Feast of Ss Joachim and Anne & Stewartstown Webcam

On 26^th July we celebrate the Feast of Saints Joachim and Anne, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the grandparents of Christ, and it inevitably encourages us to spend some time in prayer and thanksgiving for grandparents and the huge amount of work they so willingly do to form the next generation.  We all, hopefully, have warm memories of our grandparents as people who cared and spoiled, who taught us with patience, love and a sense of joy, who treasured every moment with us and made our moments with them treasures too.  The role of grandparents can so often go unrecognised, but in summertime where would so many families and children be without them?  As grandparents not only do you give your time in care and love, you support another generation, you encourage values and work, you build family love and loyalty, you show the meaning of Christian goodness in your example as you build a tiny glimpse of the Holy Family in our time, and you hand on faith in a  quiet and subtle way by your words and example.  Never underestimate the value of your actions and of the difference you make to life and to society.  Never be afraid to hand on all the best aspects of the old ways, never be afraid to encourage the best aspects of the new ways and remember that without you and what you do so many young families and young people wouldn’t know the happiness they do.  In the weeks ahead, let’s all offer a prayer for grandparents that God may always bless, protect and reward them all. 

Please note that the webcam service for St Mary’s Church, Stewartstown is currently not working due to a line fault outside the property which has disabled our broadband service.  BT Openreach have been notified of the fault and will be visiting this week to repair the line.  Unfortunately this is a problem beyond our control.  For those housebound who wish to join Mass a recording of Saturday evening Mass is available under the recordings section of our webcam link for Holy Family Church.  Many thanks for your understanding.  

With best wishes – Fr O’Neill