Parish Newsletter

Masses Today

6.30 Mary Bridget Morkan, (Anniv).
12.00 Marion Gilboy, (Anniv).
6.30 Noreen McEvoy, (2nd Anniv).

AS I WAS SAYING.....

It is no secret that the Catholic Church in Ireland has lost confidence, a common experience in the 'developed world'. We are only now catching up with the rest of Europe. There the process of de-christianisation has progressed unchecked for over two centuries. The Irish Church never seriously engaged in dialogue with that process. It lacked either the felt need, the competence or the confidence to go there. After all, up to very recent times, the 'forces of secularisation' were in a very small minority, the Conor Cruise O'Briens of this world. Do we really have to take these seriously!

But we do now! In more recent years, two additional elements have entered the picture to accelerated perceptibly this secularisation process: the Celtic Tiger and clerical scandals. It has long been accepted that affluence and 'godlessness' went hand-in-hand. (But how far is this equation a European phenomenon, a legacy of the French Revolution? Otherwise, how do we explain the extremely high level of belief in the most affluent nation in the world, the United States?). The spate of clerical scandals have eroded the confidence of Catholic clergy in particular. Somehow, the laity have approached the scandals in a much more level-headed manner. To say that the clergy have been well and truly 'floored' in recent years is an understatement.

No wonder the Church as been tempted to pull up the drawbridge, to circle the wagons. But it would be a great mistake, and a great disservice to the gospel, to underestimate the power of the message we preach. We clergy tend to forget that it is not OUR message. So instead of circling the wagons in a fit of paranoia, what is required is the courage to open up a new dialogue between faith and reason, between knowledge and belief, between culture and religion, between church and society. Pope John Paul lost no opportunity to encourage such a dialogue. He had hoped that his work 'Fides et Ratio' would form the basis for such a dialogue. Unfortunately, this pet project of his floundered for reasons we need not now dwell upon. Let's just say that less central but more 'sexy' issues nudged it off centre stage!

If this dialogue is to prove fruitful, it will be necessary to overcome some misunderstandings: the privatisation of faith, the lack of plausibility that is perceived to attach to faith, the impression that faith is some kind of additional layer extra to human reason, and an assumption that faith is the peculiar property of 'religious people'.

If this challenge is to be met, it will be necessary to rediscover faith as part of the human condition, that faith and reason are friends, not enemies. Faith is a universal phenomenon. Everybody lives out of faith, including unbelievers, agnostics and atheists. This kind of faith amounts to a trust in life, an acceptance of people, itself a prerequisite for all human thinking, talking and doing. This underlying basic faith assumes that life is worth living, that it is of value despite the presence of suffering and death, loneliness and doubt, injustice and oppression. Most religious and non-religious people alike will share the above sentiments. The role of religion is to offer an ultimate ground and context for such meaning and values. I believe faith has matured enormously here in Ireland over the last thirty years. Christianity here has every reason to feel confident. Let the dialogue begin!

-Dick Lyng.

BY THE WAY...

GOOD NEWS FROM GALWAY

(This item appeared recently in 'Horizons' , a weekly religious programme on Radio Kerry recently).

Sooner or later, like all children in Galway, I learned of the legend that Cromwell stabled his horses in the Church of St. Nicholas in Market Street in Galway. Legend has it too, that Columbus prayed there before setting off for America. Galway has always had strong links with Spain. Actually that legend may have more basis in reality than that of the stabling of Cromwell's horses.

St Nicholas was an awesome place of worship. . . once a Catholic church, it was now the mysterious Collegiate Church.. and St Nicholas of Myra was claimed by the Catholic Church. The door was always open on a Saturday when the weekly colourful, bustling market took place in the shadow of the weeping willow inside the church railings.

Mother Fidelma, Mercy Secondary School, told us we should visit the Church of St Nicholas to see the Lectern there. We were astonished. Visit St Nicholas? Could we? Should we? Well. . .Mother Fidelma told us to do so after all! Greatly daring, three of us, dressed in school uniform crept into the Collegiate Church of St Nicholas. The sexton looked at us suspiciously as we thought; he was probably rather curious about the schoolgirl visitors.

That first visit was the beginning of my great love affair with that place of worship. I always spend time there on my visits to Galway. Each visit uncovers another piece of history, another memorial plaque, and I pray in the Lady Chapel.

Last Sunday I attended Mass in St Nicholas. The choir gathered around the altar. The organ pealed to the groined roof, through transept and side chapels. When the Sacred Host and Chalice were raised, my heart sang with praise and worship.

The Augustinian Church in Middle Street in Galway is closed for renovations. This is a city-centre parish church serving a strong and very local loyal community. The parishioners were now homeless. The small Church of Ireland community extended the hand of friendship and welcome. The Catholic community accepted it gladly. Masses will be celebrated in St Nicholas Collegiate Church every weekend while the Augustinian is being restored.

The first Mass in St Nicholas for centuries was preceded by a candle-lit procession from the Augustinian Church in ancient Middle Street to the venerable historic church. The Rector of St. Nicholas' , Rev'd Patrick Towers, led the procession. He carried aloft the Easter Candle from St. Augustine's. In more senses than one, a circle had closed.

Do find an excuse to visit Galway during the next nine months. Mass is celebrated in St Nicholas at noon every Sunday by the Augustinian priest Fr Dick Lyng. This is a wonderful celebration! Join in the prayer and worship, listen to the exquisite choir; spend some time there and linger a while in the Lady Chapel.

-Mary G. Johnson.

POPE TAKES OVER

After getting all of Pope John Paul's luggage loaded into the limousine (he doesn' t travel light), the driver notices that the Pope is still standing on the kerb.

'Excuse me, Your Eminence,' says the driver, 'would you please take your seat so we can leave?'

'Well, to tell you the truth,' says the Pope, 'they never let me drive at the Vatican, and I'd really like to drive today.'

'I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that. I'd lose my job! And what if something should happen?' protests the driver, wishing he'd never gone to work that morning.

'There might be something extra in it for you,' says the Pope. Reluctantly, the driver gets in the back as the Pope climbs in behind the wheel. The driver quickly regrets his decision when, after exiting the airport, the Supreme Pontiff floors it, accelerating to 105 MPH.

'Please slow down, Your Holiness!' pleads the worried driver, but the Pope keeps the pedal to the metal until they hear sirens.

'Oh, dear God, I'm gonna lose my licence,' moans the driver.

The Pope pulls over and rolls down the window as the cop approaches, but the cop takes one look at him, goes back to his motorcycle, and gets on the radio.

'I need to talk to the Chief,' he says to the dispatcher. The Chief gets on the radio and the cop tells him that he's stopped a limo going a hundred and five.

'So bust him,' says the Chief.

'I don't think we want to do that, he's really important,' replies the cop.

The Chief exclaims: 'All the more reason!'

'No, I mean really important,' says the cop.

The Chief asks: 'Who ya got there, the Mayor?'

'Bigger.'

'The Governor?'

'Bigger.'

'Okay,' says the Chief, 'who is it?'

'I think it' s God!'

'What makes you think it's God?' the Chief asks.

'He's got the Pope for a chauffeur.'

-Anne Dudley