Parish Newsletter
Masses Today
6.30: (Vigil): William Mullins, Shop St, (Anniv)11.00: Christina Skelton, (Anniv).
6.30: Seán Fahey, (Anniv).
- The Masses for next weekend, April 24th: 6.30 (Vigil): Month's Mind Mass for the late Lou Buchan. We will also remember her late husband Billy. 11.00: Mrs. Ellen Reynolds; 6.30: Sadie Mitchell.
- The collection last Sunday was € 1,678.00.
- Remember in your prayers the late Ian Hamilton, Oranmore, who died tragically this week. Ian, together with Gearóid Lacey, installed the sound system and speakers in the Augustinian church four years ago. He leaves behind Agnes and three young children. R.I.P.
AS I WAS SAYING.....
This interregnum period between the death of one pope and the election is known in church circles as the 'Sede Vacante', 'The Empty Chair'. A strong presence has disappeared. There is of course a deep sense of loss at his passing. He made more of the office than any of his predecessors. Because of his extensive travels, and his masterly use of modern communications, his presence was felt everywhere. His was, literally, a very heavy presence.
That 'heavy presence' has now withdrawn. We have thanked God for his enormous contribution. But we do his memory no great service by talking and behaving is if there will never be another! Adulation is not very enduring. We should be wary indeed of the 'Diana factor'. You will recall that, when Princess Diana died, the British people turned out in their millions to mourn her. The London air crackled with electrifying hysteria. One writer had the temerity to refer to the entire Diana phenomenon as 'cheap grief', a grief achieved without the expenditure of loyalty or love! If that writer didn't actually 'hit the nail on the head', he was there or thereabouts!
The TV and the tabloids convinced the masses that they knew this young woman intimately. The masses bought into the lie, simply because they wanted to. Who would be excluded from this communal emoting? Volunteers worked for three weeks to clear the flowers from Kensington Palace after her funeral. Grandiose projects were planned to commemorate the princess. With time, they were seriously scaled down, or abandoned altogether. Public grief, like the flowers, has a sell-by date!
I am not for a moment comparing Pope John Paul and Princess Diana. Perhaps the only thing they both had in common were massive, public funerals. The Holy Father's was a more sober, less hysterical affair. Yet, with the chanting of his name, and the (obviously pre-planned) unfurling of the banner bearing the words 'Santo Subito', the 'Diana factor' did intrude! In recent days, newspapers have claimed that church leaders have felt pressurised by these calls for 'instant canonisation'. Others state that these emotional outpourings sent out clear signals to the cardinals to 'get the lead out' and elect another man in the mould of John Paul II before we are all lost! Organisations and group who thrived under John Paul's pontificate will be in there rooting for a clone. I doubt if the cardinals are either vulnerable or stupid! These guys have been on the road a long time!
The notion of 'instant canonisation' is not healthy. The church has always insisted that nothing should be done for five years. There is wisdom in that. The new man will have enough pressures to endure without having a newly-elevated saint breathing down his neck! All human beings are flawed. That is the very raison d'être of Christianity. John Paul did his bit! He has gone now. The chair is empty. This is a time for the Church to breathe freely, to explore fully the needs of the Church and humanity, and to look to the future without having to look over its shoulder. The Church should have every confidence in its basic message!
-Dick Lyng.
Renovation Project
- PRIORY OFFICE & ORATORY: Don't forget that the Priory Mass Office and Oratory will remain open from 9am until 7pm during our restoration work. All the Catholic newspapers, periodicals, weeklys and magazines which were formerly available at the back of the church are now available at the office.
- CHURCH RESTORATION: Throughout the church restoration work, we will try to keep you aware of the progress of events. At the moment, the church is being prepared for the main work: all seating has been removed; sound system and speakers have been dismantled and stored; likewise with statues and their respective shrine-stands; investigations are afoot at the moment concerning the organ. Experts are offering differing opinions (and prices!): Dismantle it entirely, store it and re-assemble it when the other work has been completed. Other experts hold that it is best 'wrapped' or 'boxed' on site - the least disturbance the better. All agree on one thing: the organ (built in 1905) is extremely valuable and probably now worth, in monetary terms, in excess of € 800,000.00. Obviously then, its preservation is a high priority. Unfortunatley, this involves exploring a number of avenues in great detail.
