Murroe Website Editor

Thought for the Week – The centre of life

January 17, 2018 Murroe Website Editor Thought for the Week No comments

We are all looking for something more, especially at this time of they year – more money, more success, more happiness…we often take this urge literally and try to satisfy it with more stuff or even another spiritual theory.

I am by nature a spiritual forager or some might say a spiritual junkie – a soul tourist – attracted to explore the inner life but not wanting to be challenged by it – wanting to avoid the discomfort – constantly looking for something new, switching from one theory to another – constantly seeking but never finding.

It is easy to be seduced by the latest product in the supermarket of spiritual exercises and there is a huge range to choose from and they tend to be linear 7/8/9 step programs each with its own methodology. Many of these programs are externalist and keep us outside oneself – lost in the wilderness of mechanical, spiritual programs. They can become ends in themselves – and separate me from myself – substituting another activity for the one thing necessary – love!

Perhaps we need to settle and stop wandering from church to church from guru to guru, from theory to theory – searching for a formula outside myself to fill up what is missing inside myself.

The truth is I don’t need to go anywhere to find the God that waits within. I need to pursue the centre of life which is behind every system – I am the distance between God and me. We must seek God in the right places – within the sanctuary of the centred self.

Murroe/Boher Newsletter 14th Jan 2018

January 15, 2018 Murroe Website Editor Murroe/Boher Newsletter No comments

Parish Clergy: Fr Loughlin Brennan Fr. Tom Ryan

Tel. 386227 Mobile 087 9814051 Tel. 352223 Mobile 087 6291557

Recent Deaths: Maureen McDonald who died in UK

Anniversaries: Murroe

Michael and Mai McKeogh 7pm next Saturday

John Dundon 11.30am next Sunday

Boher

John Richardson and

Noel Hickey 10am this Sunday

Margaret Cahir 10am next Sunday

May They Rest in Peace

Eucharistic Ministers Next Weekend: Boher: Mari O’Flynn

Murroe: Evelyn Lorigan 7pm. Josie Meade 9am Saundra Ni Chiosog 11.30am.

“Do This in Memory” next Sunday, Boher 10am, Murroe 11.30am

Murroe-Boher Historical Society Calendar: Final chance to get this wonderful colourful calendar.

MURROE-BOHER ANNUAL NEWSLETTER: Murroe-Boher Annual Newsletter is available for sale now in all retail outlets in Murroe and in O’Neill’s Bar and Pa McGrath’s Bar in Boher and Ballysimon Service Station, Beary’s Cross.

Church Windows Fundraising: Jimmy Buckley will perform in concert in Murroe Church on Sunday 4^th March 2018. Tickets cost €20 each and are currently available in Post Office and Local shops in Murroe, and O’Neill’s and Pa McGrath’s in Boher.

Scoil Mhuire Murroe – Pupil Enrolment 2018: Enrolments Applications for September 2018 are now being accepted. The closing date for the receipt of completed applications is January 31^st. Enrolment Application forms are available to download from the school website (www.murroens.ie) or from the school. Tel. 061 386116.

Entrance Assessment for St Mary’s Secondary School, Newport, takes place next Saturday 20^th January. Information from the School at 061-378344.

Senior Set Dancing and Ceili Classes for fitness and fun have resumed in the Muintir na Tíre Hall, Murroe on Wednesday nights at 8.15pm. Beginners welcome at all classes.

Boher Community Development Association: Diary Date: Boher Parish Social, Saturday 17 February at the Millennium Centre, Caherconlish.

Murroe Boher GAA: The club are holding a celebratory Dinner Dance in the Castleoaks Hotel, Castleconnell to honour our victorious County Premier Intermediated Hurling Championship players and management. This will take place on Saturday 20^th January. Medals will be presented on the night with dinner commencing at 8pm. Music afterwards by Johnny and Niall Skehan. Tickets available from all committee members. We hope this event will be well attended and look forward to seeing you on the night.

