Father Michael McManus PP, a close friend of the Moffitt family, will be the chief celebrant for the Funeral Mass for Aidan Moffitt RIP. The Mass will take place at 12.00 noon today, Easter Monday, in the Church of Christ the King, Lisacul, Co Roscommon in the Diocese of Elphin. This Mass will be live-streamed on https://m.facebook.com/SharkeyFuneralDirectors. ADC Commandant Claire Mortimer is representing both Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar at the Funeral Mass.
Message of condolence from Bishop Kevin Doran, Bishop of Elphin, to the family of Aidan Moffitt RIP to be read at Mass
Dear Kathleen, Sharon, Christy and Gerard and all your extended family, while I cannot be with you today for Aidan’s funeral, I want you to know that I am united with you in prayer. The death of someone you love is never easy. I understand that this has been a particularly painful week for you because Aidan has been taken away from you so suddenly and because you have had to go through these days in the full glare of publicity. I am grateful for the kindness with which you welcomed me when I called to your home and I know, from listening to what you told me, that each one of you has his or her own treasured memory of Aidan, as a son, a brother or an uncle. I hope that you will always remember him as you knew him and loved him. You have told me that you have great neighbours and friends, and I am sure that many of them are with you today at the Church of Christ the King. I trust that, in the months ahead, you will experience, through their occasional visits or phone calls, the healing presence of God’s Spirit at work in your lives.
I extend my condolences also to Aidan’s many friends. I can understand that Aidan’s death has touched each of you very personally. You can equally be sure that your friendship was important to him. May God, who loves Aidan, hold you always in the palm of His hand. I understand that Aidan’s interest in politics was something he picked up at a young age from his father, Tom. Politics calls for generous sacrifices in the service of others for the sake of the common good. Not everybody is willing to make those sacrifices. We can be thankful for the gifts that Aidan shared in this and in so many other ways. Our Lady of Knock, Queen of Ireland, you gave hope to your people in a time of distress and comforted them in sorrow. Be with Aidan’s family today! May he rest in peace!
First Reading – A Reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes (Chapter 3:1-8)
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
God has made everything suitable for its time
The Word of the Lord
Second Reading – A Reading from the letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians (3:20-21)
For us, our homeland is in heaven, and from heaven comes the saviour we are waiting for, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will transfigure these wretched bodies of our into copies of his glorious body. He will do that by the same power with which he can subdue the whole universe.
The Word of the Lord.
Gospel – A Reading from the Holy Gospel According to Luke (24:13-16; 28-35)
On the first day of the week, two of the disciples were on their way to a village called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking together about all that had happened. Now as they talked this over, Jesus himself came up and walked by their side; but something prevented them from recognising him.
When they drew near to the village to which they were going, he made as if to go on; but they pressed him to stay with them. ‘It is nearly evening,’ they said, ‘and the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with them. Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognised him; but he had vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?’
They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven assembled together with their companions, who said to them, ‘Yes, it is true. The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’ Then they told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised him at the breaking of bread.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Homily – to be preached by Father Michael McManus PP
The homily will be delivered during Mass by Father McManus on live-stream https://m.facebook.com/SharkeyFuneralDirectors
ENDS
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