CEMETERY SUNDAY TODAY
Today is Cemetery Sunday in the New Cemetery, Bohermore.Mass will be concelebrated there at 11.00am with evening Devotions at 5.00pm.
PRAYER WHEN VISITING A CEMETERY
May God bless all the company of souls here,May God and Mary bless you.
You too spent a while here just as we are now
And we too will join you soon.
May we all be adorned in the beauty
of the bright King of heaven.
(traditional, Waterford: from The Glenstal Book of Prayer)
AS I WAS SAYING...
There has been much sabre-rattling by Western leaders in recent weeks. The ending of the Cold War has reduced human anxiety associated with nuclear warfare. But it would be foolhardy to ignore history.
Fifty seven years ago this month, the United States dropped the atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, killing over 100,000, and leaving unknown numbers as 'walking dead'. When the terrorists felled the Twin Towers on September 11 last year, there was much talk of history having been changed, 'life will never be the same again' sort of thing. The world was truly traumatised. But, in truth, when future historians look back through the prism of Hiroshima, September 11 will be seen as an almost insignificant glitch.
| The artist Alex Grey endowed the poisonous mushroom with a universal, religious significance. Once the bomb was used, and the enormity of its effects realised, it had the impact of Copernicus, Darwin, Freud - of any monumental historical theory that proved, fundamentally, how fragile people are, how accidental their prominence, how subject to external manipulation. |  |
| The capriciousness and instability introduced into the human project by this monster is well captured in Rothenberg's famous depiction of the 'nuclear dilemma' When the Bomb dropped, people not only saw a weapon that could boil the planet; they saw yet one more proof of their impotence. We live in a world of "virile weapons and impotent men," wrote French historian, Raymond Aron. |  |
What people saw initially in Hiroshima scared them more profoundly than they realised they could be scared. In 1946, W.H. Auden coined the term 'the Age of Anxiety'. Yale Professors Robert Lifton and Kai Erikson defined the psychological boundaries of that world: "The question so often asked, 'Would the survivors envy the dead? may turn out to have a simple answer. No. They would be incapable of such feelings. They would not so much envy as, inwardly and outwardly, resemble the dead." Hiroshima was the most expensive history lesson humanity ever had. We would be very foolish to forget it!
-Dick Lyng.MEMORABLE QUOTES
- "During the last few weeks I have felt like the Suez Canal was flowing through my drawing room." -Clarissa Eden.
- "All terrorists, at the invitation of the government, end up with drinks at the Dorchester." -Hugh Gaitskell.
- "The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary." -Vidal Sassoon.
- "The guest who outstays his fellow guests loses his overcoat." -Chinese proverb.
- "I was told that the Chinese said they would bury me by the Western Lake and build a shrine to my memory. I have some slight regret that this did not happen, as I might have become a god, which would have been very chic for an atheist." - Bertrand Russell.
- "How could God do this to me after all I have done for him?" -Louis XIV, on hearing of Blenheim defeat.
- "There are some people who leave impressions not so lasting as the imprint of the oar upon the water."
THE NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP NORTH
A Japanese soldier
Has just stumbled out of the forest.
The war has been over
These thirty years, and he has lost
All but his ceremonial sword.
We offer him an American cigarette.
He takes it without a word.
For all this comes too late. Too late
To break the sword across his knee,
To be right or wrong.
He means to go back to his old farm
And till the land. Though never to deny
The stone its sling,
The blade of grass its one good arm.
-Paul Muldoon.
DELAYED REACTION
The item below appeared in this humble organ on Sunday September 10th, 1999 (and again on 18th August, 2001!). Unfortunately, due to unfavourable weather, and a most improbably conjunction of other circumstances, the planned elevation was postponed rather than abandoned. In the meantime, Carey has continued to live an exemplary life and to perform miracles on an almost weekly basis. He has cultivated a large circle of devotees and, only last year, a shrine was erected to him in the very heartland of pagan territory, Kenny's Window in High Street, Galway. His canonisation this afternoon is widely expected.
CANONISATION IMMINENT
The present Holy Father has canonised more saints than any other Pope in history. In fact some of his critics have accused him of devaluing the whole process through over-use. The more saints there are, critics will argue, the less attention people will pay to them. The good old Marxist economic principle obtains: the value of any resource increases in inverse proportion to its scarcity. In an effort to regain credibility, we must presume, the Congregation for the Cause of Saints has put forward for investigation the name of a new Irish candidate for sainthood. The name belongs to a relatively obscure young man from a still more obscure neck of the woods: one D.J. Carey from Gowran in Co. Kilkenny. (The extent of this obscurity is highlighted by the fact that his first name remains unknown, even to his own family circle.)
The process of canonisation is itself a very rigorous one. But four factors are judged to be essential in the life of the individual if the outcome is to be successful:
- Is his lifestyle exemplary and marked by austerity and penance?
- Is he the object of popular devotion?
- Did he suffer heroically for the faith?
- Has he been instrumental in the performance of three or more scientifically authenticated miracles?
Ironically, the second requirement may well be problematic. His devoted followers may well prove to be his Achilles' Heel. They have been known to kiss the water on which he walks. In short, they worship him, something which will not meet with full Roman approval. In their book, worship is reserved to God alone.
Carey has certainly suffered heroically for the faith. All ten fingers have been broken at one time or another, and in no particular order. Yet his name has never been noted by a referee. Yet, despite his numerous injuries, Carey has never retaliated.
Finally, his recent resurrection came as no great surprise to his adoring fans. After all, he performs miracles on most Sunday afternoons. So his elevation should really be a mere formality!