Services which may be of help to you.

Published on June 15, 2021

These can be challenging times for many people. We are happy to remind you of some services which may be of help.

Accord: Call the couples and relationships support line on 01 531 3331, staffed by counsellors Monday to Friday, 9.00am to 8.00pm, Counselling is also available to anyone wanting to talk through a relationship difficulty. Visit the Accord website to check for a convenient location and arrange a face-to-face appointment”.

Kilkenny Bereavement Support offers a free listening service to bereaved people of all ages. Now, we support the bereaved by phone or by Zoom. People can discuss their preferred option

with their bereavement support volunteer. Please phone 056-7756538 or email: director@kilkennybereavementsupport.com.

COVID-19 Support Line for Older People: Professional staff are available to answer queries and give advice and reassurance, seven days a week, 8am – 8pm. Call 0818 222 024.

St. Vincent de Paul Society The telephone number of the Thomastown St. Vincent de Paul Society is 086 2664669 for anyone who wishes to contact the Society.

MABS: The Money Advice and Budgeting Service is a free, confidential and independent service funded thorough the Citizens Information Board. MABS assist people who have debt problems, who are in difficulty paying a mortgage or who are facing legal action because of debt. They also provide information and access to Insolvency Services. For more information contact MABS on: www.mabs.ie or call MABS on 0761 072610.

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Reflection

Jesus tells his disciples to look at him and touch him. Then he asks them for something to eat. What does Pope Francis say we can learn from these three actions of Jesus?
The second verb is to touch. By inviting the disciples to touch him, to verify that he is not a ghost—touch me!— Jesus indicates to them and to us that the relationship with him and with our brothers and sisters cannot remain “at a distance.” Christianity does not exist at a distance; Christianity does not exist only at the level of looking. Love requires looking and it also requires closeness; it requires contact, the sharing of life. The Good Samaritan did not limit himself to looking at that man whom he found half dead along the road: he stopped, he bent down, he treated his wounds, he touched him, he loaded him onto his mount and took him to the inn. And it is the same with Jesus himself: loving him means entering into a communion of life, a communion with him.
Being Christian is not first a doctrine or a moral ideal; it is a living relationship with him, with the Risen Lord: we look at him, we touch him, we are nourished by him and, transformed by his Love; we look at, touch and nourish others as brothers and sisters.
Pope Francis,