Donegal Action for Cancer Care,

“Equal Access for Equal Need”

wish to say thank you, to you, your family and friends

 who attended our

 Interdenominational Service

 for those affected by cancer.

which took place in 

St. Eunan’s Cathedral, Letterkenny, on Sunday 27^th April, at 3pm.

 It gave people an opportunity to come together to remember their loved ones, to give thanks for healing and to have hope for the future.

All welcome.

A service of Respect & Dignity.

DACC have put considerable thought into this service and hope that on the day each person present will benifit from it.

The 3 themes for the service are:

Rememberance,

Healing,

Hope.

The Gateway Singers provided us with relevant

 hymns/songs to the themes of the service.

Clergy in attendance on the day were:

Rev. Stewart Wright, Rev Stanley Stewart and

 Fr.Martin Chambers.

Thank you to all who took part in the different parts of the service.

Also thank you to the Gardai and Civil Defence.

Thanks to the Loreto Convent Secondary School for their help & support.

DACC hope to make this an annual service building on todays service.

*****************

Donegal Action for Cancer Care

Ecumenical Service

for those affected by cancer

St. Eunan’s Cathedral, Letterkenny

Sunday, 27^thApril, 2008

Opening Music “Canon in D”

Brief Introduction and Call to Worship (Paddy Hume)

Please stand

LeaderCome, come in faith:

Response: For our God is faithful.

LeaderCome, come with hands stretched out:

Response:For there are no barriers between us and the Christ.

LeaderCome, come, in love:

ResponseFor this is the God who moves towards us, each of us, all of us.

Let us worship God!

Please remain standing

Opening Prayer (Clergy)

Be found here with us, Spirit of God, discovered in our midst again, for we are your disciples of today, and we invite your knowing of our hopes and fears, your entering of our longing hearts.

Break down the barriers which we place between us

and your presence, for we long to be with you and

experience your grace. Amen.

Reconciliation

Healing God, sometimes we place a veil of separation between you and ourselves.

There are many reasons for this, O God

A veil is brought down the aisle to cover the candle

It is sometimes hard for us to understand

the pattern of your healing when you respond to our prayers. Sometimes it feels as though you don’t respond at all and we worry about our lack of faith and our worthiness.

Silence

(please kneel)

If we no longer dare to ask things of you:

Response: Forgive us, O God.

If we fear to be disappointed:

Response: Forgive us, O God.

If we would rather keep you distant

so that you cannot call us away from our illness or our guilt, because it is easier to be cared for than to take up our beds and walk:

Response: Forgive us, O God.

If we are choosing to be victims forever as a way of life,

giving power to our wounds, rather than to you:

Response: Forgive us, O God.

When we turn our faces away from the possibility of your gifts, or assume that they are ours alone:

Response: Forgive us and open our lives to your renewal and healing, O God.

In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Words of Assurance

Come to God in faith.

In Jesus Christ, the veil is stripped away from the love of God!

The veil is lowered and placed around the foot of the candle.

We will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the comforter. This is the promise in Jesus Christ.

On this day, it is yours, it is ours!

Response: Thanks be to God!

Please be seated

~ Remembrance ~

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still, and trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s house; if there were not, I should have told you. I am now going to prepare a place for you, and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you with me; so that where I am you may be too. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Thomas said, “Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?

Jesus said: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you know me, you know my Father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him.”

Procession of flowers

Reflection (followed by a moment of silence to remember)

(please kneel)

Prayer:

Almighty God, our Father,

We firmly believe that your Son died and rose to life.

We pray for our brothers and sisters who have died in Christ. Raise them at the last day to share the glory of the risen Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Hymn “A Clare Benediction”

~ Healing ~

A reading from the Gospel of Mark Mark 5:21-43

A Woman Healed.

A large crowd followed Jesus and pressed in on him.