Maranatha Prayer Ministry Healing Retreat Sunday, 21^st January 2018 at 2.30pm at St. Pauls Church, Dooradoyle, Limerick through the Ministry of Bishop Brendan Leahy, Limerick and Jomon (Voice of Peace Ministry). Tea after. All welcome.

Lotto Results for 7/1/11 -6,9,11,13- No Jackpot Winner. €20 Lucky dips Jake O’Sullivan, Jer O’Sullivan, Paul Holmes & Saoirse Kennedy. Next week’s Jackpot 4,700 Draw in O’Neills

Murroe Boher community games: Art, handwriting and model-making will take place in the Muintir na Tire hall on Sunday, the 21^st of January from 2-4pm. Entry is €3 per child or €5 per family. If all children can bring their own pencils and colours, all other materials will be provided. Looking forward to seeing all the lovely creative art work on the day.

Murroe Boher Camogie Club: The camogie club will hold an EGM on Friday 19^th January at 8pm in Murroe Clubhouse to discuss management teams for the coming year. This is a vital meeting for ALL age groups in the club, so we encourage all players, parents and members to attend as all our teams require a management team for the coming year. Our intermediate team will meet on Sunday (14^th January) at 11am in Murroe Clubhouse to mark the start of the season. All interested players are asked to attend. Thanks to everyone who contributed to our recent Churchgate collection, your continued support is greatly appreciated and will assist in the smooth running of our club.

Murroe/Boher Newsletter 7th Jan 2018

January 9, 2018 Murroe Website Editor Murroe/Boher Newsletter No comments

Parish Clergy: Fr Loughlin Brennan Fr. Tom Ryan

Tel. 386227 Mobile 087 9814051 Tel. 352223 Mobile 087 6291557

Recent Deaths: Pat Swan, Nenagh

Dannie O’Brien, Green Road, Murroe.

Anniversaries: Murroe

Pa Joe and Paddy McCormack 7pm this Saturday

Jim Collins 11.30am this Sunday

Boher

Deceased members of the Walsh family, Cloughnadromin and

Kitty and James Lynch and

Breda Cartwright (Née Foley) 10am this Sunday

May They Rest in Peace

Eucharistic Ministers Next Weekend: Boher: Eilish Bartley

Murroe: Breda Fitzpatrick 7pm. Mary O’Brien 9am Tom Seaver 11.30am.

Blood Donation Clinic This Sunday, 7^th January from 12noon – 3pm in Community Centre, Caherconlish.

Knowing Knotweed – You may have seen council signage warning; “JAPANESE KNOTWEED DO NOT CUT” – But would you like to know why? An open information evening on Japanese Knotweed will be held in Liscarroll Community Centre, County Cork on Tuesday 9th January at 7pm. Organised by local ecologists and concerned citizens with assistance from Ballyhoura Development CLG, Local Agenda 21 and Cork County Council. All Welcome!

Social Dance in Millennium Centre Caherconlish, on Saturday 13^th January. Music by Jimmy Hogan. Tea Served. Admission €10. Great night guaranteed.

Senior Set Dancing and Ceili Classes for fitness and fun will resume in the Muintir na Tíre Hall, Murroe on Wednesday 10^th January at 8.15pm. Beginners welcome at all classes.

Murroe Boher Historical Society: Happy New Year to all our members, friends and supporters. Our next talk will take place at the Muintir na Tíre Hall, Murroe, on Thursday next, January 11, at 8.30 p.m. sharp. Michael Hassett, our speaker, will discuss “The causes of the Russian Revolutions of 1917.” Admission €5 to non-members. (Membership for 12 months €20). Refreshments served. All welcome.

Murroe Boher GAA: The club are holding a celebratory Dinner Dance in the Castleoaks Hotel, Castleconnell to honour our victorious County Premier Intermediated Hurling Championship players and management. This will take place on Saturday 20^th January. Medals will be presented on the night with dinner commencing at 8pm. Music afterwards by Johnny and Niall Skehan. Tickets will be available from all committee members from mid-week. We hope this event will be well attended and look forward to seeing you on the night.

