Offertory Collection: £ 2935, Special ( Diocesan Youth Commission): £1475.00. Thank you for your generosity. Pipe Organ Fund: The following donations have been gratefully received this week: £200. Thank you for your generosity and continued support for this project.

The Name of God is Mercy, Pope Francis' exploration on the universal theme of mercy, is a spiritual inspiration to both followers of Christianity and non-Christians around the world. Drawing on his own experience as a priest and shepherd, Pope Francis discusses mercy, a subject of central importance in his religious teaching and testimony, and in addition sums up other ideas - reconciliation, the closeness of God - that comprise the heart of his papacy. Written in conversatio

We are hoping to provide a short course to help prepare parents and guardians in relation to their roles and responsibilities of having their child baptised into the Church. At this stage, we are open to suggestions as to how to make the celebration of this important sacrament as meaningful and as dignified as possible. If you are interested in supporting this new ministry in the life of the parish, we would be delighted to hear from you. Contact Fr Colin at 028 4372 2248 and

The parish is recording a CD of our choirs as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations. The church will be closed on five Sundays from 1pm to facilitate the recording. The January closures are 10, 17 (from 2pm owing to baptisms) and 31. We apologise for any inconvenience. The CD will celebrate the magnificent choirs we have in our parish: Newcastle, Bryansford, Folk, and We are grateful to all those involved: our choirs and musicians, Fr Colin (Assistant Co-ordinator), Tom M

Having served the Parish of Maghera as Sacristan in Our Lady of the Assumption church for over 28 years, I retired from my position on 17 December 2015 at the young age of 73. I wish to extend my sincere thanks to Fr Jim and Fr Colin and all those associated with the Parish Centre& Shop, the Parochial House office staff and the various Parish Committees and choirs. As there are too many to mention individually, I trust you will accept this message as a sincere acknowledgement

The Isaiah Course is a practical introduction to the Bible for beginners. For those more ‘experienced’ users of the Bible, the Isaiah Course invites you to come and deepen your love for the Word of God. Let the Bible come ‘alive’ in your hands! Come and meet Jesus afresh in his Word. The Isaiah Course will be held in the Parish Centre, beginning on Thursday, February 11th 2016 at 7pm for 5 weeks. Organised by the Koinonia John the Baptist community. For more information, plea

Our GIFT 1 Programme for all Year 8 pupils begins on TUESDAY 19thJANUARY, 7-9pm in ST PATRICK’S

A special sit-down meal of thanksgiving will be hosted by Fr. Jim and Fr. Colin on Sunday 24th January 2016 at 1pm, in St. Patrick’s Hall, Bryansford. We are blessed in our parish with so many volunteers who give freely of their time and their talent to make our parish the vibrant community it is. Our lunch is being hosted to acknowledge all those involved in the wide range of special ministries across our parish. Invitations and menu-choice have been given to group lea