Now there was a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’ Immediately her haemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, “Who touched me?”’ He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’

Procession of DACC Book

Reflection

(please kneel)

Prayer:

Lord God, Giver of Life, source of all healing, who alone can help us grow in wholeness: we thank you for the gift of life and health, and remembering your faithful servants we ask you to guide and uphold all doctors, surgeons, hospital staff and all engaged in the ministry of healing together with those they serve, that disease and disunity may everywhere be overcome; through Christ the Divine Healer, who suffered and died, and lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit our God of Salvation, now and always.

Amen.

Hymn “The Prayer”

~ Hope ~

A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans (3:1-11)

Faith brings joy.

Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Procession of Candle

Reflection

Prayer:

Dear God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days. For then we have you to lean upon. Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days, for then we can share that which we have with those who have less. And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days, for then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends. For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak. For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness. For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing. For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company. For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope. Amen.

Hymn “You Raise Me Up”

Affirmation of Faith

(Please stand)

Let us respond to the word and affirm our faith:

The veil has been torn away from the holy of holies. God is shown to us in Jesus Christ

and we know this God as grace.

The dimness of doubt is over our own lives,

but God has shone a new light over all creation,

the revealing light of Christ,

the healing flame of the Spirit,

the renewing sun of the Creator.

In this faith we will live in hope,

believing that we may choose to stand

within the sanctuary of a place made Godly forever by the One who walked this life with us.

Christ has died. Christ is risen.

Christ will come again.

Nothing can separate us from this love.

Prayers of Intercession

Let us dream of a world which is so close to God that transforming healing is possible.

What would it be like?

What would change around us?

What would change in our life?

Silence – we think of ways to share in the healing of each other.

Takes these our dreams and make them real, O God,

and create in us visions beyond that which we have yet to see.

Who around us in this day would be reaching with trembling hand to touch the Body of Christ?

Silence – we think of how to touch the trembling hand of the vulnerable around us. Let us join hands and in silence pray for each other.

O loving Jesus, we pray for all these people.

We pray that we will never betray their hopes in the love of your church.

We too come with fragile faith,

never enough to encompass your own longings for us.

Bring forth in us dependence on you, the confidence to pray, and the commitment to gather all people

nearer to your power for good.

Create in us your body of healing love,

a safe place for all who would come,

a sanctuary of transparent peace

in a groaning and painful world.

For we ask these things in faith. Amen.

Our Father . . .

DACC Address (Seamus O’Donnell, Chairperson)

Final Blessing (please stand)

We are the Body of Christ. It is towards us that the people will come for hope and healing,

believing that the healing Christ is to be found here.

Go and take up the sacred task for this day.

Let us offer each other a Sign of Peace

Go in peace and walk together with the Christ.

and may our lives be filled with faith, brave in the hope of the Spirit and close to the healing hand of God. Amen.

Final Hymn “How Great Thou Art”

We would like to thank you all

for your support and wish you well.

Address by Chairperson of DACC Seamus O’ Donnell to the people at the service.

On behalf of Donegal Action for Cancer Care I am please to welcome you all here today to St. Eunan’s Cathedral to share in this ecumenical service for cancer patients their families and friends. This is a very special service because all of us here share a very special common bond in that we have all been impacted by cancer either directly or indirectly.

 Today represents an opportunity for all of us as a community to come together and support each other. Together we remember our dear departed. Together we gain strength from each other as part of the healing process. Together we derive hope in the shared belief that God will provide for us in the future

I am sure you will agree that today’s service is a reflective, emotional, and uplifting experience. It will impact on each of us in different ways depending on our stage of the cancer journey. Remember that what ever your stage, you are not alone. Remember there is strength in numbers. Remember there is strength in sharing. Remember the power of the human person to cope with adversity. The power of faith and a positive outlook is vitally important in coping with cancer.

I am reminded of Lance Armstrong, while recovering from cancer, won the Tour de France seven times. He set up the Lance Armstrong Foundation where the motto is “we unite people to fight cancer believing that unity is strength, knowledge is power and attitude is everything”.

We in Donegal Action for Cancer Care, on our third anniversary, are proud to be associated with these sentiments and it is our intention to make this ecumenical service an annual event.