Lotto Results for 31/12/17 -9,10,26,27- No Jackpot Winner. €50 Lucky dips Niall Boland, Una Birmingham, Caroline Daly. €20 dips Biddy & Smirnoff, Denis Holmes, PJ Ahern, Kathleen Costello. Next week’s Jackpot 4,600 Draw in Crokers.

Murroe AFC turns 50 in 2018 having been founded in 1968. A history of the club is being compiled and We’re looking for your help. If you have any old photographs, or stories that you might like to include in the book or if you’d like to submit an article for inclusion, please contact Don O’Malley at murroeafc@gmail.com before 1^st February.

Thought for the Week – The Epiphany

January 8, 2018 Murroe Website Editor Thought for the Week No comments

“The Epiphany is the second great Christmas feast and in its origins it is older than its Christmas Day cousin. The Epiphany, is the feast of the manifestation of the lord to the nations; at the Baptism in the Jordan, the wedding at Cana and the adoration of the Magi. Putting it very simply, today is the feast of everyone who has set out in search of the Redeemer. It is our feast! That is what makes it so important and why this simple story of the Magi resonates so readily with each of us.

The journey we travel to God is very often a journey we travel in spite of ourselves and others. Not only do we encounter various difficulties; the Herod’s who try and trick us, the clouds that obscure our clear vision of the star, the human cruelty which leads so often to the slaughter of the innocents, the slow progress we make on our lumbering camels through the desert of our everyday lives; but we can also provide obstacles for ourselves and even within our very selves. We can be so stubborn and so full of self will.

Led by the star, the Magi fought their way through deserts and over mountains, successfully negotiated their way through indifference and politics until they found this child and could worship him as their Redeemer. This should read as an account of my life story.

By the guiding light of a star we journey through life. Don’t take your eyes off that guiding light. There are one hundred thousand million stars in the Milky Way alone, but only one of them leads us to where we want to go. This is by far the brightest star in the night sky, all I have to do is keep my eyes fixed on it.

When I reach that destination I need that keen vision even more. I have to see in that broken down old stable, the revelation of the Mystery. This is where I’m meant to be. The stable may not look like much, but for me it is more precious than the Taj Mahal! Within lies all my heart desires and so much more.

Then we come to the gifts; gold representing his kingship, frankincense a symbol of his priestly role, and myrrh a prefiguring of his death. They also represent my own life offering. The gold of whatever good I have done, the frankincense of my worship and the myrrh of my own suffering in life. Offering these gifts the Magi bow down and worship. If I am lucky enough to have met the Lord in my life then I know exactly what that feels like and what it means. To have found Him for whom I have been searching; Him for whom my heart longs. The brightest star in the sky may have led me to this spot, but nothing can compare to the brightness that warms within me when I feel that finally, I have come home.”

Bee Blogs – December 2017

January 2, 2018 Murroe Website Editor Bee Blogs No comments

A NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION

Happy New Year. As we begin yet another new year it is easy to miss out on the ‘wonders’ that surround us. Everything can become overfamiliar. We might take to heart the comment of Hegel, the German philosopher, when he said that, “generally the familiar, precisely because it is familiar, is not known!”

Routine can dull our perception and the numbing effects of familiarization can distance us from the world around us including the world of bees – we have seen it all before. We take the ordinary for granted and don’t grasp the extraordinariness of the ordinary.

To see the richness of the present moment it is helpful to cultivate the ‘Beginners Mind’, a mind that is willing to try and see everything for the first time. When I go to the apiary or go for a walk, I try to see something new….a bee peeping out at the entrance of a hive, a leaf, a piece of moss, a drop of water resting on a fallen leaf.

I came across this little poem which I liked – making sweet honey from all my failures!

Last night as I lay sleeping, I dreamt

O, marvellous error –

That there was a beehive inside my heart

And the golden bees were making white combs

And sweet honey from all my failures…..

Machado de Assis

It is great that the shortest day has passed and I am now busy convincing myself that there, ‘is a stretch in the evening already.’ I am sure there is – but there still is lots of wet and cold weather to come I suspect. The hazel catkins are lengthening which is always an encouraging sign of new life for me.

