- The collection last Sunday was € 1012.00.
- The collection today is the annual Peter's Pence collection. It is always held on the Sunday nearest the feast of St. Peter & Paul, June 29th.
- The outdoor collection this weekend is for Simon Community.
AS I WAS SAYING...
In all, five American Presidents have visited Ireland: Kennedy, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton (twice) and now George W. Bush. All, except the latter, claimed Irish roots. Two were Democrats, three Republicans. The two Democrats were welcomed with open arms, the three Republicans provoked widespread protest against perceived foreign policy. (Though Kennedy, on election, immediately expanded the American presence in Vietnam). Is this a mere coincidence? So is opposition to President Bush here this weekend based on his political allegiance or to his foreign policy? Since the collapse of communism, American Presidents have dominated western European politics in general. In effect, we now have just one World Power and therein lies a problem. We had naively assumed that the world would be a safer place with the disintegration of the Eastern Bloc. But subsequent developments have not been reassuring.
In his 960-page autobiography, 'My Life', Clinton confessed that, in his private life, he behaved as he did with a young lady because 'I was able to do so'. In retrospect, he judges his behaviour to have been 'morally reprehensible'. President Bush's critics accuse him of using precisely the same criterion to determine American foreign policy: "We are able to do so."
As George Soros has put it, when describing the Bush administration's understanding of international law: "International relations are relations of power, not law; power prevails and law legitimises what prevails." Bishop John Kirby of Clonfert pointed out in a fine article this week that this is a crude form of social Darwinism. It is an attempt to reduce human relations to the survival of the fittest. Since 9/11, the Bush administration has capitalised on the deepest fears of American citizens to push through a radical new foreign policy under the guise of "War on Terrorism". The essential elements of that strategy are the pursuit of global US supremacy in economic, military and political spheres.
In military terms, it translates into a new arms race; in political terms, it translates into unilateral action in pursuit of America's interest; in economic terms, it translates into market fundamentalism, and of course the 'pre-emptive strike'. In other words, America will get her your retaliation in first! And the only credible international 'policeman', the United Nations, is contemptuously sidelined. Or at least this is the view of the critics.
So would things be any different under Bill Clinton? I dipped into his book in search of an answer. 'No', it would seem. Yet autobiography is a very limited genre. The writer tends to tell his admiring readers what they want to hear. Furthermore, the commentator Quintin Crisp claimed that "an autobiography is an obituary in serial form with the last instalment missing." And he's right. So long as we are still breathing, every human being is still 'unfinished business'. As Eveyln Waugh claimed, "Only when one has lost all curiosity about the future has one reached the age to write an autobiography." Since Clinton is still a relatively young man, this book is seriously incomplete.
However, he does come across as a very warm, if flawed human being. I just could not see him attracting the same level of hostility as Bush. Is it possible that the protesters this weekend are reacting more to a presidential personality rather than to presidential policies?
-Dick Lyng.
EVENTS THIS WEEK AND LAST
- MID SUMMER FESTIVAL: As usual, our Summer Festival was very successful. We were particularly fortunate in that the weather had cleared up in good time for our celebrations. However, as you all know, these things don' t just happen unaided. A tremendous amount of work went into the entire preparations. A fair few bases had to be covered. The sheer amount of work will be obvious to you from the way the Church has been decorated for the occasion. And that is but the tip of the iceberg! There is always a risk involved in isolating individuals for special mention. However, the work of the following people should be publicly acknowledged. Margaret Cunnane, Margaret Cunningham and Mary Ó hIcí are responsible for the Floral Display. Gearóid Lacey created our posters and other works of art! Peter Cunnane, Ray Skelton and Harry O'Connor prepared the carpark. The accumulated detritus of a full twelve months had to be hosed away. Gerry Ferguson, with the help of Mary Surlis, assembled the beautiful quartet and organised the entire event on Friday night; thanks to Fin Garvey, to Margaret Duggan, to our poet friends and to our readers who made a fabulous evening possible. Mary Taylor and Brenda Foy looked after supplies for the weekend. Peter O'Neill took on the enormous task of cooking for our barbecue. Richard Jenkins supplied some of the hardwear for same! Tony Freeney ensured we had generous sponsors. Thanks to the children who entered our Summer Art Project, to the Face Painters, and to Tom Kenny who provided the lovely prizes. Finally, thanks to the magician, Billy Cleary whom we enjoyed so much. Well done to all.
- NEW ROTA FOR READERS: We have a bit of a problem with our Readers here: we have an over-abundance of readers for the 11.00 Sunday Mass and not enough for the two evening Masses. We have addressed one half of the problem by rearranging the rota for the 11.00. Please note that, from next Sunday, July 4th, we will have two Readers at the 11.00 Mass. The first Reader will read the Old Testament reading and the psalm. The second reader will read the New Testament reading and the Gospel acclamation. I gather that this is already the practice in most other churches. The new rota has now been posted on the Notice Board beside the Priory Office.
- THE MIKADO: Rehearsals will be conducted on a daily basis in the Priory throughout this week. As St. Paul gravely reminded his audience (or his cast?) 'Our time is growing short!' The Director will be in personal touch with the members of the cast as they are required. Meanwhile, we could do with some more helping hands for work behind the scenes!
"Quote, Unquote........ "
- " The average man is more interested in a woman who is interested in him than he is in a woman -any woman- with beautiful legs." -Marlene Dietrich.
- " Travel light that you may sing in the robber's face." -Juvenal.
- " When I look back on all these worries I remember the story of the old man who said on he deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened." -Winston Churchill.
- " It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place. -H.L. Mencken.
A TICKING TIME-BOMB
Marriage is, above everything else, a social institution, and if the Church is not to decline into being a sect for the saintly, ordinary Catholic couples cannot realistically be expected to live lives untouched by the social and sexual expectations and mores of the culture as a whole. The tragically large and growing number of Catholics in irregular unions is both an indicator of the way in which the values of society shape the lives and perceptions of Christians and also, in pastoral terms, a ticking time-bomb, which by one means or another is going to have to be defused if it is not to decimate the Catholic community and, more importantly, deprive thousands of people of the sacramental support and light they need.
-EAMON DUFFY, Unfinished Journey, p. 57
WATER
If I were called in
To construct a religion
I should make use of water.
Going to church
Would entail a fording
To dry, different clothes;
My liturgy would employ
Images of sousing,
A furious devout drench,
And I should raise in the east
A glass of water
Where any-angled light
Would congregate endlessly.
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