There are many people and groups who have worked very hard to prepare, organise and perform this very special service here today.

I would like to thank in a very special way

The celebrants,

The choir The Gateway Singers,

The Cathedral - Bishop Boyce and Fr. Kelly

Caretaker- Alan

The Garda, Civil Defence, Urban Council, The Action Strategy Sub Committee of DACC,

Everyone else who helped in any way.

Everyone who helped on the day.

Not a complete list; just some that come to mind

And, a very special thanks to everyone here present, whose attendance here today, makes this service such a memorable and very special occasion.

God Bless.

                                             Somebody Loves You

                      Somebody loves you

more than you know,

Somebody goes with you

wherever you go,

Somebody really

and truly cares

and lovingly listens

to all of your prayers.

Don’t doubt for a minute

that this is not true,

For God loves His

Children and takes

care of them, too.

                                      Helen Steiner Rice

                    Today is a gift,           

Remember that tomorrow is a promised hope,

Yesterday is a wind in your back!

On Faith and Inspiration

The world has no room for cowards. We must all be ready somehow to toil, to suffer, to die. And yours is not the less noble because no drum beats before you when you go out into your daily battlefields, and no crowds shout about your coming when you return from your daily victory or defeat.
Robert Louis Stevenson

For beautiful verses of comfort please go to our page

 “Just for You”,

scroll down to below “Verses of Comfort” above “Desidera” and click on the site.

 You won’t be disappointed.

Love, like a river, will cut a new path whenever it meets an obstacle.
Crystal Middlemas

If you judge people, you have no time to love them.
Mother Theresa

Love is the flower of life, and blossoms unexpectedly and without law, and must be plucked where it is found, and enjoyed for the brief hour of its duration.D.H.Lawrence

Hope is the thing...
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
- Emily Dickison

Posthumous

Would it surprise you to learn
that years beyond your longest winter
you still get letters from your bank, your old
philanthropies, cold flakes drifting
through the mail-slot with your name?
Though it's been a long time since your face
interrupted the light in my door-frame,
and the last tremblings of your voice
have drained from my telephone wire,
from the lists of the likely, your name
is not missing. It circles in the shadow-world
of the machines, a wind-blown ghost. For generosity
will be exalted, and good credit
outlasts death. Caribbean cruises, recipes,
low-interest loans. For you who asked
so much of life, who lived acutely
even in duress, the brimming world
awaits your signature. Cancer and heart disease
are still counting on you for a cure.
B'nai Brith numbers you among the blessed.
They miss you. They want you back.

-Jean Nordhaus

Our hearts are filled with memories
The sound of laughter's ring
You've moved on to your final rest
A place where angels sing
A land where flowers never fade
Where little children play
They say true love will never die -
We'll meet again some day.

We little knew that morning,
God was going to call your name,
In life we loved you dearly,
In death we do the same.
It broke our hearts to lose you,
You did not go alone.
For part of us went with you
The day God called you home.

You left us beautiful memories,
Your love is still our guide,
And though we cannot see you,
You are always at our side.
Our family chain is broken,
and nothing seems the same,
But as God calls us one by one,
The chain will link again.
Author Unknown

"Give me the strength to change the things I can and to accept things I cannot change, and the wisdom to know the difference."

A Simple Hug

Danny Hahlbohm
All rights reserved

There's something in a simple hug
That always warms the heart;
It welcomes us back home
Makes it easier to part.

A hug's a way to share the joy,
And sad times we go through,
Or just a way for friends to say
They like you 'cause you're you.

Hugs are meant for anyone
For whom we really care,
From grandma to your neighbor,
Or a cuddly teddy bear.

A hug is an amazing thing-
It's just the perfect way
To show the love we're feeling
But can't find the words to say.

It's funny how a little hug
Makes everyone feel good;

In every place and language,
It's always understood.

No special equipment needed,
No batteries or parts-
Just open up your arms
And open up your hearts.

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