Parish Newsletter

Masses Today

6.30: Simon Mullen, (Anniv)
12.00: Christina & Dr. Noel Naughton, (Anniv)
6.30: Eddie Reynolds, (Anniv)

AS I WAS SAYING.....

Martin Drennan will be installed as Bishop of Galway today. It is a very different diocese and city to the one James McLoughlin took over in 1993. (The tag 'Celtic Tiger' was first coined in 1994). It is light years removed from the Galway that Eamon Casey entered in 1976. Obviously then, the task facing the new bishop will be a very different one to that faced by his immediate predecessors. Yet he is entering office in far happier circumstances than did Bishop McLoughlin. In 1993, the first requirement was for a 'stabiliser'. James McLoughlin did that job admirably, and he leaves behind him a well-oiled administration.

What is required today is very different. It is sometimes hard to see the present for what it is. But some things are clear. We are the best fed, best housed, best educated generation ever to have lived west of the Shannon. As individuals we enjoy a far greater personal freedom than our ancestors ever experienced. We have choices at our disposal that they could never have imagined. In many ways we are living through a golden era.

Yet, all is not well in Eden! We have seen our society uprooted. Many of the old sign-posts have disappeared, and old loyalties questioned. This has become very much a secular age. The loss of meaning, loneliness, aloneness, crime, individualism, family and community breakdown are all indications that we must restore some balance.

We are now part of a global economy. Corporate values are setting the agenda. We have measured success in monetary terms. Commerce does not necessarily bring peace. One of the hottest topics in leadership circles today is creating a sense of community. There is now a serious interest in the need to balance concern for people with concern for profits. The LIVE8 concerts throughout the world this weekend, and the 'Make Poverty History' campaign are all parts of this realisation.

There are clear indications that whereas the 20th century has been the century of great material success in the West, the present age could see a major return to things of the spirit. (Fr Harry Bohan has written extensively on this topic). There are signs that the response could come through local communities and family. Obviously, the family has experienced massive change in a short period of time: it has moved rapidly from the extended, to the nuclear, and then to the single parent grouping. The position of the elderly altered radically with the decline of the extended household. And the number of single parent families became a definite phenomenon. In this sense, we have witnessed 'social fragmentation.'

But we are beginning to stress again the importance of the local community. We now have community watch, community colleges, community health care, and community hospitals. By rediscovering a pride in place, local people are moving to the centre of the stage. Many voices are now being raised against political and economic 'globalisation'. It reduces our significance and depersonalises us. The Church too has just come through a period of globalisation, of over-centralisation. Bishops are, primarily, leaders of the local church, not mere local managers of a global corporate body. There is an enormous difference between the two models. It will be the task of our new bishop to encourage this 'local pride', to redress the serious imbalance of the last 20 years, and to restore the church to the people. He has the prayers and good wishes of all the people of Galway.

-Dick Lyng.

Items of Interest

CATCHY APHORISMS

Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.

To handle yourself, use your head; to handle other, use your heart.

Anger is only one letter short of danger.

If someone betrays you once, it is his fault; if he betrays you twice, it is your fault.

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.

He who loses money loses much; he who loses a friend loses much more; he who loses faith loses all.

Beautiful young people are accidents of nature; beautiful old people are works of art.

Learn from the mistakes of others. You can' t live long enough to make them all yourself.

Friends, you and me....you brought another friend...and then there were 3....we started our group.....our circle of friends....and like that circle....there is no beginning or end.

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is gift. That' s why they call it the present.

AND OTHER ITEMS....

BAD TIMING

O. Henry, pseudonym of William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), the American short story writer, was born in North Carolina. He began his writing career while serving a prison sentence for embezzlement in 1896. These stories were published in 'Cabbages and Kings' in 1904, the first of his many collections. He was a prolific, humorous writer who used coincidence in a very innovative way. The following story is typical of this genre.

A poor couple, Clive and Elaine, lived in a poor suburban area of New York. While poor in the goods of this world, they were very secure in their love for each other. Elaine was blessed with good looks, her long golden hair testified to hours of careful grooming. But she was too poor to buy the rich Spanish comb she coveted.

Clive's only possession was a gold watch. Apart from its obvious material value, the watch had tremendous sentimental value for him, since he had inherited it from his late father. But he could not display the watch with the prominence it deserved, since he could not afford a matching gold chain.

Being very much in love, both were aware of each other's deepest longings. So Clive and Elaine, unknown to each other, decided on a sacrifice. He went into New York, sold his watch and bought her a lovely Spanish comb. Meanwhile, she went to the wig-maker, had her beautiful tresses cut, sold them to the wig-maker and bought her beloved a new golden watch-chain! As they headed for home, each tried to anticipate the surprise on the face of the beloved! -D. Lyng.

Waste not, Want not...

To say that George abhorred all waste
Would understate his deep distaste:
A light left on would turn him pale,
A dripping tap provoke a wail.

He gathered ends of soap to make
A multi-coloured, home-made cake.
To use the final toothpaste scrap
He'd slit the tube from base to cap.

The papers, never junked once read,
performed a toilet role instead.
He kept odd socks that rarely matched,
And had his leather patches patched.

By means like these he sought to save
Enough to see him to the grave.
Too bad he bought, with that intention,
A now-found-wanting private pension.

-Bill Webster.

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