Masses Today

6.30: Colie & Sabina Cooke, (Anniv)
11.00 Tom Tierney (late Bowling Green) (Anniv)
6.30 Ellen Reynolds, (Anniv)



Events This Week






AS I WAS SAYING...

The double killing of the two students in Cork during the week was duly reported. Newspapers carried respectful accounts of the respective funeral services. But the tragedy sparked off no widespread debate, no major bout of cultural introspection, no great national 'hand-wringing' exercise. I believe that a similar incident ten years ago would have sparked off a major debate about morality, meaning, and caring community. But today it would seem that we have come to accept this type of violent deaths as part and parcel of 'modern Ireland'? It is part of the price we pay for modernity.

Rarely do we find that it is people on the predictable margins who are attempting to kill themselves deliberately. Those who commit suicide usually take the community by surprise. They are people who, on the surface at least, appear to have 'everything going for them'. Yet, retrospectively, the reality is revealed as very different. Obviously, they have been 'leading lives of quiet desperation'. On the surface everything seemed well; beneath the surface -obviously- lurk isolation, loneliness, hidden pain and despair.

The reality of suicide among young people in Ireland is probably not new. But the sheer extent of that awful reality certainly is. Yet all the external social indicators point towards the hill of hope and challenge, rather than the valley of despair and depression. They are, after all, the most highly educated generation of young Irish people ever. They have a self-confidence that goes with education and middle class values. They have a freedom and an ability to travel that would surpass the even the wildest dreams of those who endured the dreary 1950s. They have career opportunities that their grandparents or parents could never have imagined. Yet they are killing themselves in unprecedented numbers. What ingredients in 'modern Ireland' are leading our young people to such despairing exits?

Despite their apparent sophistication, our young people are not being equipped to cope with the pain, struggle and general messiness that is part and parcel of any human life. On the contrary: the message they hear from many voices in society is that a life free of such messiness is not only possible, but theirs for the asking. This means that when pain and messiness does come, it is utterly unexpected and it leaves young people all the more vulnerable and confused. Little wonder, then, that they are devastated when a relationship does not work out, when a job is more than they can handle, or when they encounter failure in one form or another.

Many young people find it difficult to drop a stabilising anchor anywhere. They are disconnected from the past. They are disconnected from the present too. For example, politics is irrelevant and the Church is simply not part of their world at all. They have a very weak 'sense of place'. There is a reluctance to form community, to get to know neighbours. They have been truly liberated from the burden of the past. But recent events would suggest that the burden of freedom can be far more demanding than the burden of history. In some unfortunate cases, that burden has proved fatal.

-Dick Lyng.



"Quote, Unquote........ "





HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS

{I have regularly invited comments from our readers on any aspect of life in the Augustinian Church. I am delighted when this invitation is taken up. Below is a note I received during the week via email. I have not published the full name of the author (I give initials only) since the original note may not have been intended for publication. However, I do think the note is very positive and expresses what many people have been saying for a long time. Thanks again M.K.}

Dear Fr. Lyng,

I am a regular attendee at Sunday Eucharist in the Augustinian's. First, I want to say that I appreciate the hard work that is put into the liturgy and the community spirit that seems to have built up over the years. That does not happen by accident. So, well done to you and all others concerned.

The choir adds tremendously to the celebrations. Their training seems to be superb. The harmony is beautiful and uplifting. But on many occasions the choice of music is not in keeping with the feast or the season. Devotion to Our Lady is lovely and ought to be recommended and commended but Ave Maria (however beautifully it is sung) is not an Offertory hymn. Good liturgical practice would, I think, suggest that hymns in keeping with the feast and the season ought to be chosen. Also, could there be a little help towards congregational singing? Perhaps, with a little leadership, we could join in singing the Alleluia, the Acclamation after the Consecration and perhaps, the great Amen? That would leave scope for the choir to sing some other pieces. While I realise that training a choir is very demanding, and while I realise also that change is difficult, the above few changes would, I think, make a difference and could be fairly easily incorporated into the liturgy.

Again, appreciation for all that is being done and with good wishes,

M.K.




The Spiritual Railway

{The Victorian's enthusiasm for the Railways even survived train crashes. The contrived effort below is to be found on the tombstone of two victims in Ely Cathedral, dated 24-12-1845.}
The line to heaven by Christ was made
With heavenly truth the rails were laid,
From earth to Heaven the line extends,
To Life Eternal where it ends.......
God's Love the Fire, his Truth the Steam
Which drives the Engine and the Train.
All who would to Glory ride
Must come to Christ, in Him abide
In First and Second, and Third Class
Repentance, Faith, and Holiness....
Come then, poor Sinners, now's the Time
At any station on the Line,
If you'll repent and turn from sin,
The train will stop and take you in.





Ad Multos Annos

In late February, 1963, a young Wexfordman named Ben O'Brien was ordained to the priesthood in Rome by some Vatican functionary or other! (In 1963 also, Kilkenny beat Waterford in the All Ireland Hurling Final, 4-17 to 6-8). The first twenty years of his priesthood was served in Nigeria, the greater part teaching young men preparing for priesthood. He returned to Ireland in the 1980s, and served as chaplain to the Regional College, Cork for a number of years. He then served in Meath Street Parish in Dublin, followed by a spell in the Augustinian plant in Fethard, Tipperary. He came to Galway as prior almost two years ago.

So this month he celebrates the 40th anniversary of his ordination. Father Pearse has assured him that the difficult years are now behind him! We wish you many, many more fruitful years behind the plough!






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