It is still worth visiting the apiary at this time of the year – if we get a sunny day the bees will be out on cleansing flights – (bees retain waste in an expanding rectum, when the opportunity arises they fly out to defecate) and you get some sense of the health and well being of a colony by watching the entrance. I also like to keep an eye out for the first spring flowers.

The most important thing at this time of the year is that the bees have enough food (you can only feed candy at this time of year. Put the candy over the feed hole in the crown board and let the bees help themselves) but equally important is that they have adequate ventilation. Bees can tolerate cold, but cannot tolerate damp. If you want more air to circulate throughout the hive, put a matchstick under each corner of the crown-board; this will improve ventilation without creating large gaps. Also check that the entrance has not become blocked with leaves or debris or even snow.

This is a good moment to check your equipment – repair and tidy up any damaged parts – also useful moment to sterilise hive tools and put your bee gloves and suit through the washing machine!

WATCH OUT…. BEES RECOGNISE YOUR FACE

A recent article in the New York Times suggests that bees recognise faces and they do it in the same way we do – piecing together the components of a face – eyes, ears nose, to form a recognisable pattern. I have suspected this to be true for a long time!

Researchers created a display of hand drawn images some were faces and some were not. The faces had bowls of sugar in front of them while the non faces had bowls of water. After a few failed trips to the bowls of water the bees kept returning to the sugar filled bowls in front of faces. The images and bowls were cleaned after every visit to ensure the that bees were using visual clues and not leaving scent marks. After several hours training the bees picked the right faces about 75% of the time..

WINTER FLOWERS FOR BEES

Winter Heliotrope has large, distinctive kidney shaped leaves and is useful for the bees – in fact it was introduced to Ireland in the early nineteenth century by beekeepers. They planted it near their hives to provide nectar for any early emerging bees. It has spread rapidly since then. It is often found on the borders of roads and motorways, railway embankments and smothers most of the other vegetation – at present Winter Heliotrope’s status in the register of invasive species is ‘medium impact’. Apparently it has a “heavenly smell” which can be detected from quiet a bit away. I can’t say I have ever detected its scent.

IMPORTANCE OF POLLEN

One of the most important things for bees is a good source of pollen, this is especially true in spring when the queen begins laying. It supplies essential protein plus trace minerals such as iron, zinc, magnesium and calcium for brood rearing.

There is disturbing evidence that the protein content of pollen is dropping. The herbariums at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History are the home to samples of Goldenrod dating back to 1842. These samples make it possible to prove that the protein content of its pollen has decreased by 30% since human activity increased carbon dioxide in the air. There is concern that ‘hidden hunger’ (decreasing amounts of valuable substances) could pose problems for us all – bees and ourselves included.

If the bees have no preserved pollen in early spring they will be unable to rear new bees until the season’s flowers are yielding. In some places this can be quite late. Hazel, snowdrops and crocus are useful early sources of pollen.

Later in the year when re-arranging combs consider their pollen content. The proper place for combs of pollen is on the outer sides of the outermost combs of brood. Never put pollen between brood.Twenty pounds of pollen is not too much for wintering and this with forty pounds of honey should keep the colony safe and sound over the winter. Never allow a stock of bees to go into winter without examining the combs for pollen. If there is plenty well and good if not every effort must be made to give pollen combs from other stocks.

Don’t store pollen combs away from hives during the winter as it does not keep unless preserved with honey. Bees pickle some pollen in honey. That which is not covered and sealed will become mouldy during the winter. The waste can be reduced by feeding syrup in the autumn – sugar syrup will preserve the pollen in the same way as honey does. Remember we can always make up for a shortage of honey but it is more challenging to do the same for pollen! There is a pollen substitute which I have never tried. Candipolline Gold is advertised in An Beachaire. Another type is Feedbee – here is what they manufactures say. “Feedbee is a tried and tested pollen substitute from Canada. It has one of the highest protein contents of any pollen substitute at just over 36% and contains no chemicals, preservatives or soy products of any kind. It can be fed at any time of year as a Slushy Patty, a Soft Patty, Liquid Feed or in powder form – it can even be applied with a grout gun along the top bars! It is highly palatable, nutritionally balanced and highly efficient. The resulting benefits of using Feedbee can impact enormously on brood rearing, colony population and honey crop and it contains high levels of vitamins and minerals that are key to honeybees resistance to AFB, EFB, Varroa and Acarine.

