Aughaval Group of Parishes

  Please scroll down for general information and notices. Please note there will be no  Midweek service on Wed 31 December and  no  Online Prayer and Bible Reading.  The Purification or The Presentation in the Temple Far Bibliothèque municipale Stanislas,  Nancy - La Purification ou la Présentation au Temple  (Ms. 1874, fol. 30v°), CC BY 2.0,  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29759248 Today's gospel reading      Luke 2:36-40 There was also a prophet, Anna  the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child  to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had finished everything required...

Please scroll down for general information and notices. Today's gospel      Luke 2:22-35 When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him [Jesus] up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord’), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.’ Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon;  this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.  Guided by the Spirit, Simeon  came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon  took him in his arms and praised God...

Worship in the Aughaval Parishes on Sunday 28 December Castlebar 10am in Christ Church Castlebar, Morning Prayer read by Susie Fry and Jenni McCormack (LLLMs/Parish Readers). Preacher, Rev’d John Wesley. Westport 11.30am in Holy Trinity Westport, Morning Prayer read by Benita Stoney  (LLLM/Parish Reader). Everyone welcome! Please scroll down for today's gospel and devotional resources, plus notices and more information.  Christmas Eve on Achill,  at St Thomas’s Church, Dugort  Today’s gospel    Matthew 2:13-15,19-23 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’    Then Joseph  got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt,and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the pr...

  Please scroll down for notes, notices and invitations. The Feast of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist 27 December Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist Codexaureus 25 Public domain, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=108039 Today's gospel      John 20:2–8 So she [Mary Magdalene] ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”    Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.    Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a plac...

The Feast of Saint Stephen, 26 December Today’s gospel     Matthew 10:17-22 [Jesus said] Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death;and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. Saint Stephen Stephen's Day coming hot on the heels of Christmas, and the story of his faith and his persecution and death by stoning, act as a blunt reminder that for people of many faiths, the reality of persecution is never far away. Perhaps Ste...