EVENTS THIS WEEK
- CHRISTMAS MEETING: We would love to have a Parish Meeting in connection with Christmas and related matters on Tuesday night next, December 10th at 8.00pm. To related matters first: we must review the Table Quiz function of Tuesday night last. (see over). But we must also monitor the progress of our Advent and Christmas preparations. So, all hands on deck for 8.00 on Tuesday night in the Dining Room.
- SUNDAY, 15TH: MASS OF GIVING: Next Sunday, December 15th, is of course our Annual Christmas 'Mass of Giving'. The tree was stripped bare of the labels in the course of the week, so we replenished it. The gifts are for four charitable organisations:
(a) The Women's' Refuge in Westside;
(b) the Refugee's Friendship Club;
(c) No. 4 Augustine Street, a befriending service for the marginalised, and
(d) assorted individuals and families in need.- BAPTISM TODAY: Garvan Thomas Surlis will be baptised during the 11.00 Mass this morning. Garvan is the second child of Pat and Mary, who -together with Tiernan- are regulars at the Augustinian on Sunday morning. The Minister of the Sacrament will be Thomas Surlis, an uncle of the baby and a Deacon.
Congratulations Pat & Mary.
AS I WAS SAYING...
The car is a mixed blessing. It is a very convenient mode of transport, obviously. And today, more than ever, it is a mode of transport accessible to most adults. That of course is part of the problem. So accessible has it become that it clogs our streets and pollutes our air. Yet it is both essential and central to modern living.
I remember a debate on this topic about five years ago on BBC Radio 4. A representative of an Ecological group and a representative of the Royal Society of Motorists were 'arguing the toss' on the contentious issue of new Motorways in England. The ecologist described the new Motorways as 'sordid scars on the pleasant face of England'. Parklands, woodlands hedgerows were being destroyed. And for what reason? So that the unthinking classes could drive bigger and faster cars up and down the highways of England. The more comfortable you make the Motorways, the more cars will use them. Ample Motorways do not relieve traffic congestion; on the contrary, they exacerbated it. Through 'scarring the pleasant face of England' you are simply compounding the difficulties you set out to address.
The core of the problem lay in London itself. In 1900, the average speed of the car in London was 8.6 miles per hour. In 1996, the average speed of the car in London was 8.6 miles per hour. The solution lay in creating more bicycle lanes in London itself; make the bicycle lanes comfortable and people will abandon the cars for their bicycles. The Royal Society of Motorists man retorted that the object of the Motorways was not to make travel more comfortable. It was simply a practical expedient to facilitate a more mobile, commuting population.
That same debate has now begun in Ireland. You will have heard the introduction of strange new concepts like 'Hubs' and 'Gates' during the week. If I understand it properly, this is shorthand for long-term decentralisation. Any of you familiar with Dublin will recognise the need to debate this issue. Indeed parking in all our major cities is now a terrible headache. The headache will intensify as Christmas approaches. You will recall that, in the survey conducted in the Augustinian here in Galway in 1999, it was estimated that we had lost 30 per cent of our people because of parking difficulties. But we were fortunate in securing the Car Park in St. Patrick's School for Sunday morning, thanks to the late Mr. Naughton.
However, if you are an elderly person, and the day is very bad, you will not relish the walk from Lombard Street. If you are sensible, you will seek out a parking spot nearer the Church. Sunday morning last was particularly horrible: rain lashed by storm-force gales. Some elderly people took the sensible step and parked adjacent to the Church. They came out from Mass to find their cars clamped! It was a despicable, mean thing to do. And it could only have been perpetrated by miserable, mean-spirited mini-Hitlers! Now nobody objects to the clamping of vehicle that block entrances and obstruct traffic. But those whose cars were clamped on Sunday morning were causing no obstruction whatsoever to anyone. It was a mean thing to do. However, we have come to expect nothing better from that particular quarter!
-Dick Lyng.
Table Quiz
The success of the Noel Hession Table Quiz on Tuesday night caught us all by surprise. The turn-out was brilliant! The room was actually much too small to accommodate the crowds. What a happy fault! It's a long time ago since that happened before! We more than filled 38 tables, with at least four to each table. (Some tables had more). About 180 people attended. The break-down of the takings was as follows:
Tables: €1,186.20 Raffle: €689.50 Xmas Cards: €135.00 Donations: €3,133.00 Total: €5,143.70 Not alone was it successful commercially, but it was also a most enjoyable Parish night out. Thanks to Michael O'Hare and Peter Cunnane. They came up with the idea originally; Mike put the questions together and Peter looked after the technological side of things. Thanks also to the Ardilaun management who gave us the room free of charge. Very well done indeed to all involved!
Christmas Concert
The "Galway Gospel Choir" will present an evening of Gospel Songs and Christmas Carols in the Augustinian Church on Friday next, December 13th at 8.00pm. No tickets necessary. But a contribution will be welcome at the door on the night.
Parish Calendar
As usual, we will publish a Parish Calendar this year. The calendar is, in effect, a 'Programme of Events' for the coming year. So we must sit down together and draw up that 'Programme of Events'. We will try to do that at our meeting on Tuesday night next. Should you feel that you have something to say on these matters, do come along to that meeting.
Christmas Dues
Most of you will receive the Christmas Dues envelopes in the post this week. (Those who escaped the net will find dues envelopes in the Church on Sunday next). If you are paying Dues in your 'native' parish, just ignore the envelope. 'Double taxation' was never a good idea.
ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS: 2002
CHRISTMAS CONCERT: Gospel Songs and Christmas Carols (The Galway Gospel Choir)
Friday, December 13th at 8.00pm.
NATIVITY MASS & PLAY: (Children from St. Patrick's School)
Saturday, December 14th at 6.30.
ANNUAL MASS OF GIVING:
Sunday, December 15th at 11.00
ANNUAL CHILDREN'S MASS:
Sunday, December 22nd at 11.00
CONFESSIONS:
Friday 20th: 12.00-12.30; 4.30-5.30.
Saturday 21st: 11.30-12.30; 3.30-4.30; 7.00-7.30.
Monday 23rd: 11.30-12.30; 3.30-5.30; .
Tuesday 24th: 11.30-1.00; 3.00-4.00.
PENITENTIAL SERVICES:
Saturday, 21st at 5pm;
Monday, 23rd at 7.30pm
Tuesday, 24th at 4.30pm.
CHRISTMAS MASSES:
12.00 Midnight.
11.00am.
Thursday, (26th Dec.) to Wednesday (Jan. 1st) (Inclusive)
One Mass daily: 11.00am
Sunday, 29th:
Usual Sunday Programme
Normal Programme resumes on Thursday, January 2nd.
Mass of Giving
Containers will be in place at the back of the Church next Sunday. Please place your presents there as you enter.
"Quote, Unquote........ "
- "Democracy is like a hobby-horse: it will carry you nowhere unless you use your own legs." -Anon.
- "Every man sees in his relatives, and especially in his cousins, a series of grotesque caricatures of himself. " -H. L. Mencken.
- "A completely planned economy ensures that when no bacon is delivered, no eggs are delivered at the same time." -Leo Frain.
Home