THE GIVING TREE
I write on behalf of the Friendship Club in the Methodist Church to express our grateful thanks to your congregation for their generosity to us over the Christmas period. Once again, you shared with us the fruits of your Giving Tree. What wonderful generosity to strangers! And what a wonderful example to others!
We want to assure you all that each gift found a welcome home with those who were in real need this Christmas. Each person was informed that it came from your Giving Tree, though in one instance Santa Claus was given the credit! I'm sure you don't mind!
Please call to see us anytime. Love to see you.
Yours thankfully,
Heather E. Smith.
AS I WAS SAYING...
The annual Church Unity week begins today. The idea is that all Christians would gather together as brothers and sisters to pray for the eventual unity of their respective Churches. This is regarded as a very important week in the English and the American churches. All the churches seem to go to great lengths to extend the hand of welcome and friendship to the other denominations. Unfortunately, no such effort is made here in Ireland. The best we can contribute is tired tokenism, isolated gatherings of battle-weary ecumenists from the respective denominations. There is no sense of urgency or enthusiasm for the project in hand! The overwhelming sense is: "Let's put this matter to bed for another year!"At least three unexamined assumptions underlie this annual charade. Will they withstand critical scrutiny? I doubt it.
"That division among Christians is a scandal." Scandal is understood in this context as 'a hindrance to belief'. Does the Catholic Church in Ireland seriously believe this? It is very difficult to live with an ongoing scandal. I believe that the Catholic Church in Ireland is quite comfortable with the status quo. Catholicism has had it too easy in Ireland for over a century now. Up to relatively recent times we were untouchable. Division has caused us no great crisis of conscience in the past, nor is there any signs of it doing so in the foreseeable future! But our Teflon days are well and truly over. Traditionally, we regarded Protestantism as the enemy. If we continue to do so, we should continue to howl at the moon too!
"Unity does not mean uniformity." In pre-ecumenical days, Church Unity meant simply that the Protestant Churches acknowledged the error of their ways and returned to the true fold!
That hard line (the 'unionist' line!) was abandoned in the wake of Vatican II and the focus progressed to a more positive footing. The positive contribution of the respective denomination received general recognition. For example, the Protestant tradition recognised the great contribution of Catholicism to the sacramental aspect of Christianity. Catholicism acknowledged the massive contribution which Protestantism made to preaching and promoting the Scriptures.
But, in more recent times, the voices emanating from Catholic quarters have, in the main, been negative. A couple of documents from Rome were particularly damaging. This negativity was compounded by a few terribly insensitive statements by a couple of eminent Irish churchmen. In theory, "Unity does not mean uniformity." But, in truth and in practice, it now does.
"The different traditions have the capacity for great mutual enrichment." In the course of this week, this platitude will be trotted out more often than an incontinent dog! On a rational level, the statement makes perfect sense. There is a great wisdom in the respective traditions. A body is greater than the sum of its parts, and that sort of thing. But, I fear, the problem emerges at an emotional level. And, in an Irish context, the emotional problem has deep roots in our tangled history.
This, I believe, is the very reason why ecumenism has a much smoother path in other countries. If we were honest, we would acknowledge that, at an emotional level, we still regard the Protestant Church here in Ireland as the religious wing of the Imperial Coloniser! But the coloniser departed our shores a long time ago. It could well be argued that the Protestant tradition in Ireland today is less hindered by history than Catholicism. In all relationships of demographic inequality, the greater generosity is expected of the stronger partner. In Ireland, the Catholic Church can afford to be generous. But, if it is to discover this capacity, it has a lot of unlearning to do!
-Dick Lyng.
CHRISTMAS DUES, 2003
We never made much of the Christmas Dues here. Our Parish is very small geographically, and of course numerically. The residents in the surrounding new apartments haven't made a significant impact on the Augustinian coffers! Of course our main source of income is -and always has been- the Priory Office and the shrines in the church. Traditionally, the Christmas and Easter Dues have gone straight to the Parish Priest's 'private account'. The theory was that it paid for the purchase and maintenance of the 'parish car'. That was the practice in the diocesan system and I suppose we inherited the practice when we inherited the parish. Since I came to this job I have put the money to a variety of uses: funding parish projects, helping out people who were going through some crisis, and of course I have always financed my annual holidays out of this same source. This year the Church renovations will absorb any spare money we have around this place. So the destination of this year's Christmas Dues is rather clearly signposted!
I did the annual tot on the figures for the past thirteen years. Below you will find the results of that research. The figures in brackets represent the percentage increase or decrease on the year previous. A clear pattern is visible; the graph is, in the main, a consistently rising one. Thanks again to Annmarie Kennedy for her help with organising the dues and posting them out to all our patrons. Annmarie also counted the loot when it arrived in. That was a rather intimidating job. But thanks above all to you for your constant support and generosity. I presume it reflects your support for the work we have been trying to do here. (Again, to facilitate ready comparison, I have given the figures for all years in both punts and Euros.)
Year Punts Euros Percentage Change 1991 £3,003 €3813 --- 1992 £2,595 €3295 (-13.58%) 1993 £2,445 €3105 (-5.78%) 1994 £2,525 €3206 (3.27%) 1995 £2,275 €2889 (-9.90%) 1996 £2,715 €3447 (19.34%) 1997 £2,918 €3705 (7.47%) 1998 £5,068 €6435 (73.68%) 1999 £3,203 €4067 (-36.79%) 2000 £5,531 €7023 (72.68%) 2001 £7,538 €9572 (36.28%) 2002 £8,064 €10,240 (6.97%) 2003 £9,292 €11,798 (15.3%)
HUNGER AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
The slogan for this campaign is "Fight Hunger by Changing your Lifestyle". This motto is based on the teachings of St. Augustine himself.
The most important part of the campaign is "Changing Your Lifestyle". This is a challenge to everyone to join in spirit with the millions of people who are hungry. It is relatively easy to throw a few Euro into a collection box which will of course contribute to the alleviation hunger in some small way. It is quite another matter to "Change Your Lifestyle" in the same cause.
What does it mean? How do I change my Lifestyle? What's the difference between my contribution to a Hunger Campaign - whether I "Change my Lifestyle" or not? These questions will mean something different to different people. What does remain constant, it is suggested, is that a new and potentially powerful dynamic will be created if a lot of people change their lifestyles in the common cause of fighting Hunger. This can have many and varied effects. The people themselves who are making the changes will be influenced to do practical things to further their convictions. The example given to others who observe the changes will influence them and encourage them also to become active in the fight against hunger. There are, no doubt, many unforeseen effects which may be brought about.
How will I as an individual make changes which might be regarded as "Lifestyle Changes"? What changes might they be? What practical things can I do in this regard? Obviously, virtually no two people will have the same answers to these questions. However, some simple things may be considered. Almost everybody indulges in some 'unnecessary' luxuries. Most of us will be more aware than usual of much personal over-indulgence of food and drink in the immediate post Christmas period!
If I drink alcohol every day - consider cutting it out for one day a week. If I eat three potatoes with my dinner - reduce it to two. If I smoke twenty cigarettes a day - reduce that to fifteen. Am I a secret (or otherwise) consumer of lots of sweets? - Cut down on them. Am I a young person who drinks too much Coke? - Reduce my intake.
There are so many small things we can do which can make a difference. And there is the personal "Payoff"! I reduce weight. I become more alert. I have more money in my pocket. I feel better. I look better! -C.C.
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