- MASSES: The usual morning weekday Masses (8.30, 10.00 & 11.00) are now celebrated in Ozanam House, Augustine Street.
HAPPENINGS THIS WEEK
- FINANCE COMMITTEE: Our Finance Committee meet in Ozanam House on Monday night, April 18th at 8.00pm. The team consists of: Anthony Ryan (Chair), Robert Deacy, Michael O'Hare, Phyllis McNamara, John Coyle, Liam O'Connell, John Flannery, Mary McDonagh, John Grealish, Dermot Murray, Cathal Cunningham, Gerry Meehan, Brian Colgan, Fr. Ben O'Brien, Tom O'Connor, Des Kavanagh and Dick Lyng. The meeting will be addressed by Fr. Michael Mernagh, member of the Augustinian Leadership Team. (Michael had engagements earlier in the day, hence the meeting is later than usual).
- MEETING IN CLAREGALWAY (1): On Monday night last, the Steering Committee, the Finance Committee and the Renovations Project Team met together in Ozanam House in connection with the renovation of the church and with fund-raising for same. The gathering was addressed by Joe McKenna, Director of Development at the Galway University Foundation, NUIG. (See later) As you will learn there, Joe has wide experience in the area of fund-raising and team-building. The central concern of the meeting was, obviously, fund-raising for the church renovations. But he made the point that 'Church-building' in a pastoral and theological sense should be a priority. In other words, all individuals and groups must be convinced of the value of this project and row in behind it. It is simply not enough to appoint a Finance Committee and 'say: 'Well that's that done; the finances are now looked after!' All agreed that this approach just will not work. The project, and the finances involved, are far bigger than that.
- MEETING IN CLAREGALWAY (2): As I mentioned at the outset, three distinct groups gathered to hear him on Monday night last. He touched on his two areas of expertise, team-building and fund-raising. He stressed the necessity for all three groups to 'swing on the one gate'. He emphasised the priority of each individual knowing what was at stake if we are to work together to achieve it.
- MEETING IN CLAREGALWAY (3): With the above in mind, we have organised a day in the S.M.A. house in Claregalway for Saturday next, April 23rd from 10.00am until 5.00pm. We will explore there the areas that Joe McKenna suggested we should address: development of a church vision for the future, team-building, fund-raising strategies, and related matters that will surely emerge. It is imperative that as many as possible from the three groups (and outside the groups) should attend. Tea, soup and sandwiches will be available there.
- TABLE QUIZ: This venture is now an annual one at the Sacre Coeur Hotel, aims to raise money for Fr. Seán Murphy's Salesian Missions and Poverty Relief in Africa. It will be held on Tuesday night next, April 19th at 8.30. Table of 4......€ 40.00. Lots of prizes!
JOE McKENNA
Joe McKenna, Director of Development, has been with Galway University Foundation since 1998 - overseeing the establishment of the Foundation from its inception to becoming one of the leading university foundations in Ireland. As Director of Development, he leads a broad programme of outreach and advocacy to encourage donors and supporters to become involved in a significant way in the University's future development.
Born in Derry in 1962, Joe graduated from St Patrick's College, Maynooth in 1985, and undertook graduate studies at Providence College, Rhode Island before completing a Master's degree in Communications at the University of Notre Dame. Joe worked in residence life at Notre Dame and at the Center for Social Concerns. In 1989 he helped establish the Safe Start Foundation, an award-winning employment and accommodation agency for young new arrivals to London. In 1993, he became the Director of Berkshire Community Foundation, a fundraising and grant making foundation in the Thames Valley. We are grateful to Joe for his ideas, his enthusiasm and his time. We will connect up with you again soon.
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF JOHN PAUL II
"As I stand on the threshold of the Third Millennium in medio Ecclesiae, I would like once again to express my gratitude to the Holy Spirit for the great gift of the Second Vatican Council, to which, together with the whole Church - and especially with the whole Episcopate - I feel indebted. I am convinced that it will long be granted to the new generations to draw from the treasures that this 20th-century Council has lavished upon us. As a Bishop who took part in the Council from the first to the last day, I desire to entrust this great patrimony to all who are and will be called in the future to put it into practice. For my part, I thank the eternal Pastor who has enabled me to serve this very great cause in the course of all the years of my Pontificate. The Council had opened a new dimension of fellowship for me. "
-March 17th, 2000.