First Reading A reading from the book of Exodus Ref: Exodus 3:1-8.13-15
This is one of the best known stories of the Old Testament, telling of the call of Moses and the revelation of God's name.

Moses was looking after the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, priest of Midian. He led his flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in the shape of a flame of fire, coming from the middle of a bush. Moses looked; there was the bush blazing but it was not being burnt up. I must go and look at this strange sight, Moses said, and see why the bush is not burnt. Now the Lord saw him go forward to look, and God called to him from the middle of the bush, Moses, Moses! he said. Here I am he answered. Come no nearer he said. Take off your shoes, for the place on which you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your father, he said the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. At this Moses covered his face, afraid to look at God. And the Lord said, I have seen the miserable state of my people in Egypt. I have heard their appeal to be free of their slave-drivers. Yes, I am well aware of their sufferings. I mean to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians and bring them up out of that land to a land rich and broad, a land where milk and honey flow. Then Moses said to God, I am to go, then, to the sons of Israel and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you. But if they ask me what his name is, what am I to tell them? And God said to Moses, I Am who I Am. This he added is what you must say to the sons of Israel: I Am has sent me to you. And God also said to Moses, You are to say to the sons of Israel: The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name for all time; by this name I shall be invoked for all generations to come. This is the word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm
This is a hymn of thanksgiving to God for his blessings to his people from the time he made his ways known to Moses and echoes what we hear in the first reading.

(R)The Lord is compassion and love.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord, all my being, bless his holy name.
My soul give thanks to the Lord and never forget all his blessings. (R)

It is he who forgives all your guilt, who heals every one of your ills, who redeems your life from the grave, who crowns you with love and compassion. (R)

The Lord does deeds of justice, gives judgement for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses and his deeds to Israel's sons. (R)

The Lord is compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy. For as the heavens are high above the earth so strong is his love for those who fear him. (R)

Second Reading A reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians
Ref: 1 Cor 10:1-6.10-12

St. Paul uses the lesions of the history of the Israelites to warn the Corinthians against the worship of false gods.

I want to remind you, brothers, how our fathers were all guided by a cloud above them and how they all passed through the sea. They were all baptised into Moses in this cloud and in this sea; all ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink, since they all drank from the spiritual rock that followed them as they went, and that rock was Christ. In spite of this, most of them failed to please God and their corpses littered the desert. These things all happened as warnings for us, not to have the wicked lusts for forbidden things that they had. You must never complain: some of them did, and they were killed by the Destroyer. All this happened to them as a warning, and it was written down to be a lesson for us who are living at the end of the age. The man who thinks he is safe must be careful that he does not fall.
This is the word of the Lord.

Gospel A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke Ref: Luke 13:1-9
Jesus stresses the necessity of repentance 'a change of heart'. He uses two examples from current events of his time to remind people of the urgency to change their ways.

Some people arrived and told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with that of their sacrifices. At this he said to them, 'Do you suppose these Galileans who suffered like that were greater sinners than any other Galileans? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen on whom the tower at Siloam fell and killed them? Do you suppose that they were more guilty than all the other people living in Jerusalem? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did.' He told this parable: 'A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it but found none. He said to the man who looked after the vineyard, "Look here, for three years now I have been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and finding none. Cut it down: why should it be taking up the ground?" "Sir," the man replied "leave it one more year and give me time to dig round it and manure it: it may bear fruit next year; if not, then you can cut it down." ' This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Mass this week - Cloughduv at 10.00a .m. Canovee Thursday.

Masses next weekend 13/14th March
Vigil: Canovee 6.30 p. m. Cloughduv 8.00 p.m.
Sunday: Kilmurry 10.00 a.m. Cloughduv 11.30 a.m.

Spring Stations
Because of the bad weather, the Parish Mission and the early start of Lent, the spring stations are a little late in starting this year. As announced in the autumn, due of the reduced availability of priests, there will be just one station in each area in the foreseeable future. Thus the Spring Stations will be held in the Western side of the parish. Anyone wishing to or scheduled to hold a station can contact Fr. Donovan to arrange a date and time. Envelopes will be delivered in the Eastern side of the parish for those who wish to avail of this way of paying the Spring Dues.
The Station for Kilcondy, Gurranleigh and Inchirahilly Upper will be hosted by Sean & Rita Murray on Friday night next, March 12th at 8.00 p.m.

