Aughaval Group of Parishes

  Driven by the Spirit,  Christ in the Wilderness by Stanley Spencer https://www.wikiart.org/en/stanley-spencer/christ-in-the-wilderness-driven-by-the-spirit The gospel reading      John 16:12-15 ‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. Scared Space "The first disciples were essentially simple, uneducated men. That they found it hard to take in what Jesus was saying to them was an understatement. Even today we still find it difficult, and it has taken centuries of study and brilliant minds to help us grow in our understanding of Jesus' words.... We give ...

Today's gospel and prayer resources  In today's gospel Jesus continues to prepare the disciples for his departure and absence and the coming of the Holy Spirit to them and to the world in a new way.    A prayer from the Church's Ministry of Healing The gospel       John 16:5-15 But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, “Where are you going?” But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate  will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about  sin and righteousness and judgement: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgement, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. Scared Space...

Inter Faith Conference 2025 Dialogue of Friendship: Listening Well to Build Communities  The title of this year’s Church of Ireland Inter Faith Conference was Dialogue of Friendship: Listening Well to Build Communities  This conference was organised by the COI's Inter Faith Working Group in partnership for the third year running with Faith in Sanctuary Ireland. The report which follows was written by the Diocesan Communications Officer for Dublin and Glendalough, Lynn Glanville, and can be found on the D&G and Church of Ireland websites.  Change the World One Conversation at a Time – Dialogue of Friendship Conference:  “Don’t try to change the world, change your circle of influence.” This was the key message from Dr Ebun Joseph who spoke as part of the Dialogue of Friendship: Listening Well to Build Communities conference in Dundrum Methodist Church on Saturday May 17. Dr Joseph urged participants to tackle racism and injustice one conversation at a time through ...

The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer, 1883 by Jean-Léon Gérôme Public domain. Wikipedia The gospel John 15:26-16:4 ‘When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning. ‘I have said these things to you to keep you from stumbling. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God. And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me. But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them. ‘I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. The Passion of Christ, circa 1485−1490 by Heinrich Lutzelmann in Old St Peter's...

Services today, Sunday, in the Aughaval Parishes:  Castlebar, 10am,  followed by tea Westport (in St Mary's), 12 noon, with Sunday Club, and followed by tea Dugort, Achill, 3pm Christ taking leave of the Apostles  from the Maesta   by Duccio di Buoninsegna,  1308–1311 Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7922656 John 14:23-29 Jesus answered him, ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. ‘I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate,  the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, an...

  The Sixth Sunday of Easter: Rogation Sunday 25th May 2025 Blessing the Fields on Rogation Sunday at Hever, Kent, in 1967 by Ray Trevena Wikipedia,  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13090404 The 6th Sunday of Easter is known traditionally as Rogation Sunday. Rogation Days were special days of prayer before Ascension Thursday. The prayers were for God’s blessing for the fields to bear fruit.  The priest and people would walk through their fields praying and blessing their crops.   The sequence of Rogation Days leading up to Ascension encouraged communities to prepare for God’s new creation of heaven and earth.   Hymns *695 - God of mercy, God of grace *S30 - Don't build your house on the sandy land  *97 - Jesus shall reign where'er the sun  *549 - Dear Lord and Father of mankind    Collect Two O God, you have prepared for those who love you  such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such...

                             This weekend in the parishes You are warmly invited to the following services and events: Sat 23 May: Evening Prayer, 7pm in Turlough Church Sunday 24 May: - 10am, Morning Prayer, Christ Church Castlebar, followed by tea in the church - 12 noon, Holy Communion, Holy Trinity Westport congregation (in St Mary's Church, S Mall), followed by tea in Carrowbeg House - 12 noon, Westport (HTW) Sunday Club, starting in the service in St Mary's Church (South Mall) and moving next door to Carrowbeg House - 3pm, Evening Prayer, St Thomas's Dugort, Achill, led by Parish Reader Benita Stoney Sunday Club Team: Paul, Steffi, Shirley, outside Holy Trinity National School, Westport Midwest Radio This weekend's Religious worship service on Midwest Radio is from the Aughaval Parishes and will be aired at 9.00am on Sunday (25 May).  https://www.midwestradio.ie/ Today's gospel      ...

  The fruit of the Spirit Credit: Thy Kingdom Come, Church of England John 15:12-17 ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants  any longer, because the servant  does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another. Christian Art You can find a reflection on the gospel here: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/john-15-12-17-2025/ Sacred Space You can find a devotional guide with today's gospel here: https://sacredspace.com/daily-prayer/2025...

                                     John 15:9-11 [Jesus said] As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.  Image: The Church's Ministry of Healing   What are the commandments Jesus desires us to keep? The answer is first and foremost the commandment to love - love God and love one another. How do we know what love is? Love is always inclined towards sacrifice and giving - sacrificial giving. (See  1 John  3:16 and   https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=425026212. ) A Scripture song for children,  with sign language      This Is How We Know 1 John  3:16,  by Steve Green  https://yo...

  Join us today, Wednesday, for midweek Holy Communion at 1030 in St Mary's Church, Westport, and/or for coffee afterwards (from 1105) in the Clew Bay Hotel.  This evening, 8 - 8.30pm, 21 May, Online Prayer and Bible Reading Zoom link: https://us05web.zoom.us/j/85211729812?pwd=IC1O0JxsYpsldFHsYhJlqfJ7U5thYQ.1 Password available on request, 083 800 3233 oe email aughaval@tuam.anglican.org .   Christ the True Vine icon  Athens, 16th century Wikipedia John 15:1-8 ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes  to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed  by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, be...

Westport House   Today's gospel      John 14:27-31 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, “I am going away, and I am coming to you.” If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me; but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us be on our way. Peaceable Kingdom  by John August Swanson (1938-2021) Christian Art " In today’s Gospel reading Christ speaks of a very different kind of peace, a peace that transcends anything this world can offer. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. A peace the world cannot give, this ...

  Iyesus Kristos (Jesus Christ)  according to the traditional iconography  of the Ethiopian Church (17th-18th c. Ethiopia).  Image: from Black History by John R. Moore,  retrieved 25 September 2006. Wikipedia John 14:21-26 [Jesus said] They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.’  Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, ‘Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. ‘I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate,  the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you ...