The fact that Feedbee does not contain any soy based products is important as soy products contain inhibiting enzymes that restrain digestion and absorption of certain proteins in the digestive tract of honey bees. Soy products also contain toxic sugars such as Stachyose and Raffinose which are highly toxic to bees. Research on feeding of Feedbee in a variety of forms has been carried out in Canada, USA, Spain, Italy, Jordan, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries. All results show a greater acceptance of Feedbee over soy based products. Visit www.feedbee.com for further scientific information and numerous testimonials on the product. Details of how to make the patties can be found on our website.

In case you have lost it – here is the hangover recipe once again..

6 oz honey

4 fl oz grapefruit juice

Crushed ice

Combine ingredients and take at bed time to prevent a hangover. Note too that one tablespoon of honey before a party can neutralize some of the effects of alcohol.

Thought for the Week – Wonder

January 2, 2018 Murroe Website Editor Thought for the Week No comments

“We are perishing for want of wonder not for want of wonders.” G.K. Chesterton….

If I had one wish this New Year it would be for a renewal of a sense of wonder. It is one of the powerful forces we are born with and one of our most useful and underused skills. It can make each moment new.

A lot of things in daily life would change their hue if we rediscovered the gift of wonder. It is one of the purest forms of joy and it is something we can practice and do almost anywhere – travelling, reading, meeting people or wherever I feel my heart beat or the sun set or the sun rise.

Like any skill, I can lose it – lose the sense of wonder as I move out of childhood or through over familiarity. Hegel, the philosopher, once said that, ‘the familiar precisely because it is familiar is not known”. So true. John O’Donohue puts it even stronger -“familiarity is one of the most subtle and pervasive forms of human alienation.”

To wonder is enriching in itself but it also can be the moment which births new possibilities into my life.

The next time you go for a walk – try to find something to wonder at….the sound of a bird, the colour or shape of a leaf, the beauty of a cloud.

Murroe/Boher Newsletter 31st Dec 2017

January 2, 2018 Murroe Website Editor Murroe/Boher Newsletter No comments

Parish Clergy: Fr Loughlin Brennan Fr. Tom Ryan

Tel. 386227 Mobile 087 9814051 Tel. 352223 Mobile 087 6291557

Recent Deaths: Noreen Holland, Cobh

Willie O’Farrell, Murroe. Funeral arrangements later.

Anniversaries: Murroe

Mary & Michael Minihan and

Rhona Kett-Sheridan and

Jackie O’Flynn 7pm this Saturday

Michael Walsh 11.30am this Sunday

Pa Joe and Paddy McCormack 7pm next Saturday

Jim Collins 11.30am next Sunday

Boher

Eileen, Jim and Peter McNamara 10am this Sunday

Deceased members of the Walsh family, Cloughnadromin and

Kitty and James Lynch and

Breda Cartwright (Née Foley) 10am next Sunday

May They Rest in Peace

Eucharistic Ministers Next Weekend: Boher: Kathleen Walters 6^th Jan, Liz Barron 7^th Jan Murroe: Elizabeth Power Lynch 7pm 5^th Jan. Suzanne Barron 9am 6^th Jan, Anthony Neville 11.30am 6^th Jan, Bridget Hayes 7pm 6^th Jan. Michael O’Loughlin 9am 7^th Jan, Bridget McLoughlin 11.30am 7^th Jan.

Masses for coming week: No Mass on Monday.

The Epiphany of the Lord – Holy day 5/6 January: Vigil Mass in Murroe 7pm Friday. Masses on Saturday – Boher 10am. Murroe 9 and 11.30am.

Adoration in Murroe will finish at 6pm on Friday night to facilitate Mass.

Sincere thanks for your contributions to the Priests collection over the last 2 weekends. Special thanks to those who contributed more than what was asked.

