – Can we share our faith without being annoying?
Greystones, St Patrick’s Hall, Wednesday 23rd @ 7.30pm – Our special way of talking about God

A full programme of events may be seen at www.bibleweek.ie or go to Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bibleweekie

Féile Londubh Poetry & Music Festival

Féile Londubh is an annual Poetry & Music Festival in Ashford. It places special emphasis on facilitating events for the whole community and programmes a variety of local, national & international artists. This year there are also Music and Poetry outreach activities taking place during the festival with various local schools, including Nun’s Cross NS. 

As part of the festival, there will be a child-centred launch concert in Nun’s Cross church on Friday, 13th April and a keynote concert the following evening. The keynote concert features Nuala Ni Dhomnaill & Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin – past and present ‘Ireland Professors of Poetry’ with music from  Aoife Doyle (singer), Greg Felton (Piano), Cormac Breatnach (Susato whistles). Admission costs €15/12 (concession), Family (2+2): €30.