16.12.2013
Parish’s Joy as St Mullin’s Church Rededicated
The compact St Mullin’s Church in Timolin was packed to capacity yesterday morning (Sunday December 16) for a joyful celebration of the parish’s efforts. A Service of Rededication, led by Archbishop Michael Jackson, brought people from the parishes of Narraghmore and Timolin with Castledermot and Kinneagh together. There were many other visitors and well wishers including some who made their way from overseas to attend.
Over the last year, refurbishment work has been carried out on the interior of the church. Parishioners and the wider community raised over €12,500 towards the work of replastering the south wall of the church, renewing the electrics and repainting the church. While professionals were called in for the replastering, painting and electrics, much of the other work was carried out by the parishioners who volunteered their time and energy for the project.
During the service a number of gifts to the church were also dedicated. An alter cloth was donated by the Mothers’ Union in memory of Carrie Holmes. Prayer desk, lectern and pulpit hangings were donated by the Hegarty family in memory of Noel Hegarty and family. A set of burses and veils was donated by the Holmes family in memory of Carrie Holmes. Lectern and Bible markers were donated by the Glynn family in memory of Anthony and Sydney Glynn and a churchyard seat was donated by the Hendy family in memory of William and Molly Hendy.
The rector, the Revd Isaac Delemere, said the refurbishment project had brought the parish together. “This project has brought out the best in us as a community and with God’s blessing we can keep this spirit alive and continue God’s witness in this place,” he said.
The Archbishop praised parishioners for what they had achieved and said they had much to be proud of. “You have taken a difficult situation by the scruff of the neck and you have turned it forward. As your bishop, I am very proud of you for doing this in a spirit of confidence and trust. You are in the full flow of a programme of parish renewal and this again is greatly to be applauded. The strength of this community lies in the willingness of its people to volunteer and to do – to do what? To do work for God and for one another and for the wider community. All of this is a pearl of great price and a treasure to be prized,” he said.
Dr Jackson added: “It is my pleasure and privilege to honour the gifts which have been made to remember Carrie Holmes, Noel and the Hegarty family and Anthony and Sydney Glynn; the gifts of an altar cloth, hangings, burse and veils, Bible markers and the memorial seat are greatly to be appreciated and will immediately become part of the weave of life of this church, as it gives back to God week by week the honour due to his name.”
Photo caption: Archbishop Michael Jackson is pictured with the rector, the Revd Isaac Delamere, lay reader, Philip Hendy and parish reader, Avril Gillatt and those who presented the gifts which were donated by the Mothers’ Union, the Hegarty family, the Holmes family, the Glynn family and the Hendy family.
The Archbishop’s sermon is reproduced in full below:
Advent 3 Sunday 15th December 2013
Readings: Isaiah 35; St James 5.7–10; St Matthew 11.2–11
A sermon preached by the Archbishop; dedication of work and gifts in Timolin.
Isaiah 2.5: … O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord …
Advent began with an invitation to walk in the light at the darkest time of the calendar year. This was and remains an invitation issued in the voice of Isaiah the prophet and in the name of God to the house of Jacob. It has become, as Advent has progressed, an invitation to all nations to approach God with confidence and, as we today worship God in the depth of the Irish winter, we do so very much in need of the light. For many people, the darkness on the outside affects them very badly on the inside and, therefore, they find this to be a very saddening time of year. The spiritual invitation to walk in the light is something which marches with the physical need for light too. And so we carry into our hearts the message of faith and the hope of believing within the love of God which holds us in the Light of Christ at this time.
Today we celebrate with thanksgiving the heritage of the Christian faith in this part of the United Dioceses of Glendalough and Dublin. History is there to be touched everywhere in this part of Ireland and Christian history speaks to us from every part of the landscape. A monastery, we are told, hence the name: House of Moling for this place, was established by St Moling in the early seventh century, the monastery being a child of Glendalough itself. The work and the gifts of today therefore stand in a long line of generosity from God and generosity by the community here in Timolin. The church of which we are so very proud today was consecrated in 1738 and points to a continuum of worship and witness in the Church of Ireland tradition.
The parish of today has so much of which to be proud and I want to congratulate every single one of you on what you have done. You have taken a difficult situation by the scruff of the neck and you have turned it forward. As your bishop, I am very proud of you for doing this in a spirit of confidence and trust. You are in the full flow of a programme of parish renewal and this again is greatly to be applauded. The strength of this community lies in the willingness of its people to volunteer and to do – to do what? To do work for God and for one another and for the wider community. All of this is a pearl of great price and a treasure to be prized. It is my pleasure and privilege to honour the gifts which have been made to remember Carrie Holmes, Noel and the Hegarty family and Anthony and Sydney Glynn; the gifts of an altar cloth, hangings, burse and veils, Bible markers and the memorial seat are greatly to be appreciated and will immediately become part of the weave of life of this church, as it gives back to God week by week the honour due to his name.
The dedication of gifts takes us to the heart of the life of discipleship of Jesus Christ because it brings us into the dedication of ourselves as living temples of God’s presence wherever we live and wherever we are. Everything we do in normal life, we do in God’s name and to God’s glory and praise. The gifts which we see before us point us to the God who is the source of life and light and the guide in death of those whom we see no more. God’s greatest gift is God’s gift of God’s self, and we remember this always at this time of year as together we prepare for the coming of God’s Son Jesus Christ in great humility and in human form in Bethlehem.
Today we remember in particular John the Baptizer and how his disciples needed encouragement. Preparation and waiting strengthen us but they also can and do wear us down if we do not look and see the good things which are happening around us. The somewhat sad disciples of John are told to gain a fresh perspective on what is already happening around them. Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled and those who were deprived have received the signs of: kingdom come. This is the view of life, as it surrounds us, which we are encouraged to see and to share. This is what we are invited to do as Christmas fast approaches the world and us.
St Matthew 11.11: Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist, yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.