Parish Newsletter
Masses Today
6.30 The McCurtain, O'Grady & Fannon families, RIP11.00 Funeral Mass for Kathleen Coleman, Merchant's Road.
6.30 Mary Hardiman (nee McDonagh) Month's Mind.
- Remember in your prayers the late Kathleen Coleman (82), 17 Merchant's Road, who died on Saturday morning last and whose funeral Mass is celebrated at 11.00 this morning. Up to the time her health failed, Kathleen was a daily presence in the Augustinian. In fact she was one of the faithful band who looked after the cleaning of the church. Kathleen husband Martin was also buried from the Augustinian over 30 years ago, in January 1973. She is survived by one son, Martin, and two daughters, Patricia and Geraldine, together with 7 grandchildren. Kathleen will be buried in Rahoon Cemetery after the 11.00 Mass this morning. May she rest in peace.
- Last Sunday's collection for the victims of the Tsunami Disaster in Asia was €8,84.00. In addition, one individual handed in a cheque for €1,000.00, stating specifically that it go towards relief of distress in Africa. (The understandable fear was that, with attention concentrated on Asia, Africa would be forgotten.) By a long shot, the Tsunami collection was the largest collection ever taken up in the Augustinian. I understand that the same was true for the other churches throughout the city.
- The Masses for Sunday next, January 22nd: 11.00: Bridget & William Mulkerrins; 6.30: James Murphy & Mary Mitchell.
- The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins on Tuesday next, January 18th and ends of Tuesday, January 25th.
As I Was Saying......
On Tuesday next begins the annual week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Almost 40 years ago, the Ecumenical Movement -the movement that promotes dialogue and common worship among Christians received the endorsement of all the main Christian Churches. The movement began with youthful enthusiasm. Courses and conferences were held up and down the country. Inter-church services, then a novelty, were soon commonplace. Theological experts from the various main churches met to iron out their liturgical and theological differences. And these differences seemed then to be by no means insurmountable.
It appeared that unity among the Christian Churches was now inevitable. Archbishop Michael Ramsey of Canterbury forecast in the early 1970s that the Anglican and Catholic Churches would have achieved full union within ten years. He had the good fortune to be dead before his deadline transpired. So the union of the Churches was but a matter of time. However, such optimism proved to be naive. The movement soon lost its original impetus and enthusiasm. The conferences and seminars soon fizzled out. The annual prayer gathering for Christian unity was reduced to tokenism, to a mere cliché. It was reduced to motley crews of bloodied but unbowed enthusiasts huddled in cold Churches on week nights in January, the only bit of colour provided by the gaudy gear of the vicars and bishops. Tea and biscuits were provided to wash it all down. Presumably, in the days following, the local bishop sat at his desk and reported the gathering to Rome, the sub-text being: "We have once more done our bit for Christian unity." Some bureaucrat in the Vatican would enter this into a log, and, when all the reports had come in, the universal picture looked rosy indeed. It mattered little that real ecumenism was dead in the water for all practical purposes. In the mind of the bureaucrat and the book-keeper, ecumenism was still alive and kicking gloriously.
However, this bleak picture is a generalisation. Ecumenism has fared better in other countries. In Britain, Northern Europe and the States, Inter-church relations have gone beyond the stage of politeness to a meaningful exchange of services and, in the case of hospital chaplains for example, to one of mutual supply. Significantly, ecumenism seems to fare better where our own Church, the Roman Catholic Church, is in the minority. This is certainly true of England and northern Europe. And a generosity given from a position of strength is far more impressive than a generosity emanating from a position of weakness.
In our own country, ecumenism has been seriously burdened by historical baggage. The fact that the minority religion was so closely associated with a foreign invader does not help. But it is a long time ago now since this was a real issue! But, unfortunately, folk memory is more retentive than individual memories. And those memories need to be finally exorcised before the religious issue can be resolved.
