Yesterday’s gospel passage was the story of Lazarus, Mary and Martha. It’s a passage filled with raw emotion as Martha and Mary grieve the death of their brother, and Jesus weeps at their sorrow. It’s an affirmation of emotional honesty, which is the cornerstone of health and mature Christian spirituality.
It fits well with our commitment to Kilternan All Minds Matter, where we focus on our own mental health and wellbeing. I might draw your attention to our talk this Thursday on the topic of faith and wellbeing by Lydia Monds which will look at this important topic.
One of the requirements Jesus makes from us is to be honest with how we feel. We don’t fake it with God, he knows exactly how we feel and welcomes us to come as we are to him.
Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you: psalm 55: 22.
Blessings
Rev Rob
Dear all, just to say a huge thank you all for your brilliant support towards our Daffodil Day coffee morning fundraiser. We really enjoyed having many of you to the coffee morning in the wonderful venue in the Gathering Grounds. To date €4670 has been raised- amazing! Your support and generosity have blown us away again this year.
On behalf of the Irish Cancer Society and the Tomkins family many many many thanks.
Lenten Compline / Taizé service: 7:30pm this Tuesday.
During lent there will be a short compline service in the church with Taizé music from the choir. Come join us for some quiet moments of prayer and reflection. This is the final one this lent.
Bible Buddies @ Kilternan
We are delighted to launch our first Bible Buddies during the service at 11am, with an exciting ‘Easter Bible Buddy Pack’. Children can select their little Buddy (Teddy Bears for preschoolers, and Junior and Senior Infants, Bobballs for 1st and 2nd Class and Ty TEENY for 3rd Class up) They ‘adopt’ it, name it, take it home and care for it. The pack contains the Easter Story, telling the events from Palm Sunday through to Easter Sunday, told using age-appropriate language. The idea is that, with your help, children will ‘feed’ their bear by hearing or reading stories from the bible. The children, along with a grown-up, can choose and adopt their buddies and receive their pack after the service.
Kilternan All Mind Matters (Mind, Body and Soul)
At 11:00am today (Monday), there was a talk by Paul McElwaine on the topic Aging Well. This week we have a second lecture on Thursday at 11am by Lydia Monds. Lydia works with the Church of Ireland’s Ministry of Healing and will be exploring the topic of faith and mental health. It’s open to everyone so come along and feel welcome to bring someone who might find this interesting.
The Prayer Course picks up after Easter.
We are a few sessions behind on our prayer course, which makes like a little tricky with Easter Week. My suggestion is that we hold off the final two sessions until after Easter. More information to follow.
Prayer Meeting this Wednesday.
The online prayer meeting starts again this Wednesday at 8:00. It’s a short service of prayer using the structure of the Late Evening Office. Would love to have you join us –
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85447977275?pwd=VGV2QkwvQU9qREc4L2prOVhFdWlPZz09 Meeting ID: 854 4797 7275, Passcode: 232524
Gathering Grounds Café
The Gathering Grounds Café will be open during Holy Week (3rd to the 8th) from 10 till 2pm. We will close the following week from the 10th till the 15th, opening again Monday the 17th.
Play Café Gets OWT! (Outdoors With Toddlers)
This week we continue to have a spring and easter feel to all our sensory, messy and loose parts activities. Whether we get to make the move back outdoors is very much weather dependent. We are very egg-cited too, as this week we will bring our Easter story and singing into the church and Rev. Rob will be joining us with his guitar – always so much fun! For more information contact Lynn 087-695 7061 or to join the Waitlist via the following Eventbrite link. https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/play-cafe-gets-owt-outdoors-with-toddlers-spring-tickets-563604394917
Bumps & Babes
If you are a new parent, or parent to be, you are invited to come join us and enjoy a cuppa in company on the couches in the Gathering Grounds from 10am on Wednesday. The informal friendly meet-up is a space where you can relax, chat and meet others in the community. So, if you are expecting or have a baby from new-born to pre-walking, come alone or bring a friend. A warm welcome awaits you and there is no need to book. We invite you all to join us with the Play Café Gets OWT! crew in the church for a short time of Easter story and singing just before 11am.
For more information contact either Julie gatheringgrounds@kilternanparish.ie or Lynn 087 695 7061