Sincere thanks to all who helped prepare our Churches for Christmas; the Sacristans, Readers, Eucharistic Ministers, Organists, Choirs, Altar Servers and everybody else who helped. Special thanks to the people who assisted with the car parking in Boher Church on Christmas Eve, much appreciated. Also to all those who helped in any way during the past year – many thanks.

Senior Citizen’s New Year’s Party in Murroe Hall on Sunday 7^th January. Mass at 1pm with Lunch at 2pm. Tickets €15 each. Church Gate Collection for the Senior Citizens Party will take place next weekend of 6/7 January.

Boher Community Development Association has launched its 2018 Parish Calendar. It contains beautiful photos of times past and present of the people of Boher. It is on sale from all local businesses or any committee member. Cost €5.

Murroe-Boher Historical Society Calendar now on sale in local shops. Price €8. Ideal gift for family living away from home. 50% of profits will go to Charity.

Murroe/Boher Newsletter 24 Dec 2017

December 27, 2017 Murroe Website Editor Murroe/Boher Newsletter No comments

Parish Clergy: Fr Loughlin Brennan Fr. Tom Ryan

Tel. 386227 Mobile 087 9814051 Tel. 352223 Mobile 087 6291557

Recent Deaths: Maura Naughton, Greystones

Bridget Quigley (Née Ryan Morgan), Rearcross, formerly Cappanuke, Murroe.

Cristopher Murphy, Meentulla, Murroe, formerly of Tourienbrien, Newport. Reposing at his daughter (Sue Lovelock) residence, Meentulla, Wednesday the 27^th from 5.30pm to 7.30pm. Arriving at the Holy Rosary Church, Murroe, Thursday the 28^th for 11.30am Mass followed by cremation.

Anniversaries: Murroe

Johnny O’Brien Months Mind and

Catherine Danaher Months Mind and

William Monaghan 7pm this Saturday

Davy Hayes 8.30pm Christmas Eve

Paddy, Mary and Patsy O’Brien 9am Christmas Day

Jim and Patricia Hogan 11.30am Christmas Day

Mary & Michael Minihan and

Rhona Kett-Sheridan and

Jackie O’Flynn 7pm next Saturday

Michael Walsh 11.30am next Sunday

Boher

Mai Richardson Months Mind 10am this Sunday

Mary and Edward Butler and their daughter Mary and

Mary & James Boyle and deceased members

of the Boyle Family 7pm Christmas Eve

Martin Moore and deceased members of

the Moore Family 10am Christmas Day

Deceased members of the Barron family 9.30am Thursday

Eileen, Jim and Peter McNamara 10am next Sunday

May They Rest in Peace

Eucharistic Ministers Next Weekend: Boher: Laurence Bartley 7pm Christmas Eve. Elizabeth O’Connor 10am Christmas Day. Next Weekend – Des Duffy 10am

Murroe: Josie Meade 9am Christmas day. Margaret Holmes 11.30am Christmas Day. Next Weekend – Nora Lonergan 7pm. Kathryn Buckley 11.30am

Christmas Ceremonies: Christmas Eve Masses: Boher 7 pm, Murroe 8.30pm.

Christmas Day Masses: Murroe 9am and 11.30am, Boher 10am.

Masses for coming week: No Mass on Tuesday. Boher –Thursday 9.30am.

Murroe – Wednesday and Friday 10am

We Wish all our visitors a Happy and Holy Christmas. Enjoy the time with your families.

Helen Ryan, Murroe Post Office wishes to thank all her loyal customers for their continued support, with good wishes for Christmas and the New Year.

MURROE-BOHER ANNUAL NEWSLETTER: Murroe-Boher Annual Newsletter is available for sale now in all retail outlets in Murroe and, also, in O’Neill’s Bar and Pa McGrath’s Bar in Boher and Ballysimon Service Station, Beary’s Cross.

Sincere thanks to the pupils and parents of Scoil Mhuire Murroe for contributing €325 to the St Vincent de Paul Society.