Unless we meet one another, get to know one another, and even get to like one another, all the theorising and tokenism will remain just insubstantial candy floss, mere window-dressing. As the majority Church, it is we who are obliged to make the generous move. But there is little evidence of this generosity. Because, in an increasingly secular age, domestic bickering about obscure theological points is truly a scandal.
- Dick Lyng.
EVENTS THIS WEEK
- STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING: One of the many casualties of last Tuesday night's storm was our Steering Committee. It will now be held on Tuesday night next, January 18th at 8.00 in the Priory. Once again may I remind you of a very full agenda: we will examine a draft Constitution, which will determine such matters as duration of office holding, voting procedures, frequency of meetings, and so on. We will also look at Health & Safety issues, insurance cover and related matters.
CHRISTMAS DUES, 2004
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 beenthe 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' and other personal expenses incurred in the running of a parish. That was the practice in the diocesan system and we inherited the practice when we inherited the parish. Up to this time last year, I had always put the money to a variety of uses: funding parish projects, purchasing materials for use in parish work, helping out people who were going through difficult times, and of course I have always financed my annual holidays out of this same source! But last year we announced that the impending Church renovations would absorb the dues. Of course the same will apply this year.
I did the annual tot on the figures for the past fourteen years. Below you will find the results. (The figures in brackets simply 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. (The 1999 'dip' is explained by the fact that no envelopes were sent out that year! Too busy with confessions!) Thanks again to Annmarie and Gearóidín for their help with organising the dues and posting them out to all our patrons. Once again, Annmarie 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. It is very much appreciated.
| Year | Euro | Percentage Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | €3813 | ---- |
| 1992 | €3295 | (-13.58%) |
| 1993 | €3105 | (-5.78%) |
| 1994 | €3206 | (3.27%) |
| 1995 | €2889 | (-9.90%) |
| 1996 | €3447 | (19.34%) |
| 1997 | €3705 | (7.47%) |
| 1998 | €6435 | (73.68%) |
| 1999 | €4067 | (-36.79%) |
| 2000 | €7023 | (72.68%) |
| 2001 | €9572 | (36.28%) |
| 2002 | €10,240 | (6.97%) |
| 2003 | €12,218 | (19.31%) |
| 2004 | €12,793 | (4.7%) |
FROM THE SAME HYMN SHEET!
"A long time ago, when everything looked optimistic, I contributed to a book of homilies. The idea was to present actual homilies on unusual pastoral events. My contribution was a homily for a school graduation Mass, then becoming increasingly popular. Some twenty years later I happened to be at one such Mass and the homily seemed vaguely familiar. By the time the intrepid homilist had finished reading his text, it was clear to me that what I was hearing was my own script, my own words echoing back the years. It was a discomfiting experience, not just because my homily seemed to have grown peculiarly anorexic with the years but that it was badly read and included allusions to contemporary events well past their sell-by date.
Needless to say, I kept my head well down in the clerical mutterings that invariably ensued. It is, incredibly, a common enough experience. In one church on one Sunday, tradition has it, the Parish Priest and the Curate read the same sermon from the same magazine, Intercom, using exactly the same words. The people marvelled at their ability to prepare the Sunday homily together, a meeting of minds apparently not that pronounced in other areas. Unfortunately the cat was let out of that particular bag when a religious sister let it be known, as only religious sisters can, the Intercom was available to convents too!"
-Fr Brendan Hoban in Intercom
Delight
Let the meal be simple. A big plate
of mussels, warm bread with garlic,
and enough mulled wine to celebrate
Being here. I open a hinged mussel
pincering a balloon of plump meat
from the blue angel wings of a shell.
A table' s rising decibels of fun.
Such gossip. A story caps a story.
Banter. Then, another pun on a pun.
Conversations fragment. Tête-à-tête,
a confidence passes between two guests.
A munch of oatcake thickens my palate.
Juicy fumes of a mango on my breath.
(A poem with no end but delight.)
I knife to the oblong host of its pith.
Wine sinks its ease to the nerve-ends.
Here are my roots. I feast on faces.
Boundless laughter. A radiance of friends.
-Micheal O'Siadhail.