Special Mission Appeal
Each year a different Missionary Order or Society visit the Diocese and are assigned certain parishes to speak of their work, promote their missionary activity and hold a collection that goes towards their work. Next week-end, March 13/14th Sister Mary McKearney of the Medical Missionaries of Mary (M.M.M.) will be here in Kilmurry Parish and will speak at all Masses. A second collection will held for those who wish to contribute to the missionary work of the Medical Missionaries.
A WORD FROM THE MISSIONERS - OUR THANKS
The frost, rain and sun; the early mornings and tired evenings; the natural beauty of this place, but most of all your fresh faith and goodness, have made this past week a good week to live our lives. Our thanks to all of you who were able to come and to all who attended the preparatory meetings. A special word of thanks for the warm faith-filled welcome we received from the sick and to the three sacristans who have done Trojan work during the week. It would be helpful to us to receive feedback on the Mission - what helped, what didn't help and any other suggestions. Yu can do this if you have access to the internet at - www.proclamie.ie . This would help us in planning future missions. Of course you can also evaluate the Mission in the ordinary way by post. Our Dublin address is inside the cover of the Mission Booklet. Addressed to "Director of Missions". Thank you. Fr. Derek, Fr. Gerry, Fr. Sean.

Confirmation
This year the girls and boys of the 5th and 6th classes in the four parish schools will receive the sacrament of confirmation in Kilmurry on March 15th next. Bishop Padraig O'Donoghue, recently retired as Bishop of Lancaster and now working in Bantry parish, will administer the sacrament. Bishop Padraig visited each school on Tuesday last to meet the pupils and teachers, so that he will not be a 'stranger' on the day of confirmation. His visit, his easy manner and his willingness to answer any and all kinds of questions, was much appreciated. This year there is a particularly big number for confirmation (113). As the seating capacity of Kilmurry Church is 490 approximately, overcrowding on the day is an obvious concern. For that reason it has been suggested that each child for confirmation would invite four family members or friends, including their sponsor. While this is not an ideal situation, it is hoped that it will ensure a reasonable degree of comfort for everyone; won't raise issues of health and safety due to overcrowding ; won't necessitate people coming an hour beforehand to be sure of getting a seat and will avoid the need to 'hold' seats for late arrivals.

Annversaries
Siobhan Holland Kilbonane, Barry Fitzgerald Carrigdarrery, Patrick Lehane Rearour
Stephen O'Leary Inchirahilly, Susan, Kinsella Wicklow

St. Vincent de Paul Meeting in Cloughduv Church sacristy Tues 9th at 8pm.

Racenight fundraiser for "The Irish Pilgrimage Trust" in aid of Handicapped Children in Five Roads Terelton. March 12th at 9:30pm Horses for sale 20 euro Contact Paddy Reilly 087-660 5032

Bengour Harvest Festival Afternoon Tea Dance Young and old invited to Newcestown Hall on Sun 14th March at 3pm for an afternoon of dancing to music by Colum Cronin. All welcome.

Kilmurry Historical & Archaeological field lecture by noted arborist & historian, Ted Cook "Introduction To The Ancient Gaoire Woodlands"
Meet Sun March 7th at 2pm in Gaoire Car Park on R584 Macroom -Inchigeela Rd. Bring raingear & rubber boots !

Kilbonane NS Shopping party & fundraiser Fri 12th March at 8pm in school. €5 entrance fee at door.

Questions people ask
Q. When people have a run of accidents or bad luck is it a sign of God punishing them for past sins?
A. The notion that God punishes us with misfortunes is not what Jesus taught. See his response to your question in today's gospel. The victims of Pilate's savage reprisal and those who were crushed when a tower collapsed at Siloam were no worse than other people. God might permit something to happen to bring people to their senses in an act of loving correction. But God is not in the business of dishing out punishment. As today's psalm puts it, the Lord is compassion and love.
Fr Silvester O'Flynn OFM Cap