Aughaval Group of Parishes

  The message The message of today's gospel is this: Follow Jesus and do not let anything get in the way of that following. Prioritise your Christian discipleship.  Fox resting in the garden  on a sunny 'No Mow May' day, 2024, Newcastle, Co. Down. Photo: Alan Cousins Today's gospel: Matthew 8:18-22 Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. A scribe then approached and said, ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’   Another of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.’ Christian Art You can find a  reflection on this gospel here: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/matthew-8-18-22-2025/ Sacred Space "There are sayings in the gospels that are not intended to ...

    St Thomas’s Dugort, Achill, 29 June 2025, where the service was led by Rev’d Caroline Morrow. Photo by Deirdre Maguire, Co Down. Aughaval Parishes, Summer Pastoral Letter, 2025  Mini-pilgrimage on Achill, Sunday 20 July At Turlough National Museum and Country Park, 22 June 2025 Revd Suzanne, Valerie Raitt, Dorothy Shaw, Susie Fry 27 June 2025 Dear Friends, Summer   Summer is now well underway, with exam season over and the children having finished the school year. I trust you are well and able to enjoy the long, bright and warm days. Please take note of the summer events and extra services listed below and come along where you are able and bring friends and family. Included is a planned service on Reek Sunday in the Oratory on the holy mountain, to be led (all-being-well and knees-permitting!) by Bishop Michael and/or myself.  A mini-pilgrimage Please note also the publicity (below) for a mini-pilgrimage on Achill, part of our TLK diocesan Spiritual Tou...

The gospel      Matthew 16:13-19 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ Sacred Space You can find a gentle prayer guide and reflection here: https://sacredspace.com/daily-prayer/2025-06-29/ Christian Art https://christian.art/daily-...

'I made your name known to them, and I will make it known,  so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’ (John 17:26) John 17:20-26 [Jesus, continuing to pray, said...]  ‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us,  so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. ‘Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know th...

  Friday 27 June 2025 Bethlehem sheep, November 2017 Luke 15:3-7 So he told them this parable: ‘Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance. A thought for the day and for the church A saying I have made use of intermittently for many years in church and parish ministry  is "It's worth it for one!" Jesus' parable of the lost sheep illustrates and underlines this principle: Every single person (or creature) is of profound value. Scared Space You can find a simple reflection on this well-know...

  St Thomas’s Dugort, Achill, 28 June 2025, where the service was led by Rev’d Caroline Morrow. Photo by Deirdre Maguire, Co Down. Aughaval Parishes, Summer Pastoral Letter, 2025  Mini-pilgrimage on Achill, Sunday 20 July At Turlough National Museum and Country Park, 22 June 2025 Revd Suzanne, Valerie Raitt, Dorothy Shaw, Susie Fry 27 June 2025 Dear Friends, Summer   Summer is now well underway, with exam season over and the children having finished the school year. I trust you are well and able to enjoy the long, bright and warm days. Please take note of the summer events and extra services listed below and come along where you are able and bring friends and family. Included is a planned service on Reek Sunday in the Oratory on the holy mountain, to be led (all-being-well and knees-permitting!) by Bishop Michael and/or myself.  A mini-pilgrimage Please note also the publicity (below) for a mini-pilgrimage on Achill, part of our TLK diocesan Spiritual Tourism mi...