Cashel & Emly Lourdes fundraising committee are holding a Tea Dance in Cappawhite Resource Centre on St. Stephens Night, Tuesday, 26^th Dec. 2017. Music by: Brian McDermott. Dancing from 9.30pm – 12.30. Admission €10. Tickets available on the door or contact Sean O’Connor 086-8423172 for more info.

Social Dance in Millennium Centre Caherconlish St Stephens night 26^th December. Music by Chris Dallat. Also Dance on 30^th December. Music by Sam O Doherty. Tea served. Admission €10

Annual St Stephen’s Day Fun Run/Walk Boher Annual Christmas 10k Fun Run/Walk will take place on St. Stephen’s Day from Boher Community Centre at 1 p.m. Proceeds are in aid of the Limerick Branch of the Irish Kidney Association. Refreshments will be served.

Boher Community Development Association wishes everybody a very Happy Christmas and New Year. Sincere thanks for all your contributions to and support for our initiatives throughout the year.

Murroe-Boher Historical Society Calendar now on sale in local shops. Price €8. Ideal gift for family living away from home. 50% of profits will go to Charity.

Lotto Results 17/12/17 -4,6,14,17- No Jackpot Winner. €20 Lucky dips Joe Cunningham, Jodie Power, Mary Cooke & Christie MacNamara. Next week Jackpot 4,400 Draw in Pa McGraths.

Murroe Boher Bord na nOg, would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and to thank all those who supported us on our recent Bag Packing weekends in Dunnes Stores on Childers Road, your help and support was greatly appreciated.

Thought for the Week- Can we open our hearts to the stranger ?

December 27, 2017 Murroe Website Editor Thought for the Week No comments

If Christmas has some meaning left, it must be about welcoming the stranger…..the ‘other’. Hospitality is at the heart of the Christian message – hospitality – not so much about throwing lavish parties but about creating ‘space’ for the other – making sure that the our inn is not so full of stuff that there is simply no room left for the stranger or closed with its doors locked against the stranger who poses a threat to our neatly ordered.

The beauty of the open heart, with room to spare, is not easy to achieve in a culture which tells us to close ourselves off from the dangerous world around us – where we are taught to protect ourselves and our assets from dilution by the other and focus on ourselves.

And social media, Facebook etc are ensuring that we surround ourselves with like minded people, people whose opinions and prejudices are just like mine – and we end up with ‘my group’ which can lead to hardened borders, divisive elections and divided societies.

We pay our bills, our taxes and in return we get a room in the inn where we can do whatever we like as long as we don’t disturb the people to left or right and keep the stranger out. “We and they” become the hallmarks of our age – an age awash in refugees and climate immigrants.

Can we do things differently this Christmas, this New Year? Can we bring ourselves to have less of the ‘I’ and more of the ‘we’. Can we open our hearts to the stranger in whom the Word lives and who is calling to our boundaried selves to open and widen. Can we create a space within the murky reality of our own confused lives for another human being who is different, alien or challenging for us. For it is the stranger who disarms our perceptions and penetrates our stereotypes about the world who makes the supernatural natural

The disciples on the Road to Emmaus found Jesus by befriending the stranger on the road, by opening their hearts and minds to the outsider.

This Christmas let us pray for a change of heart in our world – so that we can dissolve the hardened forms of separateness and restore our ancient circles of connection – connection with nature, with our neighbour and with the sacred. Make sure there is room in the Inn.

Thought for the Week – The Quiet Stable

December 18, 2017 Murroe Website Editor Thought for the Week No comments

We are familiar with the story – Mary, heavily pregnant, travelling with Joseph from Nazareth to their home town of Bethlehem, to fill out that census form. They arrived late and all the B and B’s and hotel rooms were full – so she gave birth in a dark, silent stable with the animals. But despite these less than ideal surroundings, God came anyway. When our inn is full of stuff – or even closed – God comes to us anyway – born into our life, into our heart moment by moment, breath by breath in every little thing that happens to us. Every now and then we need to step outside our busy, noisy inn and find our way back to the small, dark, quiet stable. We need to be simple and patient with what is unfolding in our hearts as God is born in us.